Anita Page (bAugust 4, 1910 – September 6, 2008)) was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's fastest-rising stars of the late 1920s. Dubbed “the girl with the most beautiful face in Hollywood” by Photoplay magazine, she became an iconic figure of the late silent era and early talkies.
After screen-testing for both Paramount and MGM, Page signed with MGM in 1928. Her debut film for the studio was the comedy-drama Telling the World (1928) opposite William Haines. Her breakthrough came playing the tragic, mercenary Ann “Annikins” alongside Joan Crawford in Our Dancing Daughters (1928). The flapper drama was a massive hit and launched both actresses into mainstream stardom. She went on to co-star in its 1929 follow-up, Our Modern Maidens.
Page starred as Queenie Mahoney in MGM’s ground-breaking backstage musical The Broadway Melody (1929), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and demonstrated her natural transition from silent films to sound. At the height of her late-1920s popularity, Page reportedly received more fan mail than nearly anyone on the MGM lot (second only to Greta Garbo), including legendary letters of proposal from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
The arrival of sound films in 1929 actually worked in Page’s favor. Unlike some silent stars whose careers suffered, she had a pleasant speaking voice and successfully transitioned into talking pictures with The Broadway Melody. Although her career declined during the 1930s after contract disputes and changing studio priorities, her work in the late 1920s remains her most celebrated.
By the end of the decade, Anita Page had become one of Hollywood’s recognizable young actresses, a symbol of the Jazz Age whose combination of beauty, modern fashion, and natural screen presence made her a favorite of audiences during the final years of silent cinema.
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