Janis Paige was born Donna Mae Tjaden on Sept. 16, 1922, in Tacoma, Wash., to George and Hazel Tjaden. (She changed her name to Janis to honor the World War I entertainer Elsie Janis; Paige was a family name on her mother’s side.)
She studied singing in Washington State and performed in local amateur shows until she moved with her mother to Los Angeles. There she paid for voice lessons with office work and other jobs, which included singing at the Hollywood Canteen, a hangout for servicemen on leave.
Ms. Paige was married three times and divorced twice. Her first husband (1947-51) was Frank Martinelli Jr., a restaurateur. Her second (1956-57) was Arthur Stander, the producer of “It’s Always Jan.” In 1962, she married Ray Gilbert, the movie composer. He died in 1976. No immediate family members survive.
If reviews frequently mentioned her curvaceous figure as often as her talent, Ms. Paige faced the same attitudes off-camera.
In a 2017 essay in The Hollywood Reporter, as the #MeToo movement caught fire, she wrote that when she was 22, Alfred S. Bloomingdale, the department store heir, tried to rape her after inviting her to dinner and then to his apartment in Los Angeles. She escaped, she wrote, by biting him and running down six flights of stairs.
Mr. Bloomingdale died in 1982.
“Maybe there’s a special place in hell” for men like him, she said in the essay. She added, “Even at 95, I remember everything.”
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She studied singing in Washington State and performed in local amateur shows until she moved with her mother to Los Angeles. There she paid for voice lessons with office work and other jobs, which included singing at the Hollywood Canteen, a hangout for servicemen on leave.
Ms. Paige was married three times and divorced twice. Her first husband (1947-51) was Frank Martinelli Jr., a restaurateur. Her second (1956-57) was Arthur Stander, the producer of “It’s Always Jan.” In 1962, she married Ray Gilbert, the movie composer. He died in 1976. No immediate family members survive.
If reviews frequently mentioned her curvaceous figure as often as her talent, Ms. Paige faced the same attitudes off-camera.
In a 2017 essay in The Hollywood Reporter, as the #MeToo movement caught fire, she wrote that when she was 22, Alfred S. Bloomingdale, the department store heir, tried to rape her after inviting her to dinner and then to his apartment in Los Angeles. She escaped, she wrote, by biting him and running down six flights of stairs.
Mr. Bloomingdale died in 1982.
“Maybe there’s a special place in hell” for men like him, she said in the essay. She added, “Even at 95, I remember everything.”
Janis Paige, Star of Broadway’s ‘The Pajama Game,’ Is Dead at 101
She first made her mark in the all-star 1944 movie “Hollywood Canteen” before finding acclaim on the musical stage. Movie and TV roles followed.
Janis Paige Dies: Prolific Film, TV & Stage Actor Known For ‘Pajama Game’, ‘Silk Stockings’ & Soaps Was 101
Janis Paige, who racked up more than 100 film, TV and stage credits over six decades including 'The Pajama Game' and 'Silk Stockings,' died June 2 at 101.
deadline.com
