Broadway’s Ken Page, star of “Cats” and “The Wiz,” has died at age 70

Ken Page, the standout Broadway actor and voice of Oogie Boogie in the film “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” has died.

He was 70.

Page’s representative, Lance Kirkland, told TMZ that he died “very peacefully” at his home in St. Louis on Monday.

“He was a beautiful, talented man, larger than life. “Ken was loved and adored by so many and we will miss him greatly,” Kirkland added.

Page, who had a powerful baritone, is perhaps best known for playing Old Deuteronomy, the leader of the Jellicles, in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Cats” in the 1980s.

But many will recognize his voice as that of Oogie Boogie, the villainous Halloween Town villain in Tim Burton’s 1993 stop-motion film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Page made his Broadway debut as Lion in “The Wiz,” singing “I’m A Mean Old Lion” and “Ease On Down The Road.”

The actor played Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the all-black revival of “Guys and Dolls” at the Broadway Theater in 1976 and was part of the original five-member cast of the revue “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” the Longacre, alongside Nell Carter and André De Shields.

He then slipped on a large fur coat as Old Deuteronmy, the fatherly figure in “Cats,” who wails the tunes “Moments of Happiness” and “The Addressing of Cats.”

Page also appeared in other films besides “Nightmare” and the 1998 film version of “Cats.”

He portrayed King Gator in 1989’s “All Dogs Go to Heaven” and played Max Washington in 2006’s “Dreamgirls” with Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles and Eddie Murphy alongside Jennifer Hudson.

Page’s last appearance on Broadway was in the musical “It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues” at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in 1999.

British actress Elaine Page (no relation), who played Grizabella in 1998’s “Cats” alongside Ken Page, paid tribute to her fellow cat.

“My wonderful old Deuteronomy, Ken Page, went to the Heaviside layer in the 1998 film adaptation of Cats,” she wrote. “We are certainly having a sad September. He was a kind, kind and talented man. RIP Ken.”