Janis Paige obit

Janis Paige, Star of ‘Silk Stockings’ and Broadway’s ‘Pajama Game,’ Dies at 101

She stepped in for Angela Lansbury in 'Mame,' wed the "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" lyricist and almost broke up Archie's marriage on 'All in the Family.' 

She was not on the list.

Janis Paige, the ebullient redhead who starred in the original Broadway production of The Pajama Game and in such Hollywood musicals as Silk Stockings and Romance on the High Seas, has died. She was 101.

Paige, who was discovered in the 1940s while performing at the legendary Hollywood Canteen, died Sunday of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, her friend Stuart Lampert announced.

Paige starred on her own network sitcom, playing a widowed nightclub singer struggling to raise her 10-year-old daughter, on the 1955-56 CBS series It’s Always Jan, and she had recurring roles as Dick van Patten’s free-spirited sister on ABC’s Eight Is Enough and as a hospital administrator on CBS’ Trapper John, M.D.

The actress also turned in two memorable guest-starring stints in 1976, playing an attractive diner waitress named Denise who tempts Archie (Carroll O’Connor) to cheat on Edith (Jean Stapleton) on All in the Family and a former flame of Lou’s (Edward Asner) on The Mary Tyler Moore show.

In 1968, Paige replaced Angela Lansbury in Mame on Broadway and performed as the title character for nearly two years.

After spending six years working on the stage and on television, Paige returned to the big screen to star alongside Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in Silk Stockings (1957), an adaptation of a stage musical that had Greta Garbo’s Ninotchka at its roots.

She and Astaire teamed for the Cole Porter song-and-dance number “Stereophonic Sound” that culminates with the duo swinging on a chandelier above the heads of some reporters.

Doing Silk Stockings “was hard work, believe me,” Paige said in a 2016 interview. “I was one mass of bruises. I didn’t know how to fall. I didn’t know how to get down on a table — I didn’t know how to save myself because I was never a classic dancer. Those are the tips you learn when you learn how to dance.

“Fred never knew it, but he was so great. He would come in in the morning and say, ‘I have a great idea for a step. You think you can do this?’ I never said no to him. I wouldn’t dare say no to Fred Astaire. Especially when we did the end of it, when you have to catch the chandelier and swing out over all those people. He showed me and said, ‘You think you can do that?’ And I said, ‘Sure, I can do that.’ Not knowing if I was going to fall on my face or not. I didn’t.”

In The Pajama Game, Paige portrayed Katherine “Babe” Williams, a garment worker at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory and the leader of the plant’s Union Grievance Committee. She falls for new superintendent Sid Sorokin (John Raitt, father of singer Bonnie Raitt) despite the fact he’s her adversary in the labor dispute.

The musical premiered at the St. James Theatre in May 1954, ran for more than 1,000 performances over 15 months and won the Tony Award for best musical.

“We were the happiest bunch of people you ever saw in your life,” she said in 1990, “because everybody said we were going to be a flop. A show about a pajama factory? And we were a smash. It was a special time — it will never come again.”

Raitt went on to appear in the 1957 big-screen version of The Pajama Game at Warner Bros., but Paige’s role was filled by Doris Day.

A few years earlier, Day, in her movie debut, had stepped for Paige in Romance on the High Seas (1948). In the screwball musical comedy, Paige’s socialite character hires a singer (Day) to take her place on a cruise so she can spy on her cheating husband (Don DeFore). Meanwhile, Day and a detective (Jack Carson) fall in love on the boat.

Paige and Day would work together again in Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960).

Paige’s third and last husband was Ray Gilbert, who won an Oscar for writing the lyrics to the best song winner “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” from Disney’s now-shelved Song of the South (1946).

Born Donna Mae Tjaden in Tacoma, Washington, on Sept. 16, 1922, Paige moved to Los Angeles with her sister after graduating from Stadium High School and was hired to sing at the Hollywood Canteen, the club on Cahuenga Boulevard that was set up by the studios to entertain military personnel during World War II.

