A Century Ago: The Genesis of Joy Page

In 1924 a young man named Don Alvarado (José Ray Paige, 1904-1967) got his first minor role in the silent film Mademoiselle Midnight starring Mae Murray, married Ann Boyar, and became the father of daughter Joy Page (1924-2008).

Alvarado went on to become one of the many of the screen’s Latin Lovers in the ’20s and ’30s in movies like The Loves of Carmen (1927), The Apache (1928), and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929). He maintained his status into the early talking era appearing in movies like Rio Rita (1929) with Wheeler and Woolsey andFree and Easy (1930) with Buster Keaton. Just as his career was starting to slide, his wife left him to to marry studio head Jack Warner (1932). Alvarado became mostly a bit player in movies and then found a new professional life as an A.D. and production manager on many major films.

By then his daughter Joy had made her own screen debut as Annina Brandel in Casablanca (1942). She only amassed a couple of dozen screen credits over the next few years, usually as Latin or Native American characters. These included roles in the films Kismet (1944), Man-Eater of Kumaon (1948), Bullfighter and the Lady (1950), Conquest of Cochise (1953), Fighter Attack (1953), The Shrike (1955), and Tonka (1958) and episodes of tv shows like Wagon Train and Cheyenne. The latter show was produced by her husband William T. Orr, a former actor whose hits as a TV producer included also Colt 45, Maverick, Lawman, Bronco, Surfside 6, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip, Wendy and Me (with George Burns and Connie Stevens), F Troop, and others. Orr was mostly through as a TV producer after 1966. The couple were married from 1945 through 1970. Their son Gregory Orr (b. 1954 is also a film-maker).

For more on silent film please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube — now also available on audiobook!