Janis Paige, a singer and actress who starred in the original Broadway version of 'The Pajama Game,' died on Sunday, June 2, at her home in Los Angeles. She was 101.
Her friend Stuart Lampert told The Associated Press that Paige had died from natural causes.
Paige made her Broadway debut in the mystery comedy 'Remains to Be Seen,' starring alongside Jackie Cooper in 1951. However, three years later, she landed her iconic stage role in the popular musical comedy 'The Pajama Game.'
'The Pajama Game' focuses on Babe Williams, a union organizer in a factory, who develops feelings for the new superintendent. Her role was played by Doris Day in the 1957 film version.
She returned to Broadway thrice when she starred in the musicals 'Alone Together' (1984) and 'Here's Love' (1963). She played the title role in 'Mame' in 1968 as a replacement cast.
Along the way, Paige starred in several films and TV shows, including 1946's 'Hollywood Canteen,' based on the popular nightclub where Paige was first discovered. Over the next five years, she made several appearances in Warner Bros. films, often starring opposite Jack Carson, Dennis Morgan, and Robert Hutton.
"When you go on an audition as an actor, it's not about the job," she said in a 2005 interview for the Television Academy Foundation. "It's about the privilege of acting. Of working in front of somebody and acting."
Among her most well-known appearances on film were those opposite 'Day in Please Don't Eat the Daisies' and the 1957 'Silk Stockings,' which also starred Peter Lorre and George Tobias.
Furthermore, she appeared in daytime programs, such as 'General Hospital' as Iona Huntington and 'Santa Barbara' as Minx Lockridge. Her last credit was an episode of 'Family Law' from 2001.
