American actress
Paige Davis
|
---|
Davis in 2007
|
Born
| (
1969-10-15
)
October 15, 1969
(age 54)
|
---|
Occupations
| - Television personality
- actress
|
---|
Years active
| 2001?present
|
---|
Spouse
|
|
---|
Paige Davis
(born October 15, 1969) is an American television personality and actress.
She is best known as the host of the
TLC
home improvement
reality television
program
Trading Spaces
from 2001 until 2008, and hosted the
morning talkshow
Home and Family
on
Hallmark Channel
in 2012. She returned as host of
Trading Spaces
when TLC revived the series in 2018.
[1]
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Davis attended Charles H. Bird Elementary School in
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
, from first grade through part of fifth. She lived for a time in
Louisville, Kentucky
, and graduated from the Louisville
Youth Performing Arts School
. She graduated from the
Meadows School of the Arts
at
Southern Methodist University
in
Dallas, Texas
. While in college, her mother and stepfather moved to
Pittsburgh
.
[2]
Much of her training has been in
musical theater
as well as dancing, and she spent two-and-a-half years in the national touring company of the
Broadway
musical
Beauty and the Beast
[3]
[4]
playing the role of Babette the
Feather Duster
for her second year. During this period, she was sometimes credited as Mindy Paige Benson.
In
Los Angeles
,
California
, Davis also did numerous TV commercials and videos.
Trading Spaces
[
edit
]
In 2001, Davis became the host of the
TLC
cable network
's redecorating television series
Trading Spaces
, replacing
Alex McLeod
. Also that year, Davis married actor
Patrick Page
, with whom she appeared in
Beauty and the Beast
(making her married name Mindy Paige Page). Davis and Page's wedding was featured on the TLC series
A Wedding Story
.
TLC dropped Davis in January 2005, to revamp the show with a host-less format. There was some media speculation that TLC's decision was in part motivated by Davis's appearance in
TV Guide
"wearing nothing but wallpaper"
[5]
and her performance of a
faux
striptease
in a "Broadway Bares/Equity Fights AIDS" charity event.
[5]
[6]
[7]
The
New York Post
had reported in its "
Page Six
" column that Davis exposed her
thong
and permitted onlookers to touch her body. Davis responded to the story on the TLC message boards, writing that she had been dressed "...in a very modest, almost demure, yellow dress, cut to my
sternum
." She acknowledged that she had "flip[ped] [her] skirt for a second" and said that she "kept all of [her] clothes on at all times." She went on to characterize the article as "rumor and exaggeration" in its description of the event. The
Post
responded after
Star
magazine published three pictures of the event in their July 2, 2004, issue, noting that the photos showed Davis in poses that appeared to confirm the
Post'
s version of the story. However, both Davis and the network insisted there was no connection between the controversies and the format change, which the network described as a decision to take the show "in a new creative direction."
[8]
Davis subsequently signed a multi-year agreement with
television syndication
company
King World Productions
/CBS to develop new scripted and reality programming, including a deal to co-star in a
daytime television
program with
interior designer
Nate Berkus
, but nothing came to air.
[9]
TLC announced in November 2007, that Davis would return as host of
Trading Spaces
in January 2008, along with others formerly associated with the program.
[9]
[10]
[11]
Reports on the announcement published in the
New York Post
and in Davis's hometown paper the
Philadelphia Inquirer
remarked on the earlier "bad press" in 2005, with the
Post
commenting, "Apparently, that 'new creative direction' has done an about-face," and the
Inquirer
quoting a network vice president who "doesn't know the specifics behind the perky Davis's firing, but called it 'shortsightedness.'"
[5]
Davis hosts new segments and interviews in
The Best Of Trading Spaces
, which debuted in January 2011, on TLC's sister channel
OWN
.
Good Morning America
announced on July 19, 2017, that Davis would be returning to the
Trading Spaces
reboot to serve as host. It premiered on April 7, 2018.
Other television work
[
edit
]
Davis made other television appearances during and after her hosting duties. In 2004, she was a guest judge on the
Food Network
's
Iron Chef America
in "Battle Egg."
[12]
She also was a contestant on the summer 2006
CBS
television series
Gameshow Marathon
, in which celebrities participated in recreations of classic
game shows
with their winnings going to charity.
Appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on January 24, 2008, Davis shared with the audience her excitement about returning to
Trading Spaces
. She praised the new TLC executive team and its intention to keep
Trading Spaces
fresh, while at the same time maintaining the original mission of the show.
[13]
[
better source needed
]
Davis joined the home improvement series
Home Made Simple
as host in October 2011.
