A pretty lead of the 1940s and 50s, usually as a brunette, Day was less vivacious than the typical 'girl-next-door' but generally played sweet personable types. After experience with the Long Beach Players, she made her feature debut in King Vidor's classic "mother love" melodrama, "Stella Dallas" (1937). Briefly working under her birth name Laraine Johnson, Day played several leads in "B" Westerns and actioners before joining MGM in 1939. She found success quickly when she joined the cast of the studio's modestly produced but immensely popular "Dr. Kildare" films starring Lew Ayres. Indeed,
