Joy Page

Joy Page, born on Nov 09, 1924, passed away on Apr 18, 2008.

Obituary:

Obituary

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Joy Page, the stepdaughter of former Warner Bros. studio chief Jack L. Warner who made her film acting debut as a Bulgarian newlywed in "Casablanca," has died. She was 83.

Page died Friday of complications from a stroke and pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said her son, Gregory Orr.

Born Nov. 9, 1924, in Los Angeles, Page was the daughter of silent screen star Don Alvarado (also known as Don Page) and Ann Boyar, who married Warner after she and Alvarado divorced.

Page was a high school senior when she snagged the role of Annina Brandel in the 1942 classic "Casablanca" starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

Warner had brought home an early draft of the film. Page's acting coach Sophie Rosenstein suggested Page read for the part, Orr said.

In the movie, Page's character is caught in a moral pickle because she and her husband, a gambler, need exit visas to get out of Casablanca and go to America. The only way for them to leave is if she sleeps with Capt. Renault (Claude Rains). Bogart, playing the owner of Rick's Cafe Americaine, lets her husband win at roulette so he can buy the visas.

Orr said that while Warner liked Page's work in the film, he would not sign her to a studio contract or cast her in other Warner Bros. films.

Her other screen credits include the 1944 MGM film "Kismet" with Marlene Dietrich and 1948's "Man-Eater of Kumaon."

In 1945, she married actor William T. Orr, who later headed up Warner Bros.' TV department. She retired from acting in 1962. The couple divorced in 1970.
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press