Al Jorden Obituary: Cause Of Death, What Happened To Doris Day’s Ex-Husband?

Jorden, a violent schizophrenic, committed suicide on July 5, 1967, in Delhi Township, Ohio, at the age of 50 (bullet wound in his right temple). He was laid to rest in Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery.

Jorden met actress/singer Doris Day while both were performing with Barney Rapp’s Band, where Day was a featured singer at the time. In March 1941, they married after falling in love.

When Day was singing and performing with other guys, Jorden was manipulative and pathologically jealous, believing she was being unfaithful.

Day wanted a divorce, but she found out she was pregnant just two months after their wedding. Jorden retaliated by attempting to persuade her to have an abortion. He beat her in an attempt to produce a miscarriage when she refused. After two years of marriage, the couple divorced in February 1943.

From the late 1930s to 1956, Jorden worked as a staff musician for the WLW radio stations in Ohio. He also performed with several well-known orchestras, including Gene Krupa’s, the Dorsey Brothers’ (Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey), and Barney Rapp’s.
Barney Rapp is an American musician and bandleader.

Jorden later co-owned the ABC Music Shop on Glenmore Avenue in Westwood, Cincinnati, with Cecil Keith, a fellow musician.