Broadway Star Ken Page, Voice of Nightmare Before Christmas' Oogie Boogie, Dies at 70

Ken Page, the Broadway actor and voice actor known for his roles in the musicals Cats and The Wiz, has died. He was 70.

PEOPLE confirmed news of Page's death on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Page was born and raised in St. Louis. He arrived on Broadway in 1975 when he joined the cast of The Wiz musical as the show's Lion, paving way for a career on the stage in New York that lasted more than two decades.

Between 1975 and 1999, Page also appeared on stage in productions like Guys and Dolls, Ain't Misbehavin', Cats — in which he originated the role of Old Deuteronomy — and It Ain't Nothing But the Blues. He won the Drama Desk award for outstanding actor in a musical in 1978 for his performance in Ain't Misbehavin', per his profile on Playbill.

Page also carved out a notable career on the screen during and after his onstage career. He is most fondly remembered as the voice of The Nightmare Before Christmas villain Oogie Boogie, a role he reprised multiple times in video games, video series and even a live performance of the celebrated 1993 animated film held at the Hollywood Bowl in 2018.

The actor's other notable film roles included a role in 2006's Showgirls, 1988's Torch Song Trilogy and 1989's All Dogs Go to Heaven. He also reprised his Cats role as Old Deuteronomy in the 1998 movie adaptation directed by David Mallet.

According to Broadway World and Playbill, Page created a cabaret-style show titled Page by Page that he toured around the country with in recent years. He also primarily worked as a director for regional and touring productions. He frequently worked with The Muny, the St. Louis theatrical association where he got his start before initially moving to New York, as well.

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"I’m still stunned by last night’s terrible news. Ken Page died suddenly," Danny Elfman, the musician and composer who performed with Page as the singing voice of Jack Skellington and composed The Nightmare Before Christmas' music, wrote on X on Tuesday morning.

"He was the one and only Oogie Boogie Man. He was simply one of the best, most generous souls I know," wrote Elfman, 71. "Full of life and overflowing with joy. Talented and then some. Ken, my friend, you will be deeply missed."

In a statement shared exclusively with PEOPLE, Page's Nightmare Before Christmas costar Chris Sarandon, who provided the speaking voice of Jack, said, "Ken was a big man: big in body, big in voice, but mostly big in heart. He became my dear friend and I admired and loved him."

"Goodbye ‘Kenny Cool,’ you leave a big space that will never be filled," added Sarandon, 82.

The Princess Bride actor also shared a photo with Page to his Instagram grid, which featured the two with their arms around one another, smiling for the camera.

"We’ve lost a giant of a man: actor, singer, director, human," Sarandon wrote. "Goodbye with great sadness to my dear friend, Ken Page."

Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick also gave an exclusive statement about Page to PEOPLE, which began, "Through the combination of a great part and a brilliant performance, the best movie villains become icons beyond their films: Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, Darth Vader, Scar, Maleficent, Syndrome, Cruella de Vil. Oogie Boogie, as performed by Broadway legend Ken Page for The Nightmare Before Christmas, is one of these icons."

"Today, I learned Ken has died, suddenly, at age 70. After the sadness, I am filled with gratitude: of course for his genius performance in Nightmare and also for who he was as a person," continues Selick, 71. "Ken was warm and sweet, powerful and gentle, with a voice that could blow down a house and tickle your soul."

The filmmaker shares that one of his favorite memories of Page was during "a behind-the-scenes presentation for Nightmare, where Ken and I answered audience questions and signed autographs, and Ken sang 'Oogie Boogie's Song.' "

"We beamed at one another, so tickled that something we’d help make years before was still going strong," Selick adds. "I’lll miss you, Ken."