Was 101 years old

Hollywood legend Janis Paige has died

Janis Paige with fellow actor Bob Hope in 1964

(Bild: APA/AP Photo, File)

Mourning for one of the last of Hollywood's golden age: acting legend Janis Paige is dead. She died on Sunday in Los Angeles at the age of 101.

As her friend Stuart Lampert confirmed to the US media, Janis Paige died of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles. 

Discovered during a performance
Paige was drawn to the stage at an early age: she began singing as a child and moved to Los Angeles after high school with the dream of becoming an opera singer. 

But then things turned out differently: she was discovered by a talent scout while performing in a nightclub for soldiers. She made her acting debut in the musical film "Bathing Venus" (1944). 

Janis Paige in the 1957 film "Silk Stockings"

(Bild: picturedesk.com/akg-images )

In the shadow of Doris Day
Despite numerous roles, Paige did not make her big breakthrough in Hollywood. She played the leading role in "Magic Nights in Rio" in 1948, but Doris Day stole the show. 

Paige soon moved to Broadway, where she enjoyed success in the musical "The Pajama Game", among others. When the stage play was later filmed under the name "Picnic in Pyjamas", it was Doris Day, not Paige, who got the leading role.

Nevertheless, Paige continued to appear on the big screen, dancing in "Silk Stockings" with Fred Astaire, for example. She also appeared on television - for example in the series "It's Always Jan". 

Janis Paige with fellow actor Bob Hope in 1964

(Bild: APA/AP Photo, File)

Guest contribution on MeToo
In 2017, Janis Paige finally wrote a guest commentary for the Hollywood Reporter in the course of the MeToo debate. In it, she revealed that US entrepreneur Alfred Bloomingdale almost raped her when she was 22.