MGM and then Warner Bros. signed her, and in 1944 she made her big-screen bow in Bathing Beauty, starring Esther Williams, Red Skelton and Basil Rathbone, and played a studio messenger in the Hollywood Canteen movie.

In 1946, Paige landed her first leading role, as a nightclub singer in Her Kind of Man, and appeared opposite Carson — they would make eight movies together — in Two Guys From Milwaukee and The Time, the Place and the Girl.

She starred in Cheyenne (1947), directed by Raoul Walsh, played opposite Bette Davis in Winter Meeting (1948) and had prominent parts in One Sunday Afternoon (1948), The House Across the Street (1949), Fugitive Lady (1950), Mister Universe (1951) and Two Gals and a Guy (1951).

After Warner Bros. released her, Paige headed to Broadway and starred with Jackie Cooper in the 1951 crime comedy Remains to Be Seen, but June Allyson played her part in the 1953 MGM version.

Later, she portrayed Bob Hope‘s love-starved married neighbor in Bachelor in Paradise (1961) and a prostitute in Joan Crawford‘s The Caretakers (1963).

Her TV résumé also included Wagon Train, Burke’s Law, The Fugitive, Mannix, The Rockford Files, Happy Days, Too Close for Comfort, Caroline in the City and the soap operas Capitol, Santa Barbara and General Hospital.

She was a real trouper on Hope’s USO tours and in 1956 released an album, Let’s Fall in Love. And in 2020, she published Reading Between the Lines: A Memoir.

Paige donated to Emerson College her papers and filmed episodes of It’s Always Jan; videos of film, TV, and live musical performances; scripts; musical scores; photographs and other memorabilia from her career.

For years, she was still receiving fan mail and requests for photographs and autographs from all over the world.

Paige was married to restaurateur Frank Martinelli Jr. from 1947-51; to Arthur Stander, who wrote and produced It’s Always Jan, from 1956-57; and to Gilbert from 1962 until his death after open-heart surgery in 1976.

She inherited from Gilbert his Ipanema Music Corp., which he founded with Brazilian musician Antônio Carlos Jobim, and many of the songs he wrote.

 

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Caroline in the City (1995)

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1 episode

 

Natural Causes (1994)

Natural Causes

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Mrs. MacCarthy

1994

 

Robin Wright, Judith Anderson, Valorie Armstrong, Melissa Reeves, Robert Alan Browne, Paul Burke, Ismael 'East' Carlo, Margarita Cordova, Nicolas Coster, Lane Davies, Richard Eden, Gina Gallego, Linda Gibboney, Andrea Howard, Ava Lazar, A Martinez, Todd McKee, John Allen Nelson, Rupert Ravens, Julie Ronnie, Kerry Sherman, Louise Sorel, Jonna Leigh Stack, Marcy Walker, and Dane Witherspoon in Santa Barbara (1984)

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1990–1993

109 episodes

 

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Room for Two

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Hearts Are Wild (1992)

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Camille March

1992

1 episode

 

Shades of LA (1990)

Shades of LA

8.3

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Ruth Lockwood

1990

1 episode

 

Finola Hughes, Maurice Benard, Genie Francis, Nancy Lee Grahn, Rebecca Herbst, and Laura Wright in General Hospital (1963)

General Hospital

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TV Series

Iona Huntington

1989–1990

40 episodes

 

Jane Badler, Peter Graves, Antony Hamilton, Terry Markwell, Phil Morris, and Thaao Penghlis in Mission: Impossible (1988)

Mission: Impossible

7.5

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Katherine Foster

1989

1 episode

 

Debrah Farentino, Nicholas Walker, and Jess Walton in Capitol (1982)

Capitol

7.2

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1987

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Pernell Roberts in Trapper John, M.D. (1979)

Trapper John, M.D.

