Joy Page was an American actress best known for her role as the Bulgarian bride Annina Brandel in the film Casablanca.
Background
Born Joy Cerrette Paige, she was the daughter of Mexican-American silent film star Don Alvarado (born José Paige) and Ann Boyar (1908–1990), the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. In 1936, her mother married Jack L. Warner, then head of Warner Brothers studios.
Career
Her parents divorced when she was eight. Page, who initially thought the script to Casablanca was "old fashioned" and "cliched", landed the role on her own and Warner reluctantly approved. She was only seventeen and fresh out of high school.
Warner, however, refused to sign Page to a contract, and she never appeared in another Warner Brothers film.
She went on to act in a number of films for other studios, usually billed as Joanne Page, and made some television appearances. In 1945, Page married actor William T. Orr.
He became a Warner Brothers executive, leading to accusations of nepotism. She retired from acting after appearing in the first season of Disney"s miniseries The Swamp Fox in 1959.
Page died on April 18, 2008, of complications arising from a stroke and pneumonia.