Janis Paige

Infobox actor
name = Janis Paige

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birthname = Donna Mae Tjaden
birthdate = birth date and age|1922|9|16|mf=y
birthplace = Tacoma, Washington, United States
deathdate =
deathplace =
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Janis Paige (born Donna Mae Tjaden, September 16, 1922 in Tacoma, Washington) is 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.

Real stardom came in 1954 with the feisty role of "Babe" in the hit Broadway musical, "The Pajama Game", co-starring John Raitt. However, Doris Day, a bigger name in Hollywood, went on to play the role on film with Raitt. After a six-year hiatus, Janis returned to films in tongue-in-cheek support, all but stealing the movie "Silk Stockings" in 1957 from co-stars Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.

She then grabbed her share of laughs in "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" in 1960, which starred Doris Day. One of her most remarkable dramatic roles was her streetwise characterization of "Marion", an institutionalized hooker, in the 1963 drama, "The Caretakers". Paige returned to Broadway in 1963 in "Here's Love" and as one of a succession of actresses playing the title role in the musical "Mame". She also appeared in touring productions of musicals such as "Annie Get Your Gun", as "Margo Channing" in "Applause", "Mama Rose" in "", and as "Miss Adelaide" in"Guys and Dolls".

From the mid-1950s on Janis also made a name for herself on television with such series as "It's Always Jan", "Lanigan’s Rabbi", "Trapper John, M.D.", "Caroline in the City", and "All in the Family".

In the 1980s and 1990s, she was seen on soap operas such as "General Hospital", "Capitol", and "Santa Barbara".

Thrice married, but childless, she is the widow of composer Ray Gilbert, who wrote the classic song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah".

Filmography

Features:
* "Bathing Beauty" (1944)
* "Hollywood Canteen" (1944)
* "Her Kind of Man" (1946)
* "Of Human Bondage" (1946)
* "Two Guys from Milwaukee" (1946)
* "The Time, the Place and the Girl" (1946)
* "Love and Learn" (1947)
* "Cheyenne" (1947)
* "Always Together" (1947)
* "Winter Meeting" (1948)
* "Wallflower" (1948)
* "Romance on the High Seas" (1948)
* "One Sunday Afternoon" (1948)
* "Fugitive Lady" (1949)
* "The Younger Brothers" (1949)
* "The House Across the Street" (1949)
* "This Side of the Law" (1950)
* "Mr. Universe" (1951)
* "Two Gals and a Guy" (1951)
* "Silk Stockings" (1957)
* "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" (1960)
* "Bachelor in Paradise" (1961)
* "Follow the Boys" (1963)
* "The Caretakers" (1963)
* "Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
* "Natural Causes" (1994)
* "" (2003 documentary)Short Subjects:
* "I Won't Play" (1944)
* "So You Want to Be in Pictures" (1947)
* "So You Want to Be an Actor" (1949)

Television work

* "It's Always Jan" (1955 – 1956)
* "The Secret World of Eddie Hodges" (1960)
* "Maisie" (1960) (unsold pilot)
* "" (1964)
* "Roberta" (1969)
* "" (1972)
* "The Turning Point of Jim Malloy" (1975)
* "Cop on the Beat" (1975)
* "Lanigan's Rabbi" (1977) (canceled after 4 episodes)
* "Valentine Magic on Love Island" (1980)
* "Angel on My Shoulder" (1980)
* "Happy Days" (1981)
* "Bret Maverick" (1981) (pilot for series)
* "Gun Shy" (1983) (canceled after 6 episodes)
* "Baby Makes Five" (1983) (canceled after 5 episodes)
* "No Man's Land" (1984)
* "Night Court" (1984)
* "Trapper John, M.D." (cast member from 1985 – 1986)
* "Capitol" (cast member in 1987)
* "General Hospital" (cast member in 1989)
* "Santa Barbara" (cast member from 1990 – 1993)

References

*

Persondata
NAME= Paige, Janis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Tjaden, Donna Mae
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1922-9-16
PLACE OF BIRTH= Tacoma, Washington, United States
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=