6.6

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Catherine Hackett

1985–1986

15 episodes

 

Rockhopper

5.0

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Helen Larabee

1985

 

We Think the World Is Round

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Nina (voice)

1984

 

No Man's Land (1984)

No Man's Land

6.5

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Maggie Hodiak

1984

 

Harry Anderson, Selma Diamond, Ellen Foley, John Larroquette, Richard Moll, and Charles Robinson in Night Court (1984)

Night Court

7.7

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Eleanor Brandon

1984

1 episode

 

Trauma Center (1983)

Trauma Center

6.6

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1983

1 episode

 

Baby Makes Five (1983)

Baby Makes Five

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Blanche Riddle

1983

5 episodes

 

Gun Shy (1983)

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1983

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Madolyn Smith Osborne in The Other Woman (1983)

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Mrs. Barnes

1983

 

Ricardo Montalban and Hervé Villechaize in Fantasy Island (1977)

Fantasy Island

6.6

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Brian's Mother

Mabel Martin

Charlotte

1978–1983

3 episodes

 

Denzel Washington, Ed Begley Jr., David Morse, Howie Mandel, Cynthia Sikes, Ellen Bry, William Daniels, and Ed Flanders in St. Elsewhere (1982)

St. Elsewhere

8.0

TV Series

Dee Mackaluso

1983

1 episode

 

Lee Horsley in Matt Houston (1982)

Matt Houston

6.5

TV Series

Lauren Calder

1983

1 episode

 

Romance Theatre (1982)

Romance Theatre

8.8

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Estelle

1982

5 episodes

 

Deborah Van Valkenburgh in Too Close for Comfort (1980)

Too Close for Comfort

6.6

TV Series

Irene Miller

1982

1 episode

 

Lewis & Clark (1981)

Lewis & Clark

6.4

TV Series

Rose

1981

1 episode

 

Flamingo Road (1980)

Flamingo Road

6.5

TV Series

Jenny

1981

1 episode

 

James Garner in Bret Maverick (1981)

Bret Maverick

7.5

TV Series

Mandy Packer

1981

2 episodes

 

Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, and Anson Williams in Happy Days (1974)

Happy Days

7.4

TV Series

Angela

1981

1 episode

 

Angel on My Shoulder (1980)

Angel on My Shoulder

6.2

TV Movie

Dolly Blaine

1980

 

Willie Aames, Betty Buckley, Grant Goodeve, Dianne Kay, Connie Needham, Lani O'Grady, Adam Rich, Susan Richardson, Dick Van Patten, and Laurie Walters in Eight Is Enough (1977)

Eight Is Enough

6.6

TV Series

Auntie V

Auntie Vi

1977–1980

5 episodes

 

Adrienne Barbeau, Dominique Dunne, Howard Duff, Lisa Hartman, Bill Daily, Dody Goodman, Christopher Knight, Stuart Pankin, and Mary Louise Weller in Valentine Magic on Love Island (1980)

Valentine Magic on Love Island

5.2

TV Movie

Madge

1980

 

Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Carroll O'Connor, and Jean Stapleton in All in the Family (1971)

All in the Family

8.4

TV Series

Denise

1976–1978

3 episodes

 

Noah Beery Jr. and James Garner in The Rockford Files (1974)

The Rockford Files

8.2

TV Series

Miriam

1978

1 episode

 

Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

6.5

TV Series

Joan

1978

1 episode

 

Kam Fong, Al Harrington, Jack Lord, and James MacArthur in Hawaii Five-O (1968)

Hawaii Five-O

7.4

TV Series

Minnie Cahoon

1978

1 episode

 

Polly Holliday, Beth Howland, and Linda Lavin in Alice (1976)

Alice

6.8

TV Series

Ruth

1978

1 episode

 

Fred Grandy, Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, Gavin MacLeod, and Lauren Tewes in The Love Boat (1977)

The Love Boat

6.3

TV Series

Phyllis Morrison

1978

1 episode

 

John Hillerman and Betty White in The Betty White Show (1977)

The Betty White Show

6.9

TV Series

Wilma

1977

1 episode

 

Art Carney in Lanigan's Rabbi (1976)

