Hollywood and Broadway star Janis Paige has died at the age of 101, with her longtime friend Stuart Lampert confirming that she passed away on Sunday at her Los Angeles home from natural causes. Paige, known for her roles in Broadway productions like “Remains to be Seen” and “The Pajama Game,” also appeared in films such as “Bachelor in Paradise,” “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” and “Follow the Boys.” In 2018, she bravely added her voice to the #MeToo movement, sharing her own experience of assault by Alfred Bloomingdale when she was 22. Paige’s career began with a breakthrough performance at the Hollywood Canteen during wartime, leading to a contract with Warner Bros. and roles in various films, including “Romance on the High Seas,” which marked Doris Day’s film debut. She changed her name from Donna May Tjaden to Janis Paige, taking inspiration from entertainer Elsie Janis.
Janis Paige dead aged 101: Star of Hollywood’s Golden Age and Broadway actress after stellar career spanning 60 years
HOLLYWOOD and Broadway star Janis Paige has died aged 101.
The Golden Age actor died on Sunday of natural causes at her Los Angeles home, longtime friend Stuart Lampert said Monday.
2
Janis Paige has died aged 101Credit: Getty
2
She died on Sunday of natural causes at her Los Angeles homeCredit: Getty
Paige starred on Broadway with Jackie Cooper in the mystery-comedy, “Remains to be Seen” and appeared with John Raitt in the smash hit musical “The Pajama Game.”
Her other films included a Hope comedy, “Bachelor in Paradise”; the Doris Day comedy “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” and “Follow the Boys.”
In 2018, she added her voice to the #MeToo movement, alleging an assault when she was 22 by the late department-store heir Alfred Bloomingdale.
“I could feel his hands, not only on my breasts, but seemingly everywhere. He was big and strong, and I began to fight, kick, bite and scream,” she wrote.
“At 95, time is not on my side, and neither is silence. I simply want to add my name and say, Me too.”
Paige’s big break came in wartime when she sang an operatic aria for servicemen at the Hollywood Canteen.
MGM hired her a day later for a brief role in “Bathing Beauty” she spoke two lines in the film, which starred Esther Williams and Red Skelton then dropped her.
The same day, Warner Bros. signed her and cast her in a dramatic segment of the all-star movie “Hollywood Canteen.”
Her contract started at $150 a week.
“I earned more per week than my mother had made in a month during the Great Depression,” she recalled in The Hollywood Reporter in 2018.
Her salary rose to $1,000 weekly as the studio kept her busy in lightweight films such as “Two Guys from Milwaukee,” “The Time, the Place and the Girl,” Love and Learn,” “Always Together,” “Wallflower” and “Romance on the High Seas,” which marked Doris Days film debut.
Meanwhile, she had changed her name from Donna May Tjaden, adopting her grandfather’s name of Paige.
She took her first name from Elsie Janis, famed for entertaining troops in World War I.
Read the full story on www.thesun.co.uk
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/28285072/janis-paige-dead-hollywood-actress-los-angeles/