Ken Page Dies: Voice Of Oogie Boogie & Broadway’s Original Old Deuteronomy In ‘Cats’ Was 70

Greg Evans
·3-min read
Ken Page Dies: Voice Of Oogie Boogie & Broadway’s Original Old Deuteronomy In ‘Cats’ Was 70

Ken Page, one of Broadway’s most familiar character actors who indelibly lent his voice to Tim Burton’s holiday film classic The Nightmare Before Christmas as the villainous Oogie Boogie, died Monday, September 30. He was 70.

His death was announced on social media by his friend Dorian Hannaway, who wrote that he “passed quietly and peacefully at his home.”

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Born January 20, 1954, in St. Louis, Page was determined to pursue a career on the stage as early as high school, and received a full scholarship in musical theater at Fontbonne College in Clayton, Missouri. He began his professional career in the chorus of St. Louis’ Muny theater before making his Broadway debut in 1977 in the replacement cast for Cats as the Lion.

A more noticeable star turn came in the 1976 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls, with Page all but stealing the show as Nicely-Nicely. Next came the 1978 hit Ain’t Misbehavin’ and in 1982 the casting that would become his signature stage role: Page played the wise Old Deuteronomy, the elderly leader of the Jellicle cats who, along with Grizabella the Glamour Cat, is lifted to the “Heaviside Layer” and marked for rebirth at the musical’s end.

Two Broadway shows would follow for Page, including a revival of Ain’t Misbehavin’ in 1988 (he also appeared in a taped version of that musical for TV), and in the 1999 revue It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues.

Although he’d return to regional stages and cabarets throughout his life, Page also had a strong career in TV, film and video games. His movie credits include 1988’s Torch Song Trilogy, in which he played the witty drag queen Murray, best friend of Harvey Fierstein’s Arnold; 1998’s direct-to-video Cats taping, reprising Old Deuteronomy; and 2006’s Dreamgirls, in which he played Max Washington.

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His TV credits were even more extensive, with roles throughout the 1980s and ’90s in such fare as Gimme a Break!, Family Matters, Touched By An Angel and, in 2004, Charmed.

But with his booming baritone voice, Page became a much sought-after voice actor, giving memorable performances in 1989’s All Dogs Go To Heaven (he played King Gator) and in 1994, the animated TV series Duckman.

His signature voice role came in 1993 with Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick. As Oogie Boogie, the bag-shaped villain who terrorized Halloween Town, Page had a show-stopping scene in which he sang menacingly (but with a laugh in his voice) “Oogie Boogie’s Song” to his prisoner Santa Claus, “It’s hopeless/you’re finished/You haven’t got a prayer/’Cause I’m Mr. Oogie Boogie/And you ain’t going nowhere.”

He reprised the Oogie Boogie role numerous times, including in video games and on the concert stage, most notably at Nightmare‘s 30th anniversary concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 2023.

“I’m still stunned by last night’s terrible news,” wrote Nightmare composer Danny Elfman on X. “Ken Page died suddenly. He was the one and only Oggie Boogie Man. He was simply one of the best, most generous souls I know. Full of life and overflowing with joy. Talented and then some. Ken, my friend, you will be deeply missed.”

Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.


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