Paige O'Hara

Paige O'Hara (born Donna Paige Helmintoller; May 10, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and painter. O'Hara began her career as a Broadway actress in 1983 when she portrayed Ellie May Chipley in the musical Showboat. In 1991, she made her motion picture debut in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, in which she voiced the film's heroine, Belle. In August 2011, O'Hara was honored as a Disney Legend alongside fellow Disney Princess voice actresses Jodi Benson, Linda Larkin, Lea Salonga, and Anika Noni Rose. As of 2011, she was replaced as the voice of Belle, due to her voice changing significantly over the course of twenty years, though she still paints Belle for Disney Fine Art. She also continues to do promotional appearances for Disney. Julie Nathanson has since assumed the role of Belle, beginning with Kinect: Disneyland Adventures. In 2015, O'Hara also offered to help actress Emma Watson with her singing lessons for her role as Belle in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. The following year, O'Hara appeared at numerous special screenings of Beauty and the Beast in honor of the film's 25th anniversary. O'Hara reprised the role of Belle in Ralph Breaks the Internet. In 2022, O'Hara made a cameo as the bookseller in Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration. In 2023, it was announced that O'Hara would return as the voice Belle in the upcoming theatrical short Once Upon a Studio.