Oogie Boogie in “The Nightmare Before Christmas” was 70 years old

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Ken Page, the Broadway veteran who voiced the scary villain Oogie Boogie in the Tim Burton-produced film The nightmare before Christmasdied Monday at his home in St. Louis, his representatives said. He was 70 years old.

In his Broadway debut, Page stepped in as an understudy to play the Lion in the original 1975-79 production of The Magician.

The baritone also played the role of Old Deuteronomy in 1982 in the original production of Cats; starred in the original 1978-82 Broadway production of Fats Waller I'm not behaving badly; and played Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 1976-77 all-black revival Guys and Dollsa breakthrough that earned him a Theater World Award.

Page was memorable as Oogie Boogie, the bug-filled Boogey Man The nightmare before Christmas (1993), directed by Henry Selick.

In a 2022 interview, he said the producers were looking for “someone who was like Cab Calloway, like Fats Waller.” He added that he saw the character as “somewhere between the voice of the demon and the voice of the demon The exorcist and the cowardly lion inside The Wizard of Oz.”

He later voiced Oogie Boogie in video games and Disney theme park attractions.

Oogie Boogie (right, voiced by Ken Page) in 1993's “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Buena Vista images/courtesy of Everett Collection

Kenneth Page was born on January 20, 1954 in St. Louis, where he attended Bishop DuBourg High School. He then majored in theater at Fontbonne College in Clayton, Missouri.

He played Joe “Cheesecake” Tyson in the 1987-88 ABC series Sable.

His CV also included films The Torch Song Trilogy (1988), All dogs go to heaven (1989) — as the voice of the Alligator King — I'll do anything (1994) e Dream girls (2006) and guest spots on shows like Enchanted AND Touched by an angel.

More recently, Page developed and starred in a stand-up comedy show, Page by page.

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