Janis Paige
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Janis Paige (September 16, 1922 - June 2, 2024; born as Donna Mae Tjaden in Tacoma, Washington) was an American film, musical theatre and television actress. She began singing in public from the age of five in local amateur shows. She then moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school and then got a job as a singer at the Hollywood Canteen during World War II.
The Canteen, which was a studio-sponsored gathering spot for servicemen, is where Warner Bros. saw her potential and signed her up. She began her film career co-starring in secondary musicals, often paired with either Dennis Morgan or Jack Carson. She later was relegated to rugged adventures and dramas in which she was out of her element. Following her role in the forgettable Two Gals and a Guy released in 1951, she decided to leave the Hollywood scene.
She then took to the Broadway boards and scored a huge hit with the 1951 comedy-mystery play, Remains to Be Seen, co-starring Jackie Cooper. She also toured successfully as a cabaret singer, performing everywhere from New York City and Miami to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Stardom came in 1954 with the role of "Babe" in the Broadway musical The Pajama Game. (Doris Day went on to play the role on film.) After a six-year hiatus, Paige returned to films in Silk Stockings (1957), which starred Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, plus the Doris Day comedy Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) followed by a role as a love-starved married neighbor in Bachelor in Paradise with Bob Hope (1961).
One of her rare dramatic roles was "Marion," an institutionalized hooker, in the 1963 drama, The Caretakers.
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Known for
Columbo
Goldie Williamson
Wagon Train
Nellie Jefferson
The Love Boat
Phyllis Morrison
The Fugitive
Hallie Martin
Mannix
Georgia Durian
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
Night Court
Eleanor Brandon
Hawaii Five-O
Minnie Cahoon
Happy Days
Angela
Charlie's Angels
Joan
The Rockford Files
Miriam
Alice
Climax!
Barbara
Police Story
Police Story
Irene
St. Elsewhere
Dee Mackaluso
Caroline in the City
Loretta
Burke's Law
Sharon McCauley
All in the Family
Denise
Trapper John, M.D.
Catherine Hackett
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Charlene Maguire
Capitol
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
Eight Is Enough
Auntie V
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
Family Law
Ann Fox
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Self
Studio 57
Matt Houston
Lauren Calder
Welcome to Hard Times
Adah
Winter Meeting
Peggy Markham
Hollywood Canteen
Studio Guide
87th Precinct
Cheryl Anderson
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Cheyenne
Emily Carson
This Is Bob Hope...
Self (archive footage)
The Younger Brothers
Kate Shepherd
Romance on the High Seas
Mrs. Elvira Kent
Mission: Impossible
Katherine Foster
The Caretakers
Marion
Banacek
Lydia
The George Gobel Show
Self
Lux Video Theatre
Iris
Roberta
Scharwenka
This Side of the Law
Nadine Taylor
Legends
Elvira Kent (archive footage) (uncredited)
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
Self
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
Self
The Bell Telephone Hour
Self
Bathing Beauty
Janis
Two Gals and a Guy
Della Oliver / Sylvia Latour
Bachelor in Paradise
Dolores Jynson
Wallflower
Joy Linnett
Silk Stockings
Peggy Dayton
Flamingo Road
So You Want to Be in Pictures
Self (uncredited)
Trauma Center
Lanigan's Rabbi
Kate Lanigan
Natural Causes
Mrs. MacCarthy
Cole Porter in Hollywood: Satin and Silk
Self
Fugitive Lady
Barbara Clementi
One Sunday Afternoon
Virginia Brush
Shades of L.A.
The Other Woman
Mrs. barnes
The Turning Point of Jim Malloy
Lonnie
Please Don't Eat the Daisies
Deborah Vaughn
The House Across the Street
Kit Williams
The Time, The Place and The Girl
Sue Jackson
Cop on the Beat
Irene
Always Together
Polly (uncredited)
Her Kind of Man
Georgia King
All's Fair
Santa Barbara
Minx Lockridge
Bret Maverick
Mandy Packer
Love and Learn
Jackie
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage)
Sarge
Marian Hart
I Won't Play
Kim Karol / Sally
The Betty White Show
Wilma
No Man's Land
Maggie Hodiak
Two Guys from Milwaukee
Polly
Angel on My Shoulder
Dolly Blaine
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1970's
Self
Follow the Boys
Liz
Valentine Magic on Love Island
Madge
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
Self
Mister Universe
Lorraine
Lanigan's Rabbi
Kate Lanigan
General Electric Theater
Gun Shy
Nettie McCoy
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Bebe Evans
Lewis & Clark
Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission
Self
It's Always Jan
Of Human Bondage
Sally Athelny
Baby Makes Five
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
Love at the Top
Estelle
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
The Red Skelton Show
School Teacher
The Red Skelton Show
Self
The Red Skelton Show
Mrs. Cavendish
The Red Skelton Show
Hatta Mari
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
The Bob Hope Show
Self
The Bob Hope Show
Madame Nunez