[14]
Theater
[
edit
]
During her initial run on
Trading Spaces
, Davis played the role of Roxie Hart in the musical
Chicago
on Broadway, and wrote the book
Paige by Paige
(
ISBN
0-696-21836-4
), chronicling her television experiences. It spent numerous weeks on the
New York Times Best Seller list
. By 2007, Davis had created a
cabaret
act, Taking A Chance, described as "chronicl[ing] how the choices Davis has made have informed her life's loves".
[15]
In mid-2007 she took over the title role in the national touring production of the Broadway revival
Sweet Charity
, replacing
Molly Ringwald
through the end of the show's scheduled run on August 12, 2007.
[16]
In 2008 and 2009 Davis played "Gloria" in the Broadway revival of
Boeing-Boeing
.
[17]
In 2014, Davis premiered the role of "Senga Quinn" in
Mark St. Germain
's
Dancing Lessons
at
Barrington Stage
. Don Aucoin of
The Boston Globe
praised the performance as providing "the emotional depth and nuance of personality that can only be achieved by an actress who understands her character inside and out."
[18]
In 2017, Davis played the title role in
Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage
, an
interactive theatre
play, for the
Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
.
[2]
In 2018, she is playing the title character in MAME at
North Shore Music Theater
in Massachusetts.
[19]
On February 8, 2022, Davis was announced in the title role of
Pioneer Theatre Company
's upcoming production of
Hello, Dolly!
Artistic Director Karen Azenberg will direct and choreograph the production at the Salt Lake City professional regional theatre. The production will run May 13 to May 28, 2022.
[20]
Commercial endorsements
[
edit
]
Davis was a spokesperson for
RC Willey Home Furnishings
, a subsidiary of Berkshire-Hathaway, with locations in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and California, however, upon her return to Trading Spaces in 2018, Davis gave up her affiliation with them.
In September 2008,
Eastman Kodak Company
formed a U.S. partnership with
Trading Spaces
and with Davis to encourage people to explore their creativity with their photos. Davis became Kodak's celebrity spokesperson with the media through March 2009, sharing Kodak-inspired projects and ideas in the weekly design show, 30-second TV spots, on-line tips, videos, and a custom-published magazine.
[21]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Trading Spaces: About"
.
TLC.com
.
- ^
a
b
"Stage preview: Paige Davis and Javier Manente give love a chance in CLO Cabaret's 'Miss Abigail'
"
.
post-gazette.com
.
- ^
Paige Davis: Other works
at the
Internet Movie Database
. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^
Mini-bio: Paige Davis
, Internet Movie Database.
- ^
a
b
c
Michael Klein. "A.C. pub sues over 'dive' review" ("Inqlings" column including a
news brief
on Davis's rehiring),
The Philadelphia Inquirer
, November 18, 2007, City section, page B2.
- ^
"Focum Forum" (Q & A column),
The Times-Picayune
(New Orleans, LA), July 24, 2005,
TV Forum
section, p. 3.
- ^
Hank Stuever. "'Trading Spaces' without Paige?"
The Telegraph
(Nashua, NH; reprinted from
Washington Post
), February 4, 2005, HomeFinder section.
- ^
Michael Starr. "'Spaces' on the same Paige,"
New York Post
, November 16, 2007,
TV Friday
, page 142.
- ^
a
b
"TLC confirms Paige Davis' 'Trading Spaces' return, reveals revamp"
.
realitytvworld.com
.
- ^
"Paige Davis returning to 'Trading Spaces'
"
.
cnn.com
. November 15, 2007.
- ^
Josef Adelian.
"TLC to revamp 'Spaces,'"
Variety
, November 14, 2007.
- ^
"
Iron Chef America
: Battle Egg recap"
.
tv.com
. Archived from
the original
on March 18, 2008.
- ^
"Paige Davis on The Ellen DeGeneres Show"
.
YouTube
. January 24, 2008.
- ^
"Meet the Host: Home Made Simple"
.
homemadesimple.com
.
- ^
Tommy O'Malley. "Cabaret act has been a Paige turner."
Austin American-Statesman
(Texas), May 24, 2007,
XL
section, page 20.
- ^
"
Playbill
(12 March 2007): "Paige Davis to Replace Ringwald in Sweet Charity Tour", by Zachary Pincus-Roth"
. Archived from
the original
on March 17, 2007.
- ^
Broadway.com,
Paige Davis and Rebecca Gayheart Fly Into Boeing-Boeing
2008-09-28. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
- ^
Auciub, Don (August 15, 2014).
"Loners teach each other new steps in 'Dancing Lessons'
"
.
The Boston Globe
. Retrieved
February 8,
2015
.
- ^
nsmt.org, [cite web|url=
https://www.nsmt.org/mame.html
] Retrieved 2018-05-29
- ^
"
'Trading Spaces' star Paige Davis soon will make her Utah theater debut"
.
- ^
"Kodak Partners with Paige Davis and TLC Network's 'Trading"
.
PR Newswire
. September 9, 2008.
External links
[
edit
]