Elaine Paige

Actor
BirthdayMar 5, 1948 (77 years old)
Place of birthBarnet, Hertfordshire, England, UK
GenderFemale

Elaine Jill Paige OBE (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. Her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair marked her West End debut. Following a number of roles over the next decade, Paige was selected to play Eva Perón in the first production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita in 1978, which brought her to the attention of the broader public. For this role, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Performance of the Year in a musical. She originated the role of Grizabella in Cats and had a Top 10 hit with "Memory", a song from the show. In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well" with Barbara Dickson from the musical Chess, which remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo. She then appeared in the original stage production of Chess, followed by a starring role in Anything Goes which she also co-produced. Paige made her Broadway debut in Sunset Boulevard in 1996, playing the lead role of Norma Desmond, to critical acclaim. She appeared in The King and I from 2000 to 2001, and six years later she returned to the West End stage in The Drowsy Chaperone. She has also worked sporadically in television. In addition to being nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, Paige has won many other awards for her theatre roles and has been called the First Lady of British Musical Theatre due to her skill and longevity. She has released 22 solo albums, of which eight were consecutively certified gold and another four multi-platinum. Paige is also featured on seven cast albums and has sung in concerts across the world. Since 2004 she has hosted her own show on BBC Radio 2 called Elaine Paige on Sunday. In 2014, Paige celebrated her 50 years in show business. Paige announced on her official website a "Farewell" concert tour and a new career-spanning album The Ultimate Collection to mark this milestone in her career. Outside of her work in musical theatre, Paige is a vice-president of The Children's Trust, a UK charity for children with brain injury. Elaine Jill Bickerstaff was born and raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, where her father Eric worked as an estate agent and her mother Irene was a milliner. Her mother had been a singer in her youth, and her father was an amateur drummer. Paige stands at just under 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, which she says has caused her to lose out on leading roles. Her original ambition was to become a professional tennis player, at which point her headmistress pointed out to her "they'd never see you over the net", but Paige continued to play tennis and has referred to the sport as one of her passions. ... Source: Article "Elaine Paige" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Known for

Sylvia Reynolds

Mar 23, 1997

Cats

7.3

Grizabella

Oct 5, 1998

Dora Bunner

Dec 12, 2004

Mrs. Octavia Eden

Jan 14, 2013

Suzie

Mar 24, 1979

Self

May 15, 2004

Self

Aug 14, 2006

Self

Oct 3, 1988

Canvasser

Jul 13, 2012

Self

Oct 2, 2008

Self

Jan 28, 1971

Life

7.5

Helen

Sep 29, 2020

Mistress Quince

May 30, 2016

Self

Oct 11, 2004

Self

May 4, 1982

Self

Jan 16, 1982

Self

Oct 14, 1991

Self

Sep 3, 2007

Self

Jan 8, 1978

Sylvia Reynolds

Mar 23, 1997

Cats

7.3

Grizabella

Oct 5, 1998

Dora Bunner

Dec 12, 2004

Mrs. Octavia Eden

Jan 14, 2013

Suzie

Mar 24, 1979

Self

May 15, 2004

Acting


Participated in 22 movies, 24 TV series

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