Joy Page

Joy Page (November 9, 1924 – April 18, 2008) was an American actress best known for her role as the Bulgarian refugee Annina Brandel in Casablanca (1942).

Life

Born Joy Cerrette Paige, she was the daughter of Mexican-American silent film star Don Alvarado (born José Paige) and Ann Boyar (1908–1990), the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. Her parents divorced when she was eight.

In 1936, her mother married Jack L. Warner, then head of Warner Bros. studios. Warner, however, did not encourage his stepdaughter's interest in acting. Page, who initially thought the script to Casablanca was "old fashioned" and "cliched", landed the role on her own and Warner reluctantly approved. She was only seventeen and fresh out of high school.

Warner, however, refused to sign Page to a contract, and she never appeared in another Warner Bros. film. She went on to act in a number of films for other studios, usually billed as Joanne Page, and made some television appearances. In 1945, Page married actor William T. Orr. He became a Warner Bros. executive, leading to accusations of nepotism. She retired from acting after appearing in the first season of Disney's miniseries The Swamp Fox in 1959. The year before, in her final film role, she played Prairie Flower, a Sioux Indian and mother of White Bull, played by Sal Mineo, in Tonka.

Personal life/death

Page and Orr divorced in 1970. Their son, Gregory Orr, is a writer and producer.

Page died on April 18, 2008, of complications arising from a stroke and pneumonia.

Filmography