NAKARAJAN

    Anita Page:  The Last Surviving Silent Film Star DIED 2008 SEPTEMBER 6   Back in the late 1920s, Anita Page could never have dreamed that eight decades later she would be a celebrity of sorts: The Official Last Surviving Silent Film Star. In truth, Anita Page was never a star in silent movies. She appeared on screen later in the decade, right at the time when the part-talkie The Jazz Singer was revolutionizing the industry. In those final days of the silent era, she played leading lady roles – that often amounted to extended supporting parts – opposite the likes of William Haines, Ramon Novarro, and Lon Chaney. But since every adult silent film performer who’s ever had his or her name above the title is now dead (am I forgetting anyone?), Page has become a silent film star by default. (I should add that minor supporting player and leading lady Barbara Kent is reportedly still around, at age 100.) In 1928, Anita Page had her big break in the popular Metro-Goldwyn-...