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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Photos
Movies (49)
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
2021 · Self
Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission
2021 · Self
This Is Bob Hope...
2017 · Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1970's
2009 · Self
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
2009 · Self
Cole Porter in Hollywood: Satin and Silk
2003 · Self
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
2003 · Self
That's Entertainment! III
1994 · (archive footage) (uncredited)
Natural Causes
1994 · Mrs. MacCarthy
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
1990 · Self
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
1988 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
We Think the World Is Round
1984 · Nina (voice)
No Man's Land
1984 · Maggie Hodiak
The Other Woman
1983 · Mrs. barnes
Love at the Top
1982 · Estelle
Angel on My Shoulder
1980 · Dolly Blaine
Valentine Magic on Love Island
1980 · Madge
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976 · (archive footage)
Lanigan's Rabbi
1976 · Kate Lanigan
Cop on the Beat
1975 · Irene
The Turning Point of Jim Malloy
1975 · Lonnie
Roberta
1969 · Scharwenka
Welcome to Hard Times
1967 · Adah
The Caretakers
1963 · Marion
Follow the Boys
1963 · Liz
Bachelor in Paradise
1961 · Dolores Jynson
Please Don't Eat the Daisies
1960 · Deborah Vaughn
Silk Stockings
1957 · Peggy Dayton
Two Gals and a Guy
1951 · Della Oliver / Sylvia Latour
Mister Universe
1951 · Lorraine
This Side of the Law
1950 · Nadine Taylor
Fugitive Lady
1950 · Barbara Clementi
The House Across the Street
1949 · Kit Williams
The Younger Brothers
1949 · Kate Shepherd
One Sunday Afternoon
1948 · Virginia Brush
Romance on the High Seas
1948 · Mrs. Elvira Kent
Wallflower
1948 · Joy Linnett
Winter Meeting
1948 · Peggy Markham
Always Together
1947 · Polly (uncredited)
So You Want to Be in Pictures
1947 · Self (uncredited)
Cheyenne
1947 · Emily Carson
Love and Learn
1947 · Jackie
The Time, The Place and The Girl
1946 · Sue Jackson
Two Guys from Milwaukee
1946 · Polly
Of Human Bondage
1946 · Sally Athelny
Her Kind of Man
1946 · Georgia King
Hollywood Canteen
1944 · Studio Guide
I Won't Play
1944 · Kim Karol / Sally
Bathing Beauty
1944 · Janis
TV shows (59)
Legends
2006 · Elvira Kent (archive footage) (uncredited)
Family Law
1999 · Ann Fox
Caroline in the City
1995 · Loretta
Shades of L.A.
1990
Mission: Impossible
1988 · Katherine Foster
Santa Barbara
1984 · Minx Lockridge
Night Court
1984 · Eleanor Brandon
Trauma Center
1983
Baby Makes Five
1983
Gun Shy
1983 · Nettie McCoy
St. Elsewhere
1982 · Dee Mackaluso
Matt Houston
1982 · Lauren Calder
Capitol
1982
Bret Maverick
1981 · Mandy Packer
Lewis & Clark
1981
Flamingo Road
1981
Trapper John, M.D.
1979 · Catherine Hackett
Fantasy Island
1978 · Charlotte, Brian's Mother
The Love Boat
1977 · Phyllis Morrison
The Betty White Show
1977 · Wilma
Eight Is Enough
1977 · Auntie V
Lanigan's Rabbi
1977 · Kate Lanigan
Charlie's Angels
1976 · Joan
All's Fair
1976
Alice
1976 · Paco
Medical Story
1975 · Nurse
The Rockford Files
1974 · Miriam
Happy Days
1974 · Angela
Police Story
1973 · Irene
Banacek
1972 · Lydia
Columbo
1971 · Goldie Williamson
Sarge
1971 · Marian Hart
All in the Family
1971 · Denise
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970 · Charlene Maguire
Hawaii Five-O
1969 · Minnie Cahoon
Mannix
1967 · Georgia Durian
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963 · Self
Burke's Law
1963 · Sharon McCauley
The Fugitive
1963 · Hallie Martin
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Self
The Mike Douglas Show
1961 · Self
87th Precinct
1961 · Cheryl Anderson
The Bell Telephone Hour
1959 · Self
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Wagon Train
1957 · Nellie Jefferson
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956 · Self
Tony Awards
1956 · Self - Presenter
It's Always Jan
1955
Climax!
1954 · Barbara
The George Gobel Show
1954 · Self
Studio 57
1954
General Electric Theater
1953
The Ezio Pinza Show
1951 · Self
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 · Bebe Evans
The Red Skelton Show
1951 · School Teacher, Janis Paige, Hatta Mari, Mrs. Cavendish
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · Iris
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950 · Self
The Bob Hope Show
1950 · Self, Madame Nunez
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Self