Janis Paige is of the golden age generation as she is currently 102 years old. She is one of the few oldest living celebrities Hollywood has had. At the age of 5, she began to perform publicly and by the time she was done with high school, Janis went on to pursue a career in Broadway.
Janis Paige has performed on Broadway, worked as a cabaret, in TV and movies, done theatre acting, been a TV host, and much more.
If you say Paige has ‘seen it all’ you won’t be far from the truth. Being a centenarian has given her enough time to do whatever presented itself to be done including getting married thrice. The best part? Janis Paige is still quite healthy and has a good memory of her life through the many years. However, she retired from entertainment some years back.
Janis Paige is 102 Years Old
Janis Paige was born on September 16, 1922, in Tacoma, Washington. Her real name at the time of her birth is Donna Mae Tjaden who was born as the only child of Hazel Leah Simmons and George S. Tjaden.
She changed her first name to Janis in honor of Elsie Janis, a well-known and loved World War I entertainer. Then Paige was adopted from her maternal grandmother’s name.
Her lineage can be traced to Norwegian, German, English, and Cornish ancestries. Primarily, Janis is an American whose fame began at the age of 5. At that young age, she performed as an amateur in local shows around her locality. Her love and passion for music began to radiate from then onwards.
Despite being born during the Great Depression, Paige was still able to get a good education. She studied till she got to high school and then moved from Tacoma to Los Angeles.
It was in Los Angeles that she got the chance to live her lifelong dream of being a performer.
On September 16, 2023, Janis Paige would turn 101 years old.
Janis Paige Lives in Los Angeles and is an Author
The centenarian who is one of the few surviving members of Hollywood’s Golden Age became an author on the verge of turning 100.
At the age of 99, in 2021, Janis Paige authored a book titled ‘Reading Between the Lines’. The book is a memoir written to tell the story of her life from rising through poverty, being a Broadway star, serving as a performer during World War II, her stint in Hollywood, and eventual retirement from entertainment.
The Los Angeles-based former actress penned down how she got noticed at the Hollywood Canteen during the Second World War, and how her career has taken her to different countries as a Broadway star. She also narrated her stint in the movie industry and how she felt out of place and took a hiatus from acting. Paige later returned to it after many years, though.
She was active in the entertainment industry for about 6 decades beginning in 1944 and eventually hanging her boots in 2001 at the age of 80.
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Some More Facts About Janis Paige
- She signed a Warner Bros. contract after an agent saw potential in her following her performances at the Hollywood Canteen. She then began to feature in musicals such as Romance on the High Seas (1948). However, after a few roles, she didn’t feel Hollywood was the best place for her so she left.
- Janis went to Broadway and seemed to enjoy performance better there. In 1951, she starred in the 1951’s comedy-mystery play ‘Remains to Be Seen’. At about the same time, she kick-started a career as a cabaret singer. She took a break from Broadway once again only to return in 1963.
- In the same year, she began to tour around the United States of America as a cabaret singer, making waves for herself. Paige however returned to film in 1957 and starred in 1957’s Silk Stockings and many more movies.
- It wasn’t until a decade after making her entertainment debut that Paige got her big break. In 1954, she was plunged into the spotlight with her role as Babe in the Broadway musical piece titled ‘The Pajama Game’.
- From 1955, she began to get roles in TV shows. She starred in shows such as It’s Always Jan, Lux Video Theatre, The Fugitive, Eight is Enough, General Hospital, and Santa Barbara, to name a few.
- Janis Paige was married thrice but had no kids from any of the marriages or outside. Her first marriage was from 1947 to 1965 to Frank Louis Martinelli Jr., a restaurant owner. Her second marriage was in 1956 to TV writer and creator, Arthur Stander but the marriage lasted just 1 year. Paige’s third and last marriage was to composer and music publisher, Ray Gilbert. They were together from 1962 until Ray’s death in 1976.
- The singer and performer, Donna Mae Tjaden famously known as Janis faced an unfortunate situation when she started having troubles with her voice in 2001. This may have contributed to her retirement that year. Janis Paige consulted many voice teachers but they kept on making her situation worse until her encounter with Bruce Eckstut. It was Bruce who was finally able to help Janis restore her voice and get back to singing.
- In 2017, Janis Paige made a revelation that she was almost raped at the age of 22. According to a guest column she wrote on The Hollywood Reporter guest column, the American actress revealed that Alfred Bloomingdale, heir to Bloomingdale’s department store fortune, s*xually assaulted her. She was deceived into visiting his apartment and that was when it happened. Paige was 95 years old at the time of this revelation and she stated that she still remembers how it feels.
- The American Broadway performer and actress, Janis Paige has been a Republican all her life. She supported Dwight Eisenhower during the presidential elections of 1952.
- When her husband died in 1976, she left in charge of the Ipanema Music Company. In addition to heading that company, she was also made an alternate board member of the Songwriters Guild of America.
