Dancing Page began her career as a performer at age 15 in St. Louis, where she learned to
fire dance. Her array of tricks included
swallowing fire, lighting matches and cigarettes with her fingertips and walking over flames. However, she said that "if I had to burn to make a living, I was willing to burn". At some point, Page moved to
Los Angeles, California, likely in the 1950s. Once there, Page took a gig dancing and waiting tables at the Brass Rail Club, where she remained for 15 years. and world, including
Canada,
Brazil and
Japan.
Stand-up comedy It is unknown when and where Page began stand-up comedy. She may have been introduced to stand-up while dancing at the Brass Rail Club. She stated that she did not like comedy at first, but a fellow Brass Rail Club employee and member of the comedy duo
Skillet & Leroy saw Page's potential, telling her: "you can do comedy. As a matter of fact, if you don’t do comedy you can’t work here." Other than the relatively clean
Sane Advice album, released two years after the run of
Sanford and Son, Page's albums and stand-up material were raunchy
blue comedy in nature. One release, a
gold-selling album titled
Watch It, Sucker!, was titled after one of her Aunt Esther character's
catchphrases in order to capitalize on her newfound television fame. Page also performed as herself after her
Sanford and Son fame. Between 1976 and 1978, Page appeared as a stand-up comedian on the
Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, on which she roasted celebrities such as
Frank Sinatra,
Betty White and
Jimmy Stewart. In 1985, Page performed a raunchy set during the all-female stand-up special
Women Tell the Dirtiest Jokes. Also included in the film were sets by, among others,
Lois Bromfield,
Marsha Warfield,
Patty Rosborough,
Carole Montgomery, and
Judy Tenuta.
Acting Sanford and Son (1973–1977) Page had been performing her comedy routine in nightclubs in
St. Louis and
Los Angeles for several years, but had planned to leave show business to return to St. Louis to care for her ailing mother. However, a phone call from
Redd Foxx in 1972 changed Page's mind. Earlier that year, the sitcom
Sanford and Son, starring Foxx as
Fred Sanford, had premiered on NBC. A man known for his generosity, Foxx then asked her to read for the role of
Esther Anderson ("Aunt Esther"), the sister of Fred Sanford's late wife Elizabeth, and she was offered the role. However, prior to taping, producers became concerned when Page, whose experience was limited primarily to nightclub stages, seemed to have difficulty working in a sitcom format. When one of the show's producers told Foxx that Page must be fired before the show could begin taping. Foxx insisted that Page keep the role, threatening to abandon the show if Page were fired. The producers relented and, after joining the series for the second season, Page's character of Aunt Esther became one of the most popular TV sitcom characters of the 1970s.
Atlanta Daily World celebrated Page's success as a "Cinderella story come true", A review in
Variety noted that Page "is a genuinely funny lady, but she looked considerably better when she had Foxx to work with and against. Restraint is not her stock in trade, and [Theodore] Wilson is an inadequate counterbalance”. In 1980,
NBC ran another spinoff of
Sanford and Son called
Sanford that entirely ignored the events of
Sanford Arms. Foxx returned to play Fred Sanford, but Wilson did not return to portray Lamont Sanford. Page joined the series in 1981 for its second season to reprise her role as Aunt Esther. However,
Sanford was plagued with low viewership and ratings, and NBC canceled the series during the 1981 season. She appeared on several songs on the debut album by
RuPaul titled
Supermodel of the World released in 1993, most notably the dance chart hit song "
Supermodel (You Better Work)" where she delivered spoken word. She also appeared in several music videos from the album. She had a recurring role as Ms. Porter during the first season of the 1990s sitcom
Martin. Among Page's film credits are appearances in
Zapped! (1982),
Good-bye, Cruel World (1983),
Mausoleum (1983),
My Blue Heaven (1990),
Shakes the Clown, (1991),
CB4 (1993),
Friday (1995) and ''
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood'' (1996). == Comedic style ==