Joy Ann Page

Joy Ann Page, born Joy Cerrette Paige on November 9, 1924, was an American actress who worked in film, television, and on Broadway. She died on April 18, 2008, from complications of a stroke and pneumonia.

Page came from a family with deep ties to the entertainment industry. Her father was Don Alvarado, a Mexican-American silent film actor born José Ray Paige in New Mexico, and her mother was Ann Boyar, whose own parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Her parents' marriage ended in divorce when Page was eight years old. In 1936, her mother wed Jack L. Warner, who at the time headed Warner Bros. studios.

Her most celebrated screen role came in 1942, when she was cast as Annina Brandel, a Bulgarian refugee, in Casablanca. Page was seventeen years old and had only recently finished high school when she took the part. Her stepfather played no role in securing the opportunity, as Warner was opposed to family members pursuing acting careers. Page herself had reservations about the role, reportedly considering it dated and uninteresting, and only reconsidered when she learned that Ingrid Bergman had been cast in the film. She, Humphrey Bogart, and Dooley Wilson were among the few American-born featured actors in the production. Despite the film's enduring success, Warner declined to offer Page a studio contract, and she never appeared in another Warner Bros. production.

Page continued working at other studios, taking a featured role in Kismet in 1944. She was frequently billed as Joanne Page throughout her career and also made television appearances, including a role in an episode of Wagon Train. Her final film appearance came in Tonka, in which she played Prairie Flower, a Sioux woman and mother of the character White Bull, portrayed by Sal Mineo. She subsequently appeared in the first season of Disney's miniseries The Swamp Fox in 1959, after which she retired from acting.

In 1946, Page appeared on Broadway in Hidden Horizon. In 1945, she married actor William T. Orr, who later became an executive at Warner Bros., a circumstance that drew accusations of nepotism.