Actress. Scintillating screen idol of late silents and early talkies. Born Anita Evelyn Pomares, she made her movie debut as an extra in "A Kiss for Cinderella" (1925) and was signed by MGM in 1928. Page rocketed to fame playing a ravenous, gold-digging flapper in the jazz age classic "Our Dancing Daughters" (1928), co-starring Joan Crawford and Dorothy Sebastian; they appeared together again in the similarly-themed dramas "Our Modern Maidens" (1929) and "Our Blushing Brides" (1930). Making a smooth transition to sound, she was notable as Bessie Love's sister in "The Broadway Melody" (1929), an Oscar-winner for Best Picture, as Buster Keaton's leading lady in "Free and Easy" (1930) and "Sidewalks of New York" (1931), and as Clark Gable's first onscreen romantic interest in "The Easiest Way" (1931). The blonde, petite Page was a popular pin-up of the time and frequently touted as one of the loveliest women in Hollywood. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sent her fan letters. But she never achieved real stardom and by 1933 could only find work in a few Poverty Row quickies. The actress later claimed she was blackballed by MGM bosses Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg for refusing their sexual advances, and recalled Mayer telling her, "I can make you a star with three pictures and I can break Garbo with three pictures. And I will never lift a finger to help you". Following a brief marriage to songwriter Nacio Herb Brown (1934 to 1935), she married naval officer Herschel House in 1937 and retired to raise a family in Coronado, California. Widowed in 1991, the still vivacious Page returned to Los Angeles and to the spotlight, making frequent appearances at film festivals and savoring her status as one of the few remaining celebrities of the silent era. She also appeared in a handful of independent features, among them "Sunset After Dark" (1996) and "Bob's Night Out" (2004). In 2002 she received a standing ovation at a screening of "The Broadway Melody" at the Motion Picture Academy. When she died at 98, Page was the last surviving attendee of the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929.
Actress. Scintillating screen idol of late silents and early talkies. Born Anita Evelyn Pomares, she made her movie debut as an extra in "A Kiss for Cinderella" (1925) and was signed by MGM in 1928. Page rocketed to fame playing a ravenous, gold-digging flapper in the jazz age classic "Our Dancing Daughters" (1928), co-starring Joan Crawford and Dorothy Sebastian; they appeared together again in the similarly-themed dramas "Our Modern Maidens" (1929) and "Our Blushing Brides" (1930). Making a smooth transition to sound, she was notable as Bessie Love's sister in "The Broadway Melody" (1929), an Oscar-winner for Best Picture, as Buster Keaton's leading lady in "Free and Easy" (1930) and "Sidewalks of New York" (1931), and as Clark Gable's first onscreen romantic interest in "The Easiest Way" (1931). The blonde, petite Page was a popular pin-up of the time and frequently touted as one of the loveliest women in Hollywood. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sent her fan letters. But she never achieved real stardom and by 1933 could only find work in a few Poverty Row quickies. The actress later claimed she was blackballed by MGM bosses Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg for refusing their sexual advances, and recalled Mayer telling her, "I can make you a star with three pictures and I can break Garbo with three pictures. And I will never lift a finger to help you". Following a brief marriage to songwriter Nacio Herb Brown (1934 to 1935), she married naval officer Herschel House in 1937 and retired to raise a family in Coronado, California. Widowed in 1991, the still vivacious Page returned to Los Angeles and to the spotlight, making frequent appearances at film festivals and savoring her status as one of the few remaining celebrities of the silent era. She also appeared in a handful of independent features, among them "Sunset After Dark" (1996) and "Bob's Night Out" (2004). In 2002 she received a standing ovation at a screening of "The Broadway Melody" at the Motion Picture Academy. When she died at 98, Page was the last surviving attendee of the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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