Referred to as “a blond, blue-eyed Latin”and “the girl with the most beautiful face in Hollywood” in the 1920s Anita Page was an American film actress who reached stardom in the last years of the silent film era.She became a highly popular young star, reportedly receiving the most fan mail of anyone on the MGM lot.
Page entered films with the help of friend, actress Betty Bronson. A photo of Page was spotted by a man who handled Bronson’s fan mail who was also interested in representing actors. With the encouragement of her mother, Page telephoned the man who arranged a meeting for her with a casting director at Paramount Studios. After screen-testing for Paramount, Page also tested for MGM.
After being offered a contract for both studios, Page decided on MGM.Page’s first film for MGM was the 1928 comedy-drama Telling the World, opposite William Haines. Her performances in her second MGM film, Our Dancing Daughters (1928) opposite Joan Crawford (with whom she appeared in three films), and The Broadway Melody (1929) opposite Bessie Lovewere her greatest successes of the period, and her popularity allowed her to make a smooth transition into talking pictures.
She was the leading lady to Lon Chaney, Buster Keaton, Robert Montgomery, and Clark Gable (among others) and during the early 1930s, she was one of Hollywood’s busiest actresses. She was involved briefly with Gable romantically during that time. At the height of her popularity, she was receiving more fan mail than any other female star, with the exception of Greta Garbo, and received multiple marriage proposals from Benito Mussolini in the mail
Page relished her status as “last star of the silents” and frequently gave interviews and appeared in documentaries about the era. Ill health prevented her from making public appearances in her final years.