Robert Paige

Born: 1911-12-02

Robert Paige (born John Arthur Page December 2, 1911 in Indianapolis, Indiana, died Dec 21,1987) was a TV star and Universal Pictures leading man who made 65 films in his lifetime and was the only actor ever allowed to sing on film with Deanna Durbin (in 1944's Can't Help Singing). He was a graduate of West Point and was related to Admiral David Beatty, hero of the World War I Battle of Jutland. Paige began his screen career in 1934. His handsome features and assured speaking voice earned him prominent roles in motion pictures, such as Cain and Mabel with Clark Gable and Marion Davies. In 1936, to avoid confusion with another rising leading man, John Payne, Paige briefly adopted the screen name "David Carlyle." He worked primarily for Warner Brothers and Republic Pictures during this period. In 1938 he signed a contract with Columbia Pictures, which changed his screen name to Robert Paige. Columbia cast him in "B" features and starred him in one serial, Flying G-Men. When the Columbia contract lapsed, Paige moved to Paramount Pictures and finally found a home in 1941 at Universal Pictures. Robert Paige quickly became one of Universal's reliable stars, playing romantic leads. He is prominent in many of Universal's comedies and musicals, including those of Abbott and Costello, Olsen and Johnson, Gloria Jean, and Hugh Herbert. He had a good singing voice and a flair for comedy, and the studio capitalized on these talents. Beginning in 1943 Universal gave Paige important roles in its biggest productions, but by then he was so established as a B-picture lead that he never quite graduated to mega-stardom. Paige, along with other contract players, left Universal after a corporate shakeup in 1946. He became an independent film producer in 1947 and entered the new field of television. He was the last permanent host of NBC's variety series The Colgate Comedy Hour, and won an Emmy in 1955 for "Best Male Personality" (a category that no longer exists). In the 1960s he became a TV newscaster in Los Angeles. Paige continued to work in occasional films through 1963; his last two films were The Marriage-Go-Round (1961) and Bye Bye Birdie (1963). From 1966 to 1970 Paige was a newscaster and political correspondent for ABC News in Los Angeles. He left the news desk to become Deputy Supervisor of Los Angeles under Baxter Ward, and then moved into the public relations field. He retired in the late 1970s. Robert Paige died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm in 1987.


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Bye Bye Birdie

as Bob Precht
Released: 1963-04-04

A singer goes to a small town for a performance before he is drafted.

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Son of Dracula

as Frank Stanley
Released: 1943-11-05

Carpathian Count Alucard is invited to the U.S. by a young heiress. Her boyfriend and local...

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Hellzapoppin'

as Jeff Hunter
Released: 1941-12-25

Olsen and Johnson, a pair of stage comedians, try to turn their play into a movie and bring...

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It Happened to Jane

as Robert Paige
Released: 1959-05-24

Jane Osgood runs a lobster business, which supports her two young children. Railroad staff...

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First Love

as Ball Guest
Released: 1939-11-10

In this reworking of Cinderella, orphaned Connie Harding is sent to live with her rich aunt and...

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Women Without Names

as Fred MacNeil
Released: 1940-03-14

Joyce and Fred MacNeil's honeymoon comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying halt when Fred is accused...

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Abbott and Costello Go to Mars

as Dr. Wilson
Released: 1953-04-06

Lester and Orville accidentally launch a rocket which is supposed to fly to Mars. Instead it...

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Crazy House

as Robert Paige
Released: 1943-10-08

Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson are Broadway stars who return to Universal Studios to make another...

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Split Second

as Arthur Ashton
Released: 1953-05-02

Escaped convicts hold hostages in a ghost town targeted for a nuclear bomb test.

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The Monster and the Girl

as Larry Reed
Released: 1941-02-28

After a young woman is coerced into prostitution and her brother framed for murder by an...

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Fired Wife

as Hank Dunne
Released: 1943-09-04

A Broadway producer's Girl Friday must make sure that her recent marriage is kept secret. If it...

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Melody Lane

as Gabe Morgan
Released: 1941-12-09

In this musical, four entertaining farmboys from Iowa head for the Big Apple to find fame and...

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Emergency Squad

as Chester 'Chesty' Miller
Released: 1940-01-05

Betty Bryant is an ambitious newspaper reporter in love with Dan Barton, a member of a big-city...

