'The Nightmare Before Christmas' star Ken Page dies aged 70: The actor was also a Broadway star who appeared in 'Cats' and 'The Wiz'

The Nightmare Before Christmas star Ken Page, who had a brilliant career on Broadway, has died at the age of 70.

His friend, television producer Dorian Hannaway, announced his death on Monday but did not provide any information about the cause of death.

“Ken Page has moved on to the next show. “My heart is broken,” she wrote on her Facebook page, triggering a flood of mournful comments.

Page was a mainstay of the New York stage, playing major roles in the original Broadway productions of hit musicals such as “Cats” and “The Wiz.”

In the 1990s, he reached a new generation of fans as the voice of Oogie Boogie, the villain in Tim Burton's animated classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Page was born in 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri, where he developed an interest in art as a child by listening to Barbra Streisand and reading the novel “To Sir, With Love.”

According to St. Louis magazine, he was always fascinated by theater and wrote and directed musicals when he was in middle school.

After studying theater in college on a full scholarship, he moved to New York City in the mid-1970s to make a name for himself on the stage.

Just two years after arriving in New York, he made his Broadway debut in the 1976 all-black revival of the classic 1950s musical Guys And Dolls.

Page had a great character role, playing a gambler who leads a prayer meeting with the rousing gospel number “Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat.”

His role in Guys and Dolls established him on Broadway and prepared him for one of the biggest roles of his career – the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz.

The Wiz originally opened in 1975 with Ted Ross in the role of Lion, who was eventually replaced by Page.

Page always spoke enthusiastically about the show from an artistic perspective – but the strict choreography and heavy costume caused him health problems.

In the 1990s, he reached a new generation of fans as the voice of Oogie Boogie, the villain in Tim Burton's animated classic The Nightmare Before Christmas

One of his most popular roles was as the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz, which premiered on Broadway in 1975 with Ted Ross in the role and was replaced by Page in 1977

Just two years after arriving in New York, he made his Broadway debut in the all-black revival of Guys And Dolls in 1976; He is pictured in the show (right) with Christophe Pierre (left).

His sweat became trapped in the costume and began seeping toxically back into his body, and he also developed knee problems from crawling around on stage.

Only then did he find out that Ted Ross had to have his knees drained “once a week” during his time with The Wiz, Page told A Musical Theater Podcast.

Page eventually left the show due to his increasing medical problems, but always maintained his affection for the material and attended the premiere of a revival of “The Wiz” on Broadway earlier this year.

Next came another professional coup: Page landed a starring role in the original Broadway cast of the popular 1978 play “Ain't Misbehavin'.”

Ain't Misbehavin' was a jukebox musical dedicated to the work of Fats Waller, an interwar jazz legend whose mannerisms were eerily captured by Page.

Page remained associated with the show throughout his life, repeatedly directing productions of “Ain't Misbehavin'” at various theaters across America.

In 1982, he played Old Deuteronomy in the original Broadway production of Cats, which was preceded by a feverish media frenzy when it arrived in New York City after a sensational success in London.

With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and an old book of children's poetry by TS Eliot, the plotless, dance-based show became a groundbreaking piece of Broadway history, thanks largely to the choreography of Gillian Lynne.