'All in the Family' and 'Eight Is Enough' Actress Janis Paige Dead at 101

The actress had her own 1950s sitcom and was also a regular guest on 'The Bob Hope Show.'

By Allison Schonter

Janis Page, one of the last remaining stars from Hollywood's Golden Age who racked up more than 100 film, TV, and stage credits, including appearances in All in the Family and Eight Is Enough, has died. Page passed away Sunday of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, her longtime friend Stuart Lampert told the Associated Press on Monday. She was 101.

Born Donna Mae Tjaden on September 16, 1922, in Tacoma, Washington, per The Hollywood Reporter, Page moved with her sister to Los Angeles after graduating from Stadium High School. It was while she was performing at the Hollywood Canteen during World War II that she was discovered by a talent scout, jump starting her six-decade-long career. The actress, who was signed by MGM and later Warner Bros., made her film debut in Bathing Beauty, starring Esther Williams, Red Skelton and Basil Rathbone, and later portrayed a studio messenger in Hollywood Canteen which featured A-listers Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Barbara Stanwyck. On the big screen, Page would go on to star in films including the Fred Astaire/Cyd Charisse Silk Stockings, Her Kind of Man (1945), Of Human Bondage (1946), Love and Learn (1947), and The House Across the Street (1949), among many others.

Janis Paige Commemoration Ceremony At The Actors Fund
(Photo:

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 14: Actress Janis Paige attends a commemoration ceremony for 'The Janis Paige Group Room' and 'The Janis Paige Emotional Wellness Program' at The Actors Fund on July 14, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

- Tara Ziemba/Getty Images)

On TV, Page starred in her own sitcom, It's Always Jan, from 1955 to 1956. The show starred Page as a widowed nightclub singer. She also had a recurring role as Dick van Patten's free-spirited sister Vivian on ABC's Eight Is Enough, guest starred as diner waitress Denise on All in the Family, and played Minx Lockridge on 106 episodes of the NBC soap Santa Barbara. Her other small screen credits include The Mary Tyler Moore Show, NBC's Lanigan's Rabb, Columbo, Hawaii Five-O, Charlie's Angels, The Rockford Files, The Love Boat, Night Court and Trapper John, M.D. Her final credit was a 2001 episode of Family Law.

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Along with her many onscreen credits, Paige also had a bustling Broadway career. Three years after making her Broadway debut in 1951 opposite Jackie Cooper in the mystery comedy Remains to Be Seen, Page starred in the original Broadway production of The Pajama Game as Katherine "Babe" Williams, garment worker at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory and the leader of the plant's Union Grievance Committee who falls in love with the new superintendent. Her role was played by Doris Day, whom she later worked with in Please Don't Eat the Daisies in 1960, in the 1957 film version. Her other Broadway credits include Here's Love (1963), Alone Together (1984), and Mame (1968).

Page was married to restaurateur Frank Martinelli Jr. from 1947 until 1951, and later to Arthur Stander, who wrote and produced It's Always Jan, from 1956 through 1957. She was married to Gilbert from 1962 until his death after open-heart surgery in 1976.

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