Lanigan's Rabbi

6.4

TV Series

Kate Lanigan

1976–1977

5 episodes

 

The Nancy Walker Show (1976)

The Nancy Walker Show

6.7

TV Series

1976

1 episode

 

Richard Crenna and Bernadette Peters in All's Fair (1976)

All's Fair

7.1

TV Series

Barbara

1976

2 episodes

 

The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970)

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

8.3

TV Series

Charlene Maguire

1976

1 episode

 

Robert Forster, David Birney, and Richard E. Kalk in Police Story (1973)

Police Story

7.5

TV Series

Mrs. Driscoll

Harry's Wife

1974–1975

2 episodes

 

Medical Story (1975)

Medical Story

7.4

TV Series

Nurse

1975

1 episode

 

Barnard Hughes in Doc (1975)

Doc

6.9

TV Series

1975

1 episode

 

Joe Forrester (1975)

Joe Forrester

7.3

TV Series

Irene

1975

1 episode

 

Lloyd Bridges and Dane Clark in Cop on the Beat (1975)

Cop on the Beat

6.4

TV Movie

Irene

1975

 

The Turning Point of Jim Malloy (1975)

The Turning Point of Jim Malloy

7.0

TV Movie

Lonnie

1975

 

Mike Connors in Mannix (1967)

Mannix

7.4

TV Series

Georgia Durian

1973

1 episode

 

George Peppard in Banacek (1972)

Banacek

7.7

TV Series

Lydia

1972

1 episode

 

Peter Falk in Columbo (1971)

Columbo

8.3

TV Series

Goldie Williamson

1972

1 episode

 

George Kennedy in Sarge (1971)

Sarge

7.3

TV Series

Marian Hart

1971

1 episode

 

Roberta

7.6

TV Movie

Scharwenka

1969

 

Henry Fonda, Janis Paige, Janice Rule, Michael Shea, Fay Spain, and Keenan Wynn in Welcome to Hard Times (1967)

Welcome to Hard Times

5.8

Adah

1967

 

Red Skelton in The Red Skelton Hour (1951)

The Red Skelton Hour

8.1

TV Series

Hatta Mari

Mrs. Cavendish

School Teacher

1959–1965

3 episodes

 

David Janssen in The Fugitive (1963)

The Fugitive

8.1

TV Series

Hallie Martin

1964

1 episode

 

Burke's Law (1963)

Burke's Law

7.3

TV Series

Sharon McCauley

1964

1 episode

 

The Caretakers (1963)

The Caretakers

5.6

Marion

1963

 

The Dick Powell Theatre (1961)

The Dick Powell Theatre

7.5

TV Series

Lavern

1963

1 episode

 

Follow the Boys (1963)

Follow the Boys

5.3

Liz Bradville

1963

 

Fred Astaire in Alcoa Premiere (1961)

Alcoa Premiere

7.1

TV Series

Connie Rankin

1962

1 episode

 

87th Precinct (1961)

87th Precinct

8.2

TV Series

Cheryl Anderson

1962

1 episode

 

The Big Step

Singer

1961

 

Bachelor in Paradise (1961)

Bachelor in Paradise

6.3

Dolores Jynson

1961

 

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956)

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

8.1

TV Series

Kathy Hewitt

1961

1 episode

 

The Chevy Show (1960)

The Chevy Show

7.4

TV Series

Kathy Hewitt

1961

1 episode

 

John McIntire in Wagon Train (1957)

Wagon Train

7.5

TV Series

Nellie Jefferson

1961

1 episode

 

The Ann Sothern Show (1958)

The Ann Sothern Show

7.8

TV Series

Edith

1960

1 episode

 

Ronald Reagan in General Electric Theater (1953)

General Electric Theater

6.9

TV Series

1960

1 episode

 

Hooray for Love

2.9

TV Movie

1960

 

Maisie

8.2

TV Movie

Maisie Ravier

1960

 

The Secret World of Eddie Hodges (1960)