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Pardon My Sarong

as Tommy Layton
Released: 1942-08-07

A pair of bus drivers accidentally steal their own bus. With the company issuing a warrant for...

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Keep 'Em Slugging

as Star of Movie House Film
Released: 1943-03-01

A gang of tough street kids decide to go straight and get jobs in order to free draft-age men...

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Talent Scout

as Bert Smith
Released: 1937-07-24

A Hollywood heartthrob helps a small-town girl achieve stardom.

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Blonde Ice

as Les Burns
Released: 1948-07-24

A golddigging femme fatale leaves a trail of men behind her, rich and poor, alive and dead.

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Frontier Badmen

as Steve Logan
Released: 1943-08-05

A group of cowboys ending their cattle drive in Abilene find that cattle prices are being kept...

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Melody for Two

as Mr. Carlson
Released: 1937-05-01

A singing bandleader signs on with an all-girls band.

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The Lady Objects

as Ken Harper
Released: 1938-10-12

A former college football hero and his college sweetheart get married. Marital turmoil ensues as...

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Parole Fixer

as Steve Eddson
Released: 1940-02-02

This expose of the U.S. parole system, as seen through the eyes of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover,...

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Golden Gloves

as Wally Matson
Released: 1940-08-02

An amateur boxer's girlfriend inspires him to face a ring pro entered by a gangster.

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I Stand Accused

as Joe Benson
Released: 1938-10-29

Fred, a young lawyer fresh out of school, climbs quickly to success as the mouthpiece for a...

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Once a Doctor

as Dr. Burton
Released: 1937-01-23

Dr. Frank Brace (Joe King) is an important doctor with son Jerry (Gordon Oliver) as well as...

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Smart Blonde

as Lewis Friel
Released: 1937-01-02

Ambitious reporter Torchy Blane guides her policeman boyfriend to correctly pinpoint who shot...

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Tangier

as Paul Kenyon
Released: 1946-06-06

In Tangier, disgraced American war correspondent Paul Kenyon, café dancer Rita and local...

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Cain and Mabel

as Ronny Cauldwell
Released: 1936-09-26

A chorus girl and a heavyweight boxer are paired romantically as a publicity stunt.

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Her Primitive Man

as Peter Mathews / Pangi
Released: 1944-05-29

An anthropologist unwittingly takes a man disguised as a "primitive man" back to New York as a...

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Homicide Bureau

as Thurston
Released: 1939-01-05

After being criticized by the Citizens' League for his inability to cope with a crime wave,...

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Rose Bowl

as Football Player
Released: 1936-11-30

Paddy O'Riley and Ossie Merrill, Bellport high school football heroes, enroll in distant...

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What's Cookin'?

as Bob J. Riley
Released: 1942-02-20

J. P. Courtney wants to update the music on the radio program he sponsors, but his wife, Agatha...

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San Antonio Rose

as Con Conway
Released: 1941-06-20

San Antonio Rose is an amiably wacky mini-musical evenly divided between its "official" stars,...

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There's Always a Woman

as Jerry Marlowe
Released: 1938-04-20

An investigator for the District Attorney's office quits to open his own detective agency....

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Cowboy in Manhattan

as Bob Allen
Released: 1943-05-21

Bob Allen, a struggling songwriter poses as a millionaire cowboy to win Broadway star Babs Lee.

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Meet the Boy Friend

as Tony Page
Released: 1937-07-12

A heartthrob singer, Tony Paige, also known as "America's Boyfriend" decides to wed a Swedish...

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Mister Big

as Johnny Hanley
Released: 1943-05-28

Students at the Davis School of the Theatre are assigned "Antigone" as their class play, but...

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The Flame

as Barry MacAllister
Released: 1947-11-24

George McAllister, the black sheep of a wealthy family who has squandered his share of the...

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Flying G-Men

as Hal Andrews / The Black Falcon
Released: 1939-01-28

Four flying G-Men protect America against enemy spies; one of the four assumes the identity of...

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Get Going

as Bob Carlton
Released: 1943-06-21

Judy King, newly arrived in Washington, applies for a secretary job with a government agency and...

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The Green Promise

as David Barkley
Released: 1949-03-22

A stubborn farmer is raising his children alone. When his oldest daughter gets a suitor, the...

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Get Hep to Love

as Stephen Winters
Released: 1942-10-02

Orphan prodigy singer runs away from her oppressive aunt and tricks a rural couple into adopting...

