Elaine Paige

**Elaine Paige** OBE (born **Elaine Jill Bickerstaff**, 5 March 1948) is an English actress and singer. She was born and raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire. She is known for her roles in musical theater.

## Life

She worked in the theatre from a young age. She quickly became famous in the role of Eva Perón in the musical _Evita_ in 1978. She studied acting at the Aida Foster stage school in London and then played roles in the British tour of the show _The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd_ and the first London production of _Hair_. She played Sandy in the London production of _Grease_ and appeared as one of Michael Crawford's girlfriends in _Billy_. She has since said she was about to leave the world of acting, possibly to become a teacher, but then the role in _Evita_ was offered to her.

After _Evita_, she did not have any work for a period. She thought that her musical career had seen its best. When the actress Judi Dench had an injury during rehearsals for _Cats_, the producers asked Paige play the role in stead of Dench. They stated that the role "was not another _Evita_" and that her role only had one and a half songs. Fortunately, the song was "Memory", which was a top 10 hit for Paige and has become her signature song.

After _Cats_, she appeared in _Abbacadbra_, an ABBA compilation, and _Chess_, also written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA but with lyrics by Tim Rice, co-writer of _Evita_. Paige then scored a number 1 single, "I Know Him So Well", a song from _Chess_, as a duet with Barbara Dickson.

In 1989, she co-produced and starred in a production of Cole Porter's _Anything Goes_ in London, which made a star of John Barrowman. In the early 1990s, her relationship with the lyricist Tim Rice stopped and Paige tried an image change by recording an album with a California-based producer in the Bette Midler style entitled _Love Can Do That_. Her solo albums had so far been a variety of songs, including the very successful _Stages_ in 1983, with songs from musical theatre. In 1993, she returned to the United States to work with Peter Matz on an album called _Romance and the Stage_ featuring songs from earlier days of musical theatre. The following year, she recorded, _Piaf_, which had music from the role she was playing in the Pam Gems play, also called _Piaf_. Critics were impressed by her acting skills in that play.

However, in 1995 she had a role in another musical, playing Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's _Sunset Boulevard_. She had always wanted to perform on Broadway and _Sunset Boulevard_ now made this possible. For more than a year she played the role. She later had another role in 2000 with the _King and I_. She has recently moved more into television and radio work.

Paige was awarded an OBE in 1995. Now she is hosting a Sunday afternoon BBC Radio 2 show which plays music from the stage and film.

## Other websites

- Official website

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Elaine Paige
- **image**: Elaine Paige Annie Skates.jpg
- **caption**: Elaine Paige at BBC Radio 2's _Voice of Musical Theatre_ gala final in 2006.
- **background**: solo_singer
- **birth name**: Elaine Jill Bickerstaff
- **origin**: Barnet, Hertfordshire, England
- **occupation**: Singer, actress
- **years active**: 1964–present
- **website**: [http://www.elainepaige.com/ ElainePaige.com]