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Mindy Paige Davis (born October 15,
1969, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), billed as Paige Davis, is an
American actress best known as a host of the reality television series
Trading Spaces.
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.
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 playing the role of Babette the
Feather Duster for her second year. During this period, she was sometimes
credited as Mindy Paige Benson, following her 1994 marriage to actor Greg
Benson.
In Los Angeles, California, Davis also did numerous TV commercials and
videos.
In 2001, Davis became the host of the TLC cable-TV 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. 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' appearance in TV Guide "wearing nothing but wallpaper"
and her performance of a faux striptease in a "Broadway Bares/Equity
Fights AIDS" charity event. 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 "flipped 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." 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.
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. Reports on the announcement published in the New York Post and in
Davis' 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' firing, but called it 'shortsightedness.'"
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 "chronicling how the
choices Davis has made have informed her life's loves"; 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.
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." 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 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 "TS" fresh, while at
the same time maintaining the original mission of the popular show, which
has been the inspiration for so many others.
Davis is currently spokesperson for RC Willey Home Furnishings, a
subsidiary of Berkshire-Hathaway, with locations in Utah, Idaho, Nevada,
and California.
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 will act as 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.
Paige recently finished a run in the Broadway play, Boeing-Boeing opposite
Christine Baranski, Mark Rylance, Greg Germann, Missi Pyle and Rebecca
Gayheart. |
