Ken Page, a renowned voice actor and Broadway star, has passed away at the age of 70, as confirmed by his representative, Lance Kirkland. Page died peacefully in his sleep at his St. Louis home on Monday, September 30.
Kirkland told TMZ that Ken was found in his chair, having “passed away very peacefully.” He described Page as “a beautiful, talented man who was larger than life,” adding that he was “loved and adored by so many and will be deeply missed.”
The heartbreaking news was first shared by Page’s friend, Dorian Hannaway, on Facebook, where she expressed her grief, saying that Ken had “passed onto the next show,” leaving her with a “broken heart.”
Tributes from friends and colleagues began to flow, including from actress Shari Belafonte, who fondly remembered Ken as “one of the sweetest, most talented guys on the planet.”
Page was best known for his iconic role as Oogie Boogie, the villain in Tim Burton’s beloved animated musical, The Nightmare Before Christmas, a seasonal classic during Halloween and Christmas.
Beyond voice acting, Page’s career spanned television and film, including appearances in Family Matters and All Dogs Go to Heaven. He also left a significant mark on Broadway, performing as the Lion in the original 1975 production of The Wiz, Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 1976 revival of Guys and Dolls, and Old Deuteronomy in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats in 1982.
Page’s passing is a great loss to the entertainment industry, coinciding with the death of another Broadway star, Gavin Creel, who succumbed to sarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer, on the same day.
