<Tr> <Th> Awards </Th> <Td> Disney Legend (2011) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.paigeohara.net </Td> </Tr> <P> Donna Paige Helmintoller, better known as Paige O'Hara (born May 10, 1956), is an American actress, voice 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 . Following the critical and commercial success of Beauty and the Beast, O'Hara reprised her role as Belle in the film's two direct - to - video follow - ups, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas and Belle's Magical World . </P> <P> O'Hara was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and attended Nova High School, in Davie, Florida, and Parkway Middle School of The Arts, also in Florida . She performed in shows with the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theatre . </P>

Who was the voice of belle in the original beauty and the beast