RIP Ken Page, Nightmare Before Christmas star

Ken Page, the Broadway star behind numerous legendary musical roles and voice actor of the villainous Oogie Boogie The nightmare before Christmashas died. A representative for Page confirmed this TMZ that the actor died “very peacefully” in his sleep at his home in St. Louis on Monday. He was 70 years old.

“He was a beautiful, talented man who was larger than life,” his rep Lance Kirkland told the outlet. “Ken was loved and adored by so many and we will miss him greatly.”

Ken Page was born in St. Louis in 1954 and began his career at his hometown theater, The Muny. His first role on Broadway was in the original cast of The magicianwhere he served as an understudy for the role of “Lion.” He next appeared in the 1976 revival of Boys and dolls The cast was all black and won a Theater World Award for his role as Nicely-Nicely Johnson. In 1978 he was part of the original cast of It’s not bad behaviorfor which he won a Drama Desk Award. He was also the originator of the role of Old Deuteronomy in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway production Cats in 1982; He reprized the role for the 1998 film version of the stage show.

Page appeared on television several times throughout his career on shows such as Give me a break! (Opposite Is not wrongdoing‘ co-star Nell Carter), sable, Family matters, Adventures in Wonderland, CharmedAnd Touched by an angel. He was part of the cast of the 2006 film adaptation dream girl and lent his voice to the 1989 animated film All dogs go to heaven. His voice for Oogie Boogie is particularly noteworthy The nightmare before Christmasa role he would repeat in video games like that Kingdom Hearts series and in various concert appearances. Per Broadway worldin later years he had his own cabaret show Page by page. He continued to appear frequently in shows at The Muny, most recently in the 2023 production West Side Story and their production in 2024 Les Miserables.