Hollywood legend dies after six-decade career as tributes pour in

Hollywood star Janis Paige has died at the age of 101. The singer and actress had a top career spanning six decades and carried on working into her eighties.

She appeared in a number of major movies including Vietnam where she performed with Bob Hope. She also danced with Fred Astaire.

Her death was revealed by her longtime friend Stuart Lampert, according to the Daily Mail. He said she died on Sunday at her home in LA from natural causes.

The American actress was born in Washington in 1922 and began singing at the age of five in amateur shows. She came to fame after being hired as a singer at the Holywood Canteen during the Second World War where she was spotted by a Warner Bros agent.

She went on to co-star in Romance on the High Seas - the film in which Doris Day made her debut. She switched to Broadway for six years, including performing in The Pajama Gamebut, before returning to appear in a string of top movies including Silk Stockings which starred Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, with David Niven and Doris Day and in Bachelor in Paradise with Bob Hope.

Her TV career included Happy Days where she was a roadside diner waitress who may, or may not, have been Fonzie's mother. She also had parts in several soaps including General Hospital and Santa Barbara.

The star was added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Tributes have been paid to the actress on social media. Apple wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "What a life. Now that is stardom. From Bob Hope to Fred Astaire. It didn't get better than that for Janis Paige I bet."

Actress Vivien Latham added: "Janis Paige practically stole the movie Silk Stockings from Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. I love Fred and Cyd, but Janis was the best part of the movie!! Peggy Dayton was a terrific send-up of Esther Williams. A talented star indeed."