The Nightmare Before Christmas star Ken Page dead at 70: The actor was also a Broadway star who worked on Cats and The Wiz

The Nightmare Before Christmas star Ken Page, who enjoyed a glittering career on Broadway, has died at the age of 70.

His friend, television producer Dorian Hannaway, announced his passing on Monday but did not disclose the cause of death.

‘Ken Page has passed onto the next show. My heart is broken,’ she wrote on her Facebook page, prompting an outpouring of grief-stricken comments. 

Page was a mainstay of the New York stage, playing major roles in the original Broadway productions of such hit musicals as Cats and The Wiz. 

He reached a new generation of fans in the 1990s as the voice of Oogie Boogie, the villain of Tim Burton‘s animated classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The Nightmare Before Christmas star Ken Page, who enjoyed a glittering career on Broadway, has died at the age of 70; pictured this April

Page was born in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri, where he developed an interest in the arts as a child, listening to Barbra Streisand and reading the novel To Sir, With Love.

He was always entranced by the theater, writing and directing musicals when he was in middle school, according to St. Louis magazine. 

After studying theater at college on a full scholarship, he struck out to New York City in the mid-1970s to make his bones on the stage.

Just two years after his arrival in New York, he made his Broadway debut in the all-black 1976 revival of the classic 1950s musical Guys And Dolls.

Page had a plum character part, playing a gambler who leads a prayer meeting with the barnstorming gospel number Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat.

His turn in Guys And Dolls established him on Broadway and set him up for one of the biggest roles of his career – the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz.

The Wiz originally opened in 1975 with Ted Ross in the role of the Lion, with Page eventually stepping in as his replacement. 

Page always spoke glowingly of the show in artistic terms – but the rigorous choreography and the heavy costume caused him to have health problems.

He reached a new generation of fans in the 1990s as the voice of Oogie Boogie, the villain of Tim Burton ‘s animated classic The Nightmare Before Christmas

In the decades since, he has frequently featured at Disney events to sing the character’s big song for audiences of delighted children; pictured in the film

One of his most beloved roles was as the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz, which opened on Broadway in 1975 with Ted Ross in the role, with Page replacing him in 1977

In 1982, he played Old Deuteronomy in the original Broadway production of Cats; he is pictured in 1998 in a filmed production of the show for the BBC

His sweat was trapped in by the costume and began seeping toxically back into his body, on top of which he developed knee problems from crawling around onstage.

Only then did he discover that Ted Ross had ‘had to have his knees drained once a week’ while in The Wiz, Page told A Musical Theater Podcast. 

Page ultimately left the show because of his mounting medical issues, but always retained an affection for the material, attending the opening night of a revival of The Wiz on Broadway earlier this year. 

Next came another professional coup – Page landed a lead role in the original Broadway cast of the beloved stage piece Ain’t Misbehavin’ in 1978.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ was a jukebox musical devoted to the work of Fats Waller, an interwar jazz legend whose mannerisms were uncannily captured by Page.

Page maintained a connection to the show throughout his life, repeatedly directing productions of Ain’t Misbehavin’ in various theaters around America. 

In 1982, he played Old Deuteronomy in the original Broadway production of Cats, which was preceded by a feverish media frenzy when it arrived in New York City after a sensationally successful run in London.

With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, set to an old children’s poetry book by TS Eliot, the plotless dance-driven show became a groundbreaking piece of Broadway history, thanks in large part to the choreography by Gillian Lynne.

Just two years after his arrival in New York, he made his Broadway debut in the all-black 1976 revival of  Guys And Dolls; he is pictured (right) in the show with Christophe Pierre (left)

His first love remained the stage, and he kept working in various cities, directing stage shows and performing his old songs in a cabaret act

 ‘Why do I still do it?’ he said onstage during his cabaret act in July:  ‘I want to give people joy’; he is pictured at The Coast Playhouse in 2010

Page felt like he had ‘won the lottery’ when he was cast in as the ancient cat Old Deuteronomy, widely respected for the wisdom he has earned over the years.

‘It was pretty close to like an opening night of a show, because we all knew that Cats was going to be a huge hit. It already had an advance of millions of dollars, and the whole city, the whole country was kind of talking about it, because it was that rare thing in the theater that was a phenomenon beyond the theater,’ he said. 

‘It was very thrilling, because when I told friends that I’d been cast, I mean everybody wanted to be in it,’ he told the Front Row Network podcast. 

Cats was also a show that remained a part of Page’s life for a long time, with him repeatedly reprising the role of Old Deuteronomy as he got older.

In the 1993 he enraptured movie audiences by lending his baritone voice to the stop-motion animated classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.

He featured as the villain Oogie Boogie, a large sentient burlap sack whose insides turn out to be completely made up of live bugs.

In the decades since, he has frequently featured at Disney events to sing the character’s big song for audiences of delighted children.

‘Disney has been wonderful to me over the years,’ he told Direct Conversations.  ‘When I see little kids, because they don’t often connect the person and the voice of a character they see on film, I’ll bend down and go: “Well, well, well. What have we here?” When you see their faces light up, it’s worth a million bucks.’

In his personal life, Page, who was gay, never concealed his sexual orientation, and ultimately never married or had children. 

‘I’m not closeted, never have been to my knowledge. But “gay” means so many different things to people,’ he remarked.

In response to young gay people talking about their sexuality, he tended to think: ‘Be careful. I understand, believe me – because I fought for your label. But don’t define yourself by the label you put on yourself.’

During his later years, he continued acting in movies – including as a nightclub owner in the 2006 film of the Broadway show Dreamgirls, amid an all-star cast that included Beyonce, Jamie Foxx and an Oscar-winning Jennifer Hudson.  

However, his first love remained the stage, and he kept working in various cities, directing stage shows and performing his old songs in a cabaret act.

Page’s cabaret career continued right up to the end of his life – two months ago he earned acclaim for his club act in Palm Springs.

‘Why do I still do it?’ he said onstage at that show, according to a rave review in Stage And Cinema. ‘I want to give people joy.’