MABEL PAIGE

December 19, 1880

Mabel Paige Roberts was born in New York City. She

began acting at age four and by age 11 was appearing in stock theatre.  From 1934 to 1951 she appeared in six Broadway plays. 

In the Southern states, she became a particular favorite and was dubbed ‘The Idol of the South.‘  

Between 1914 and 1953 she acted in more than 50 films. In her first silent movies she co-starred with a ‘pre-Laurel’ Oliver Hardy. The shorts were shot in Jacksonville by Lubin Pictures. 

She left show business from 1918 to 1941 to raise a family.  Her husband, Charles W. Richie, died in 1931, making her a single mother. They were married for 23 years. 

Her first speaking role in film was as Nurse Eckles in 1942′s My Heart Belongs To Daddy starring Richard Carlson, who had been in Too Many Girls (1940) with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. 

Paige starred with Lucille Ball in the movie Her Husband’s Affairs (1947).

Her first television role was on a 1950 episode of “Life of Riley” starring Jackie Gleason.  She played Mrs. Whitaker. 

MRS. HANSEN: “Oh, you’re the dearest, sweetest girls in all the world and how do you want to handle the down payment?”
LUCY: “Uh, well, what did you have in mind?”
MRS. HANSEN (bluntly): “Money.”

Lucy fans will remember Paige as Mrs. Hansen, the scheming owner of the dress shop purchased by Lucy and Ethel in “The Girls Go Into Business” (ILL S3;E2). The episode was filmed on September 11, 1953, the same day that Lucille Ball was accused of being a communist. It was aired on October 12, 1953.

Coincidentally, she first played a character named Mrs. Hanson (an apartment building manager much like Fred Mertz) in The Mating of Millie (1948). 

The same year she did “I Love Lucy” (1953), Paige played another character named Whitaker on “Make Room For Daddy”, filmed on the Desilu lot. 

In 1958, the series switched from ABC to CBS and did reciprocal crossover episodes with “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”  

Her final posthumous screen appearance was an episode of “Cavalcade of America” titled “Young Andy Jackson” airing March 23, 1954. 

Paige died in Van Nuys, California from a heart attack on February 9, 1954. She was 73 years old.