Death of Ken Page: “Nightmare Before Christmas” star dies at the age of 70

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Ken Page, the Broadway star and voice actor who played the character Oogie Boogie The nightmare before Christmas, died at the age of 70.

Page was a prolific actor who also lent his voice All dogs go to heaven and appeared alongside Beyoncé in dream girl.

On stage, he was known for the role of Ken in the Broadway production of It's not bad behavior and plays Old Deuteronomy in a production by Cats that was filmed for television.

TMZ reports that Page died “very peacefully” at his home in St. Louis on September 30.

The publication quotes his representative Lance Kirkland as saying: “He was a beautiful, talented man, larger than life. “Ken was loved and adored by so many and we will miss him greatly.”

Kenneth Page was born on January 20, 1954 in St. Louis. He attended St. Bridget of Erin and St. Nicholas elementary schools and was inspired to pursue a career in theater while attending them. He studied this subject at Fontbonne College in Clayton, Missouri.

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Page made his Broadway debut in The magicianplays the cowardly lion. He then played Nicely-Nicely Johnson Boys and dolls and was part of the original cast of the Fats Waller musical It's not bad behavior. For his performance, he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and reprized the role in a television show in 1982.

That same year, Page played Old Deuteronomy in Cats and later returned to the role for the 1998 video release.

In 1993, Page landed his best-known role as Oogie Boogie, the evil spook of Halloween Town in Tim Burton's. The nightmare before Christmas.

In an interview with DirectConversations, Page recalled that he was initially hired only to sing “Oogie Boogie's Song,” but later brought in several characters he had previously played to also voice the dialogue.

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“First, the filmmakers were looking for someone to just sing 'Oogie Boogie's Song,' and they wanted something like a singer in the style of Cab Calloway or Fats Waller. Someone who could characterize the singing,” Page said.

“So my lawyer said to Danny Elfman, 'I know the person for you – there's no one other than Ken Page who fits that description.' He did these things and embodied many living beings.'”

Composer Elfman and director Henry Selick then asked Page how he would do the speaking voice of Ooogie Boogie.

“I said, 'My take on him would be somewhere between Bert Lahr (actor of the Cowardly Lion) and the voice of the demon The Exorcist“Mercedes McCambridge,” Page recalled with a laugh.

“Danny and Henry kind of looked at me and said, 'Wow – that's wild.' So that was the attitude I gave them and said, “If I go too far one way or the other, you can stop me.” Along with vocals from Cab Calloway and Fats Waller, that's how “Oogie Boogie” came to be. “

In his later years, Page developed and performed a cabaret show, Page by page.