No funeral, memorial for Doris Day, says her manager

There will be no funeral or memorial for iconic American actress-singer Doris Day, as per wishes she made clear in her will.

Day, who delivered the hit song "Que Sera, Sera" in the 1950s, died at the age of 97 on Monday. Her manager and close friend Bob Bashara told people.com: "No funeral, no memorial and no (grave) marker."

In addition to saying Day didn't "like to talk about" a prospective funeral or memorial, Bashara said: "She didn't like death, and she couldn't be with her animals if they had to be put down. She had difficulty accepting death.

"I'd say we need to provide for her dogs (after she died), and she'd say, 'I don't want to think about it' and she said, 'Well, you just take care of them. She had several when her will was written, and she wanted to be sure they were taken care of. She didn't like to talk about the dogs dying."

Day was brought up Catholic and was a practicing Christian Scientist after marrying producer Martin Melcher.

Day "drifted away" from organised religion after Melcher died in 1968, Bashara says, but remained "a spiritual person".

Bashara said he remains unsure as to why Day was reticent about having a funeral, but said: "I think it was because she was a very shy person.

"She never let her celebrity (status) affect her and who she was, and she was always the little girl from Cincinnati who was extraordinarily talented and went out in the world and did what she loved to do despite herself.

"She was guileless, and I had discussions with her about how popular she was, and she would say, 'I don't understand it' about why she was so loved."

Bashara said Day's estate will be donated to charity as per her will.

--IANS

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