| Bill Page | |
| Birth Date: | 11 September 1925 |
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Studio City, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Instrument: | English horn, bass clarinet, bassoon, clarinet, flute, oboe, piccolo, saxophone |
| Genre: | Big band, classical, jazz, orchestra |
| Occupation: | Instrumentalist, band leader, entrepreneur |
| Associated Acts: | Boyd Raeburn, Del Courtney, Lawrence Welk |
Bill Page (September 11, 1925 – April 26, 2017) was an American reed player, band leader, and entrepreneur who was best known for his work in the Lawrence Welk Band.[1]
Page is a World War II veteran of the European theater, serving in the US Army.[2] He attended Wright Junior College (now known as Wilbur Wright College).[3]
Page played with Del Courtney and Boyd Raeburn before joining the Lawrence Welk Show in 1951.[4]
1950s newspapers give differing total numbers of woodwind instruments he could play, but among them were six saxophones, four clarinets, flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn and bassoon. He was often featured in numbers in which he played several instruments accompanied by Welk's orchestra.[5] On the 26 October 1957 broadcast, Welk boasted that Page could play "sixteen" instruments, with Page then playing the 1951 song "Am I In Love?" on eleven of them.[6]
Page left the Lawrence Welk Show in 1965 and went on to perform with Barry Manilow, Ted Mack, Frank Gorshin, Judy Garland, and on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.[7]
Page would eventually settle permanently in Studio City, California. He is the father of musician and entrepreneur Scott Page of Pink Floyd, Supertramp, and Toto fame and host on syndicated radio show Business Rockstars, as well as Tanya Page, an executive at Sony.[8]
Page died on April 26, 2017, at the age of 91.[9]