{{short description|American actress}} {{More citations needed |date=April 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Mabel Paige | image = Mabel Paige 1899.jpg | caption = Mabel Paige, "The Idol of the South", 1899 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|12|19|mf=y}} | birth_place = New York, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1954|2|9|1880|12|19|mf=y}} | death_place = Van Nuys, California, U.S. | years_active = 1914-1953 | spouse = {{marriage|Charles W. Ritchie|1908|1931|end=died}} | birth_name = Mabel Paige Roberts }}
'''Mabel Paige''' (December 19, 1880 – February 9, 1954) was an American stage and film actress.
==Early years== Paige was born in New York City. She began acting at age four, when she appeared in ''Van, the Virginian''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Garland |first1=Robert |title=Veteran Actresses Carry On in 'Two Blind Mice' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30309882/pittsburgh_suntelegraph/ |access-date=April 6, 2019 |work=Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph |agency=International News Service |date=June 12, 1949 |location=Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh |page=57}}</ref> Her parents were vaudevillians Frank Roberts and Doris Paige Roberts.<ref name="nytobit" />
== Career == When she was 11 years old, Paige began acting in stock theater.<ref name="mh">{{cite news |last1=Othman |first1=Frederick C. |title=Silent Star Also Unseen In Pictures |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43206821/mabel_paige/ |access-date=January 29, 2020 |work=The Miami Herald |agency=United Press |date=November 10, 1942 |location=Florida, Miami |page=14|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> She appeared in dozens of stage plays, including ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' in 1892, ''Rip van Winkle'' in 1899, and ''At Cozy Corners'' in 1905. In the South, she became particular a favorite and was acclaimed as the ''Idol of the South''. Her Mabel Paige Theatrical Company toured the region for many years.{{Citation needed |date=April 2019}} She also had troupes known as the Mabel Paige Repertoire Company and the Mabel Paige Southern Company.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rydzewski |first1=Steve |title=For Art's Sake: The Biography & Filmography of Ben Turpin |date=2013 |publisher=BearManor Media |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1qNWDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Mabel+Paige%22&pg=PT44 |access-date=April 6, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
After she married, Paige left acting to raise her family. She was away from show business for more than a decade, but financial problems prompted her to return to acting.<ref name="mh" />
Paige acted in more than 50 films between 1914 and 1953. In her first silent films for the Lubin Company,<ref>{{Cite web | title=Lubin Film Co Records (1881-2006) Phil.Free Library—Comedian Images—Oliver Hardy•Billie Reeves ....... - NitrateVille.com | url=https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=31721 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112141027/https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=31721 | access-date=2025-03-18 | archive-date=2024-01-12}}</ref> she co-starred in romantic comedies with Oliver Hardy as her leading man. Her Broadway credits included ''Gramercy Ghost'' (1951), ''Two Blind Mice'' (1949), ''Out of the Frying Pan'' (1941), ''Western Waters'' (1937), ''Murder in the Cathedral'' (1936), and ''Lost Horizons'' (1934).<ref>{{cite web |title=Mabel Paige |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mabel-paige-55446 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |access-date=April 6, 2019 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20190406011347/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/mabel-paige-55446 |archivedate=April 6, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
One of Paige's last appearances as an actress was on the CBS-TV sitcom ''I Love Lucy''. That episode, "The Girls Go Into Business", aired on October 12, 1953.
== Death == Paige died in Van Nuys, California from a heart attack on February 9, 1954. She was 74.<ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |title= Mabel Paige Dead; Actress 7 Decades|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/02/10/archives/mabel-paige-dead-actress-7-decades.html |access-date=|work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=February 10, 1954 |page=29 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Selected filmography== {{Div col|colwidth=30em}} *''Back to the Farm'' (1914) *''A Fool There Was'' (1914) *''The Soubrette and the Simp'' (1914) *''She Was the Other'' (1914) *''The Servant Girl's Legacy'' (1914) *''Shoddy the Tailor'' (1915) *''Mixed Flats'' (1915) *''Capturing Bad Bill'' (1915) *''Avenging Bill'' (1915) *''The Crazy Clock Maker'' (1915) *''It Happened in Pikesville'' (1916) *''Lucky Jordan'' (1942) *''Freedom Comes High'' (1943) *''The Good Fellows'' (1943) *''Young and Willing'' (1943) *’’Someone to Remember’’ (1943) *''The National Barn Dance'' (1944) *''Murder, He Says'' (1945) *''Behind Green Lights'' (1946) *''Nocturne'' (1946) *''Johnny O'Clock'' (1947) *''Her Husband's Affairs'' (1947) *''The Mating of Millie'' (1948) *''Half Past Midnight'' (1948) *''Canon City'' (1948) *''Hollow Triumph'' (1948) *''Johnny Belinda'' (1948) *''Edge of Doom'' (1950) *''The Sniper'' (1952) *''Houdini'' (1953) {{Div col end}}
==Television appearances== * ''I Love Lucy'', episode #68 (1953), "The Girls Go Into Business", as Mrs. Hansen. * ''Annie Oakley'' (1954) Episode #7 titled "A Gal For Grandma," as Mrs. Frances Randall
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last= Maltin |first= Leonard |title= The Real Stars : Profiles and Interviews of Hollywood's Unsung Featured Players |chapter= Mabel Paige |pages= 218–229 |date= 2015 |edition= Sixth / eBook |orig-year=First published 1969 |type= softcover |publisher= CreateSpace Independent |location= Great Britain |isbn = 978-1-5116-4485-3}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0656727|name=Mabel Paige}} *{{IBDB name}} *{{Find a Grave|7501530}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paige, Mabel}} Category:1880 births Category:1954 deaths Category:American film actresses Category:American silent film actresses Category:Actresses from New York City Category:20th-century American actresses Category:19th-century American actresses Category:American child actresses Category:American stage actresses