The Secret World of Eddie Hodges

8.0

TV Movie

Circus Star

1960

 

Doris Day, David Niven, Baby Gellert, Charles Herbert, Stanley Livingston, Flip Mark, Janis Paige, and Hobo in Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960)

Please Don't Eat the Daisies

6.4

Deborah Vaughn

1960

 

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1958)

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

8.0

TV Series

The Redhead

1959

1 episode

 

Roberta

6.9

TV Movie

Scharwenka

1958

 

Shower of Stars (1954)

Shower of Stars

7.4

TV Series

Janis Paige

1958

1 episode

 

Hal Baylor, Hans Conried, and Chuck Hicks in Schlitz Playhouse (1951)

Schlitz Playhouse

7.7

TV Series

Bebe Evans

1958

1 episode

 

Studio 57 (1954)

Studio 57

7.6

TV Series

1957

1 episode

 

Lux Video Theatre (1950)

Lux Video Theatre

7.6

TV Series

Iris

1957

1 episode

 

Silk Stockings (1957)

Silk Stockings

6.8

Peggy Dayton

1957

 

It's Always Jan (1955)

It's Always Jan

7.3

TV Series

Jan Stewart

1955–1956

26 episodes

 

The Philip Morris Playhouse (1953)

The Philip Morris Playhouse

7.7

TV Series

1954

1 episode

 

The Plymouth Playhouse (1953)

The Plymouth Playhouse

6.6

TV Series

1953

1 episode

 

Two Gals and a Guy (1951)

Two Gals and a Guy

7.2

Della Oliver

Sylvia Latour

1951

 

Mister Universe (1951)

Mister Universe

6.5

Lorraine

1951

 

This Side of the Law (1950)

This Side of the Law

6.4

Nadine Taylor

1950

 

Eduardo Ciannelli and Janis Paige in La strada buia (1950)

La strada buia

5.7

Barbara Clementi

1950

 

Bruce Bennett, Wayne Morris, and Janis Paige in The House Across the Street (1949)

The House Across the Street

6.0

Kit Williams

1949

 

Bruce Bennett, Robert Hutton, Wayne Morris, and Janis Paige in The Younger Brothers (1949)

The Younger Brothers

5.2

Kate Shepherd

1949

 

Don DeFore, Dorothy Malone, Dennis Morgan, and Janis Paige in One Sunday Afternoon (1948)

One Sunday Afternoon

5.6

Virginia Brush

1948

 

Doris Day, Jack Carson, Don DeFore, and Janis Paige in Romance on the High Seas (1948)

Romance on the High Seas

7.0

Elvira Kent

1948

 

Robert Hutton, Janis Paige, and Joyce Reynolds in Wallflower (1948)

Wallflower

6.0

Joy Linnett

1948

 

Winter Meeting (1948)

Winter Meeting

6.2

Peggy Markham

1948

 

Robert Hutton and Joyce Reynolds in Always Together (1947)

Always Together

5.7

Polly (uncredited)

1947

 

Bruce Bennett, Dennis Morgan, Janis Paige, and Jane Wyman in Cheyenne (1947)

Cheyenne

6.5

Emily Carson

1947

 

Jack Carson, Robert Hutton, Janis Paige, and Martha Vickers in Love and Learn (1947)

Love and Learn

6.0

Jackie

1947

 

Jack Carson, Carmen Cavallaro, Dennis Morgan, Janis Paige, S.Z. Sakall, and Martha Vickers in The Time, the Place and the Girl (1946)

The Time, the Place and the Girl

5.9

Sue Jackson

1946

 

Jack Carson, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, and Janis Paige in Two Guys from Milwaukee (1946)

Two Guys from Milwaukee

6.4

Polly Pringle

1946

 

Paul Henreid, Eleanor Parker, and Alexis Smith in Of Human Bondage (1946)

Of Human Bondage

6.3

Sally Athelny

1946

 

Dane Clark, Janis Paige, and Zachary Scott in Her Kind of Man (1946)

