Janis Paige, star of Hollywood and Broadway, dies at 101

Janis Paige, a popular actor in Hollywood and in Broadway musicals and comedies who danced with Fred Astaire, toured with Bob Hope and continued to perform into her 80s, has died. She was 101.

Janis Paige, a popular actor in Hollywood and in Broadway musicals and comedies who danced with Fred Astaire, toured with Bob Hope and continued to perform into her 80s, has died. She was 101.

Paige died Sunday of natural causes at her Los Angeles home, longtime friend Stuart Lampert said Monday.

Paige starred on Broadway with Jackie Cooper in the mystery-comedy, "Remains to be Seen" and appeared with John Raitt in the smash hit musical "The Pajama Game."

Her other films included a Hope comedy, "Bachelor in Paradise"; the Doris Day comedy "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" and "Follow the Boys."

In 2018, she added her voice to the #MeToo movement, alleging an assault when she was 22 by the late department-store heir Alfred Bloomingdale.

“I could feel his hands, not only on my breasts, but seemingly everywhere. He was big and strong, and I began to fight, kick, bite and scream,” she wrote. “At 95, time is not on my side, and neither is silence. I simply want to add my name and say, ‘Me too.’"

Paige's big break came in wartime when she sang an operatic aria for servicemen at the Hollywood Canteen. MGM hired her a day later for a brief role in "Bathing Beauty" — she spoke two lines in the film, which starred Esther Williams and Red Skelton — then dropped her.