Janis Paige

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Janis Paige (born September 16, 1922 in Tacoma , Washington ; actually: Donna Mae Tjaden ) is an American actress who was best known for musical comedies in the 1940s and 1950s.

life and career

Janis Paige already stood out as a child with her good singing voice. So her mother wanted to train her to be an opera singer. But Paige was more inclined to show business . She moved to Los Angeles , changed her name and got a job as a singer in the Hollywood Canteen , a film studio-funded entertainment venue for soldiers during World War II . There she was discovered by MGM and signed, but only used in a small role in the Esther Williams film Bathing Venus (1944). After a year Janis Paige moved to Warner Bros. , where she mostly had to play the fun-loving friend of the leading actress with little success in secondary films. Her best chance of stardom was in 1948 by starring in the musical comedy Magic Nights in Rio . However, the film gained prominence primarily as Doris Day's film debut . Janis Paige had more success the following year as a sharp-tongued reporter in the crime comedy One Morning on Hopkins Street .

The big breakthrough still failed to materialize. Warner did not renew the expiring contract. Janis Paige toured then through nightclubs in Europe and North America and has appeared in various TV shows, including 1955 in a short-lived own personality show: It's Always Jan . On Broadway , she had a huge hit in the crime comedy Remains to Be Seen in 1951, opposite the former child star Jackie Cooper . Finally, in 1954, with the lead role in the musical The Pajama Game , she finally made her breakthrough to star, at least on stage. When Janis Paige's former employer Warner Bros. filmed the play (Picnic in Pajamas) in 1957 , almost the entire stage cast was taken over, but Janis Paige was replaced by Doris Day. In the same year, however, she had her best-known screen appearance for MGM in the film adaptation of the musical Silk Stockings at the side of Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse , and in 1960 she was seen next to her old rival Doris Day in the comedy championship in fling .

In the following years Janis Paige hardly had any screen appearances, but played more than 60 TV roles into the new century, including 1972 in Columbo alongside Peter Falk as "Goldie Williamson", the colorful ex-wife of the murder victim that followed A memorial for eternity (Blueprint For Murder) . From 1990 to 1993 she played the lead role of "Minx Lockridge" in the series California Clan .

From 1962 until his death, she was the third marriage from 1962 to 1976 with the songwriter Ray Gilbert (1912-1976), who wrote the lyrics for the popular Disney song Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Janis Paige  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry at filmreference.com
personal data
SURNAME Paige, Janis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Donna Mae Tjaden
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Tacoma , Washington , United States