Broadway Star, Ken Page, Passes Away At 70

TV & Film

Oct 4

Star of stage and screen Ken Page passed away on September 30th at his home in St Louis. He was seventy years old. A self-confessed music lover raised on Jackie Wilson and Nat Cole, it was no surprise he went into the arts. He performed frequently at the St. Louis Municipal Opera Theater before heading for the bright lights of New York. However, he never forgot his local theater and went back regularly throughout his life. His last show was a production of Waitress earlier this year.

Ken Page burst onto the New York theatre scene as the understudy for the Cowardly Lion in Charlie Smalls’ The Wiz. The soulful adaption of The Wizard of Oz went on to win multiple Tonys and spawned a hit film starring Michael Jackson.

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Page soon became a regular feature on Broadway, starring in the first revival of Guys and Dolls (as Nicely Nicely Johnson) before being cast as Old Deuteronomy in Cats in 1982. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s scoring of Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (T.S Elliot) was filmed for theatrical release in 1998, with Page reprising the role he originated.

Ken Page made the switch to the screen in the short-lived superhero show Sable. But he was soon picked up by a major motion picture, voicing King Gator in the heartwarming children’s classic All Dogs Go To Heaven.

In 1993, Tim Burton came knocking. Ken Page put in a terrifying performance as the bug-infested Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas. He has since featured in Kingdom Hearts and other Disney products as the spooky monster, and it will likely be what he is best known for.

But he never strayed far from the stage, his last major Hollywood movie was another theatre adaptation, Dreamgirls. His natural warmth was perfect for the supportive Max Washington, and he will be sorely missed by fans of theater and film alike.

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