Janis Paige had a career that spanned films, stage, the TV screen, and soaps.
Janis Paige, who died on June 2 of natural causes at the age of 101, had quite the show business career before joining the world of soap operas. Following roles on the stage, the big screen, and nighttime television, she played Iona Huntington,Katherine Delafield’s aunt, on General Hospital, and Minx Lockridge on Santa Barbara.
In Memoriam
Born Donna Mae Tjaden on September 16, 1922, in Tacoma, Washington, Paige’s father walked out on his family when his daughter was only four years old. Paige’s mother worked at the Bank of Tacoma. “We always had enough to eat,” the actress told the Saturday Evening Post in 1963, “but nothing to spare…I always wanted to be a success for [my mother], to make up for my father.”
Paige’s big break came during World War II when she sang an aria for enlisted men at the Hollywood Canteen. She had a few lines in the Esther Williams and Ed Skelton MGM film Bathing Beauty.
Next came a role in the Warner Bros. film Hollywood Canteen. Paige headed to Broadway, starring in Remains to Be Seen and The Pajama Game. She later starred in the short-lived 1955-56 TV series It’s Always Jan. She had roles on Flamingo Road, Fantasy Island, and Trapper John, M.D. Paige played a waitress, Denise, on All in the Family, who became involved with Archie (played by Carroll O’Connor).
Paige recurred as Auntie Vi, Tom Bradford’s (Dick Van Patten, the late father-in-law of Young and the Restless star Eileen Davidson, who plays Ashley) larger-than-life sister on Eight is Enough.
In addition to play Katherine Delafield’s (Edie Lehmann) aunt on GH, and Lionel Lockridge’s (Nicolas Coster) mother Minx (the role previously played by Dame Judith Anderson) on Santa Barbara, Paige had other memorable roles. She played Laureen Clegg, Sam’s (Richard Egan) first wife on CAPITOL. She took over the part of Charlene Maguire, Lou Grant’s (Ed Asner) girlfriend from Sheree North on Mary Tyler Moore.
Paige worked with author Ray Richmond in crafting her autobiography, which was released in 2020. The tome, Reading Between the Lines: A Memoir, shared recollections of Paige working with Bette Davis (All About Eve), Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce), David Niven (Casino Royale), Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy), and Clark Gable (Gone With the Wind), among others.
“If Janis was a crusty old gal and often a pain in the ass work with…” Richmond posted on Facebook, “well, she’d earned the right. She fought innumerable battles with people in the business who tried to screw her over and keep her down. Not only did she persevere; she outlived ‘em all. And then some. The last of a breed, to be sure. Safe travels, dear Jan.”
Janis Paige had two short marriages. First, to San Francisco restaurateur Frank Martinelli, and also to writer/producer Arthur Stander. She was also married to songwriter Ray Gilbert, an Oscar-winner for the song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Da” from the Disney film Song of the South.