Elaine Paige

Elaine Jill Paige (born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre.

Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16.

She was successful in the second audition as Elaine Paige, appearing on stage during the UK tour of the Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd in 1964, playing the role of a Chinese urchin.

Her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair marked her West End debut.

In 1968 she appeared on record as a member of the vocal group Colors of Love, who released three Albert Hammond & Mike Hazlewood-penned singles, most notably "I'm a Train", on Larry Page's Page One label under the supervision of Alan Moorhouse.

At the age of 20, she made her West End debut in Hair on 27 September 1968, remaining in the cast until March 1970.

While also being an understudy for the character of Sheila, she played a member of the tribe in the chorus, for which role she was required to be naked on stage in one scene.

She was also part of the band Sparrow with fellow West End singer Diane Langton, releasing the album Hatching Out in 1972.

Following a number of roles over the next decade, Paige was selected to play Eva Perón in the first production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita in 1978, which brought her to the attention of the broader public.

For this role, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Performance of the Year in a musical.

She originated the role of Grizabella in Cats and had a Top 10 hit with "Memory", a song from the show.

Paige has never married nor had children, although she had an 11-year relationship with the lyricist Tim Rice throughout the 1980s.

She has said that she wanted to have children, but "it's a wonderful life I have, so I'm very fulfilled in other ways".

Paige's first professional appearance happened when she was 16 years old, fresh from drama school.

She was rejected in her first audition, singing "I Cain't Say No".

Her drama school teacher encouraged her to change her name and audition again under the new name.

Browsing through a phone book for inspiration, she became aware of the "page" she was observing and decided upon that name with the addition of an "i", becoming Elaine Paige.

In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well" with Barbara Dickson from the musical Chess, which remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo.

She then appeared in the original stage production of Chess, followed by a starring role in Anything Goes which she also co-produced.

Paige made her Broadway debut in Sunset Boulevard in 1996, playing the lead role of Norma Desmond, to critical acclaim.

She appeared in The King and I from 2000 to 2001, and six years later she returned to the West End stage in The Drowsy Chaperone.

She has also worked sporadically in television.

In addition to being nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, Paige has won many other awards for her theatre roles and has been called the First Lady of British Musical Theatre due to her skill and longevity.

She has released 22 solo albums, of which eight were consecutively certified gold and another four multi-platinum.

Paige is also featured on seven cast albums and has sung in concerts across the world.

Since 2004 she has hosted her own show on BBC Radio 2 called Elaine Paige on Sunday.

In 2014, Paige celebrated her 50 years in show business.

Paige announced on her official website a "Farewell" concert tour and a new career-spanning album The Ultimate Collection to mark this milestone in her career.

Outside of her work in musical theatre, Paige is a vice-president of The Children's Trust, a UK charity for children with brain injury.

Elaine Jill Bickerstaff was born and raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, where her father Eric worked as an estate agent and her mother Irene was a milliner.

Her mother had been a singer in her youth, and her father was an amateur drummer.

Paige stands at just under 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, which she says has caused her to lose out on leading roles.

Her original ambition was to become a professional tennis player, at which point her headmistress pointed out to her "they'd never see you over the net", but Paige continued to play tennis and has referred to the sport as one of her passions.

At 14, Paige listened to the film soundtrack of West Side Story, which evoked the desire for a career in musical theatre.

Paige's musical ability was encouraged by her school music teacher, Ann Hill, who was also the head of the music department.

Paige was a member of Hill's choir, and her first role on stage was playing Susanna in a school production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, which was followed by parts in The Boy Mozart and solos in Handel's Messiah – "a difficult work for little children".

She attended Southaw Girls' School – a secondary modern in Oakleigh Park in Hertfordshire where she received two CSE qualifications.

Her father suggested that she should go to drama school, so she attended the Aida Foster Theatre School.

Lacking confidence, she initially disliked stage school; her father encouraged her to persevere and she grew to enjoy her time there.

After graduating, her first job was modelling children's clothing at the Ideal Home Exhibition.