Marvin Paige

My friend Tony Villani informed me this morning that Marvin Paige, the well-respected casting director, has passed away recently.  He worked on the films Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Take the Money and Run and Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the daytime soap General Hospital, and many other projects. Mr. Villani, himself an actor and filmmaker, had this to say:  

I loved Marvin Paige! I had been having a funny feeling something bad might be going on...wondering what that foreboding meant so I finally called his home two days ago. Atypically his mailbox was full, and that somehow scared me. Though I didn't know it then, that was the very day Marvin died. Funny how you can tell about certain things...how you get certain feelings when you have a strong connection with someone. I last talked to Marvin about a month ago, maybe hours before the terrible crash. He had had to rush his beloved cat Rah to the vet but things seemed to be OK. He sounded busy, sympathetic, and funny as always. In a business where it's hard to trust anyone, Marvin was an exception. He had good ethics. He was much more than a well known casting agent. He had known and knew everyone that mattered in Hollywood. He respected them and they respected him. He collected and preserved tons of photographs and newspapers and magazines, and whatever else he considered meaningful  - and he could always tell what was or wasn't. He knew Hollywood inside and out like few others before and after him. His advice was informed and clever and caring, and always sound. Knowing that he liked my work was quite a compliment but not quite as big as knowing he liked me as a person. He was eccentric, compassionate, and never cynical. He saw a lot of the friends and people he knew in Hollywood (and he knew everyone in this town...) age, give up, or go before him but he himself was always out there, ever active and involved. He was always helpful. If you dealt with Marvin, you knew he would not let you down. He could shock you at times but he was always a gentleman. He was a true friend. He will be sorely missed.  God Rest Marvin. ~ Tony Villani


I myself didn't have the pleasure of knowing Mr. Paige, but my deepest condolences to his friends, family and colleagues, he will be very much missed.