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Paige O`Hara (born May 10, 1956) is an American Broadway singer and actress.

O`Hara was born Donna Paige Helmintoller in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and attended Nova High School in Davie, Florida. She performed in shows with the Fort Lauderdale Children`s Theatre. She is notable for providing the singing and speaking voice of Belle in Disney`s Beauty and the Beast, a role she has reprised for all subsequent spin-offs and sequels of the film, including the Square Enix/Disney Kingdom Hearts video game series.

On the stage

O`Hara made her first appearance on the Broadway stage as Ellie May Chipley in the revival of "Showboat" in 1983 starring Donald O`Conner. She repeated the role for the Houston Grand Opera`s 1989 production and continued with them when the show was moved to the Cairo Opera House in Egypt. Continuing her legacy as Ellie, she also sang the part on the 1989 Grammy nominated recording of the musical with Jerry Hadley, Frederica von Stade and Teresa Stratas, conducted by John McGlinn on the Angel EMI label.

Her other American stage credits include the title role in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Broadway and national tour), the role of Fantine in the original run of Les Misérables (Broadway), and Ado Annie in a national tour of "Oklahoma" directed by William Hammerstein.

Internationally, O`Hara has played the role of Nellie Forbush in "South Pacific" (Australia).


On the Screen

O`Hara`s most notable appearance on screen was as the voice of Belle in the animated Disney film Beauty and the Beast. The film was nominated for numerous Academy Awards and, consequently, she also performed live at the Oscars in 1992.

O`Hara also starred as Venus in the BBC`s recorded broadcast of the live presentation of Kurt Weill`s "One Touch of Venus" and in tribute to her Belle character from "Beauty and the Beast", she portrayed Angela, a character in a fictional soap opera, for the Disney live action/traditional 2-D animated movie Enchanted.