Award-winning actress Doris Day is living a lonely and isolated life after losing her friends and family to a succession of heartbreaking illnesses.

The much-loved star's 1953 rendition of The Deadwood Stage in Calamity Jane was a landmark performance in showbusiness history, but it was a string of film roles in the '50s that made her twinkly eyes and blonde hair world famous.

But these days the sparkle has gone from her eyes and the spring is missing from her step, but not due to her advancing age.

The 84-year-old legend has been left heartbroken by a series of bereavements that's seen her lose her family and close friends.
She was hit hardest by the recent death of her dear friend of more than 50 years Richard Widmark, the man who was described as her soulmate.

They met while filming the 1958 classic The Tunnel of Love, and both shared a distaste for the modern 'celebrity'.

'Doris and Richard were so valuable to one another. For 50 years they experienced the same things - first stardom, then the autumn of their careers and lastly old age,' a source says. 'It's so tragic Doris has been left alone.'

The pair spoke every day and wrote each other letters that detailed a lifetime of memories and shared experiences.

'They were both from the "old school", when stars were stars because of what they did on the silver screen, not because of how drunk they got or because they stumbled into a car with no underwear on,' the source says.

'They were both of the opinion that the less the public saw of an actor's real life, the more believable they would be in their next role.

'Old Hollywood was so different because it was based on talent and not on being a show-off,' the source adds.

Her loss is made all the more poignant by the fact she has no family of her own to comfort her or to take pride in.

Although she was married four times, none of her unions lasted long and her only child Terry Melcher died of cancer in 2004
at the age of 62.

Since then Doris has suffered a string of losses. Her oldest and dearest friends, including June Allyson, Red Buttons, Jane Wyatt, Jack Valenti, Merv Griffin, Joey Bishop, Robert Goulet and Paul Schofield, have passed away one after another in the past few years.

Sadly the friends Doris had come to see as her family have left her. Now she's alone with nothing but memories.