This joyous scene-stealer started out playing rather bland film ingénues, but never seemed to be comfortable in those roles--she had too much snap, crackle and pop to be confined in such a formulaic way. Born in 1922 in Tacoma, Washington, Janis Paige was singing in public from age 5 in local amateur shows. She moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school and earned a job as a singer at the Hollywood Canteen during the war years. The Canteen, which was a studio-sponsored gathering spot for servicemen, is where she was spotted by a Warner Brothers talent scout, who saw potential in her and signed her up. She began co-starring in secondary musicals that often paired her with either Dennis Morgan or Jack Carson . Later she was relegated to rugged adventures and dramas that just seemed out of her element. Following her role in the forgettable Two Gals and a Guy (1951), she decided to leave the Hollywood scene. She took to the Broadway boards and scored a huge hit with the 1951 comedy-mystery play "Remains to Be Seen", co-starring Jackie Cooper . She also toured successfully as a cabaret singer, performing everywhere from New York to Miami to Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Definitive stardom came in 1954 with the feisty role of Babe in Broadway 's "The Pajama Game" opposite John Raitt . Her old Warner Bros. rival Doris Day , however, was a bigger name and went on to play the role on film ( The Pajama Game (1957)) with Raitt. After a six-year hiatus, Janis returned to films in tongue-and-cheek support, all but stealing Silk Stockings (1957) from co-stars Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse . She then grabbed her share of laughs in a flashy role with the comedy Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) opposite Ms. Day. Janis ventured on in summer stock, playing such indomitable roles as Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun", Margo Channing in "Applause", Mama Rose in "Gypsy" and Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls". From the mid-'50s on, Janis also tapped into TV with such series like "It's Always Jan" (1955), "Lanigan's Rabbi" (1976) and "Trapper John, M.D." (1979). In the 1990s, among other TV appearances, she had recurring roles on the daytime serials "General Hospital" (1963) and "Santa Barbara" (1984). Married three times, she was the widow of Disney composer Ray Gilbert , who wrote the classic children's song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah."
Alternate board member of the Songwriters Guild of America.Chose her first name in honor of Elsie Janis , beloved entertainer of troops during World War I; Paige was her maternal grandmother's name.Measurements: 37 1/2-25-37 (measured in 1954), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)When the hit musical "The Pajama Game" was being transferred to film, both lead stars, she and co-star John Raitt were told either might recreate their respective roles, but not both. The reason given was that neither were established movie stars at the time. Frank Sinatra was approached to do the film, which meant Janis would have co-starred, but he turned it down. Doris Day was offered the role and accepted, so Raitt was taken on board and Paige was out.Was only 12 years older than Nicolas Coster when she played his mother, Minx Lockridge (1990-1993), on "Santa Barbara" (1984).During her Broadway run of "The Pajama Game" in the mid-'50s, she accidentally developed poison oak. Co-star John Raitt had been clearing land and came to the theater with a rash on his hands. Janis missed three weeks of performances and had to endure potassium baths which made her turn purple.Got her start working as a singer at the Hollywood Canteen, where she was discovered by a Warner Brothers talent scout. One of her first film roles was co-starring in the Warner Brothers film, Hollywood Canteen (1944), where she plays a Warner Brothers messenger girl working at the canteen.She was nominated for a 1975 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Guest Artist for her performance in the play, "The Gingerbread Lady," at the Candlelight Forum Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.Stepmother of Joanne Gilbert .She has developed a new autobiographical cabaret show in 2010 that she has been performing to great acclaim in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Are you sure, you want to order Please Don't Eat the Daisies ?
Drama critic Larry McKay, his wife Kay, and their four sons move from their crowded Manhattan apartment to an old house in the country. While housewife Kay settles into suburban life, Larry continues to enjoy the theater and party scene of New York. Kay soon begins to question Larry's fidelity when he mentions a flirtatious encounter with Broadway star Deborah Vaughn.
A musical remake of Ninotchka: After three bumbling Soviet agents fail in their mission to retrieve a straying Soviet composer from Paris, the beautiful, ultra-serious Ninotchka is sent to complete their mission and to retrieve them. She starts out condemning the decadent West, but gradually falls under its spell, with the help of Steve Canfield, an American movie producer.
6.5 