Her Kind of Man

6.1

Georgia King

1946

 

Hollywood Canteen (1944)

Hollywood Canteen

7.0

Studio Guide

1944

 

I Won't Play (1944)

I Won't Play

6.7

Short

Kim Karol

Sally

1944

 

Bathing Beauty (1944)

Bathing Beauty

6.4

Janis

1944

 

Producer

We Think the World Is Round

TV Movie

associate producer

1984

 

Soundtrack

That's Entertainment! III (1994)

That's Entertainment! III

7.5

performer: "Stereophonic Sound" 1955 (uncredited)

1994

 

Roberta

7.6

TV Movie

performer: "I Won't Dance"

1969

 

Bob Hope in The Bob Hope Show (1950)

The Bob Hope Show

7.4

TV Series

performer: "Big Spender"

performer: "Lullaby of Broadway"

performer: "I'm Going to Live Until I Die", "Love Is a Feeling"

1957–1966

3 episodes

 

Red Skelton in The Red Skelton Hour (1951)

The Red Skelton Hour

8.1

TV Series

performer: "Teamwork"

1962

1 episode

 

Shower of Stars (1954)

Shower of Stars

7.4

TV Series

performer: "There Once Was A Man", "Mr. Wonderful", "Two Little Girls From Little Rock" (uncredited)

1958

1 episode

 

The Big Record (1957)

The Big Record

7.0

TV Series

performer: "Bye Bye Love" (uncredited)

1957

1 episode

 

Silk Stockings (1957)

Silk Stockings

6.8

performer: "Stereophonic Sound", "Satin and Silk", "Josephine" (uncredited)

1957

 

It's Always Jan (1955)

It's Always Jan

7.3

TV Series

performer: "I Feel Like A Feather In The Breeze" (uncredited)

1956

1 episode

 

Robert Hutton, Janis Paige, and Joyce Reynolds in Wallflower (1948)

Wallflower

6.0

performer: "I May Be Wrong (But, I Think You're Wonderful)" (uncredited)

1948

 

Bruce Bennett, Dennis Morgan, Janis Paige, and Jane Wyman in Cheyenne (1947)

Cheyenne

6.5

performer: "Going Back to Old Cheyenne", "I'm So in Love" (uncredited)

1947

 

Jack Carson, Carmen Cavallaro, Dennis Morgan, Janis Paige, S.Z. Sakall, and Martha Vickers in The Time, the Place and the Girl (1946)

The Time, the Place and the Girl

5.9

performer: "I Happened to Walk Down First Street", "A Rainy Night in Rio"

1946

 

Dane Clark, Janis Paige, and Zachary Scott in Her Kind of Man (1946)

Her Kind of Man

6.1

performer: "Something to Remember You By", "Body and Soul"

1946

 

I Won't Play (1944)

I Won't Play

6.7

Short

performer: "Body and Soul" (1930) (uncredited)

1944

 

Bathing Beauty (1944)

Bathing Beauty

6.4

performer: "I'll Take the High Note" (1943) (uncredited)

1944

 

Broadway

Special Events

Alone Together (Oct 21, 1984 - Jan 12, 1985)

Starring: Janis Paige [Helene Butler]

PlayOriginal

Mame (May 24, 1966 - Jan 03, 1970)

Starring: Janis Paige

Mame Dennis - Replacement (Apr 01, 1968 - Nov 30, 1968)

MusicalComedyOriginal

Here's Love (Oct 03, 1963 - Jul 25, 1964)

Starring: Janis Paige

Doris Walker - (Oct 02, 1963 - May 24, 1964)

MusicalOriginal

The Pajama Game (May 13, 1954 - Nov 24, 1956)

Starring: Janis Paige

Babe Williams - (May 13, 1954 - Jun 23, 1955)

MusicalComedyOriginal

Remains to Be Seen (Oct 03, 1951 - Mar 22, 1952)

Starring: Janis Paige [Jody Revere]

PlayComedyOriginal