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Can't Help Singing

as Johnny Lawlor
Released: 1944-12-25

With the California Gold Rush beginning, Senator Frost's singing daughter Caroline loves a young...

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The Many Faces of Dracula

as Frank Stanley (archive footage)
Released: 2000-01-01

Hosted by Christopher Lee, this documentary examines the different actors who have portrayed...

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Shady Lady

as Bob Wendell
Released: 1945-09-07

A crook becomes the victim of a crafty card player who works for the District Attorney.

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Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook

as Frank Stanley (archive footage)
Released: 1991-01-01

A history of the famous vampire of books and movies, using film clips, previews and other methods.

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Don't Get Personal

as Paul Stevens
Released: 1942-01-02

Elmer Whippet inherits the Whippet Pickles company and sets out to meet the two stars, Mary...

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How's About It

as George Selby
Released: 1943-01-01

A song publisher gets sued for stealing lyrics.

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Almost Married

as James Manning,lll
Released: 1942-05-22

To avoid a costly breach of contract suit, a rich young man marries a nightclub singer.

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The Marriage-Go-Round

as Dr. Ross Barnett
Released: 1961-01-06

An anthropology professor and his professor wife have the perfect marriage--until a Swedish...

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Opened by Mistake

as Jimmie Daniels
Released: 1940-05-10

A wise-guy reporter and a tippling sportswriter acquire an unclaimed trunk with a corpse inside.

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When G-Men Step In

as G-Man Bruce Garth
Released: 1938-03-16

Having paid for the education and legal training of his younger brother, Bruce, with the idea...

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The Red Stallion

as Andy McBride
Released: 1947-08-16

Family film about an elderly rancher, her young grandson, and the horse that the child raises...

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Hi'ya, Chum

as Tommy Craig
Released: 1943-02-25

Entertainers get stranded in a small boomtown, and open up a restaurant.

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The Cherokee Strip

as Tom Valley
Released: 1937-05-15

A singing lawyer and other homesteaders participate in the Oklahoma land rush and found the town...

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Death of a Champion

as Alec Temple
Released: 1939-08-24

Oliver Quade is a pitchman who follows state fairs that feature dog shows---which limits his...

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The Main Event

as Mac Richards
Released: 1938-06-22

FBI agent Mac Richards takes his girlfriend, Helen Phillips, to a world championship boxing...

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Hi, Buddy

as Johnny Blake
Released: 1943-02-26

Dick Foran and Harriet Hilliard (aka Harriet Nelson) top the cast of the Universal musical...

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You're Telling Me

as Dr. Burnside 'Burnsy' Walker
Released: 1942-05-03

Hubert Abercrombie Gumm, a flighty, eccentric screwball acquires a job as an executive at a...

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Dancing on a Dime

as Ted Brooks
Released: 1940-11-01

Director Ted Brooks and comedians Jack Norcross, Dandy Joslyn and Phil Miller are part of a...

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Jail House Blues

as Cliff Bailey
Released: 1942-02-01

A prisoner about to be pardoned puts it off until he can put on one last variety show for his...

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The Last Warning

as Tony Henderson (as Robert Page)
Released: 1938-12-07

In their third and last teaming, Bill Crane and Doc Williams visit a country estate to...

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Rhythm in the Clouds

as Phil Hale
Released: 1937-06-21

Judy Walker is a poor songwriter who, through mistaken identity, gets her songs played on the radio.

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Who Killed Gail Preston?

as 'Swing' Traynor
Released: 1938-02-24

A temperamental singer's murder leaves a nightclub full of suspects.

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The Colgate Comedy Hour

as Self
First aired: 1950-09-10

The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC...

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The Colgate Comedy Hour

as Self - Host
First aired: 1950-09-10

The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC...

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The Barbara Stanwyck Show

as Roger
First aired: 1960-09-19

The Barbara Stanwyck Show is an American anthology drama television series which ran on NBC from...

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Cavalcade of America

as uncredited
First aired: 1952-10-01

Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company,...

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Lux Video Theatre

as Bill Russell
First aired: 1950-10-02

Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The...

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The Millionaire

as Whitney Ames
First aired: 1955-01-19

An anthology series that explored the ways sudden and unexpected wealth changed life for better...

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Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

as Host
First aired: 1951-10-05

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS....

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