Broadway star Ken Page, the voice of Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas, has passed away at the age of 70, according to Broadway World.
The news of Page’s passing was shared on social media by friend Dorian Hannaway, who confirmed that he "passed quietly and peacefully at his home." The actor was born in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri, and quickly went on to have a prosperous career in the theater scene. He appeared in the original Broadway casts of The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Cats and It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues. One particular highlight was appearing in the first Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls with an all-Black cast. Most recently, he appeared in The Muny's productions of Les Miserables and Waitress.
To Disney fans, Page is undoubtedly best known as the voice of Oogie Boogie from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. The actor went on to reprise the role in numerous Disney Parks projects, such as Haunted Mansion Holiday, Halloween Screams and the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular. He also lent his vocal talents as Ooogie Boogie to video games such as The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King and Oogie’s Revenge, and the Kingdom Hearts series.
Other Disney credits include playing the Walrus in the 1980s Alice in Wonderland series, Adventures in Wonderland, and Mayor Warren in the 1989 TV movie Polly and its 1990 sequel, Polly: Comin' Home! Film and TV roles outside of Disney include All Dogs Go to Heaven, Dreamgirls, Charmed and Family Matters.
Our thoughts are with Ken’s friends and family at this time.