The Official Site of Ginger Rogers QUOTES About Ginger Rogers [About Fred Astaire] "Sure he was great, but don't forget Ginger Rogers did everything he did backwards...and in high heels!" -- Bob Thaves 1982 © NEA Inc. By Ginger Rogers -"My mother told me I was dancing before I was born. She could feel my toes tapping wildly inside her for months." -"When two people love each other, they don't look at each other; they look in the same direction." -"They're not going to get my money to see the junk that's made today."(1983) -"The only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first." -"I don't know which I like best. I love the applause on the stage. But pictures are so fascinating - you reach many millions through them. And you make more money too." -"When you're happy, you don't count the years." -"Hollywood is like an empty wastebasket." -[On her partnership with Astaire] "After all, it's not as if we were Abbott and Costello.

We did have careers apart from each other." -"The most important thing in anyone's life is to be giving something. The quality I can give is fun, joy and happiness. This is my gift." Ginger Rogers – Donna Goddard Videos – healing and meditation (8) Ginger Rogers Fred Astaire’s famous dance partner, Ginger Rogers, was a very devout Christian Scientist for her whole life. The marriage of Ginger’s parents ended when she was not much more than a baby. Not long after, young Ginger was kidnapped by her father. At first, Ginger’s mother did not know who had taken the child. With the help of a Christian Science practitioner, Ginger was found and returned home. In a rather dramatic fashion, her mother travelled to Mexico alone, grabbed the child from her husband’s relatives and, with the help of strangers, managed to secretly board a train and return safely to her own home. This was the time before the family law court, equal rights for parents, and strict legal requirements about child custody. More often than not, whoever had the child was considered the rightful guardian. After this ordeal, Ginger’s mother developed a deep faith in Christian Science which was passed onto her future-famous daughter.

The two developed a very strong bond cemented by the possibility of early loss. Later, Ginger’s mother married a man named John Rogers. After healing from a near fatal illness through his wife’s devoted prayer, he also became a Christian Scientist. Ginger said that their home was a very happy one and that all three of them were looking in the same spiritual direction, growing together, and loving each other. Ginger was later a war bride. Naturally, there was a great need for constant prayer to overcome the debilitating fear that comes with wartime. Ginger would take her young husband to church with her when he was home and they would try to cope with the tremendous challenges of war as best they could from a spiritual perspective. She wanted them both to stay close to God. In summarizing her life, Ginger spoke heartfully about that which was most important to her – her marriages, her mother, and her faith in God. Ginger was married five times, although she said that she always yearned for a long, happy marriage with one person and that she loved being married. She enjoyed the security of marriage and was happiest when caring for and loving her mate. However, greater than that was her deep appreciation for her mother.

Ginger’s mother was the rock of stability and the core of unconditional love throughout her highly accomplished life. And beyond that was her even greater appreciation for her religion and the spiritual support and protection it provided her through her long and very public career. Of all the many gifts bestowed on me, there is one I treasure above all others–my dear mother. Beyond that, however, is something far greater than success or even family ties–my religion. I owe my health and happiness to it. Without it, I would not have had such wonderful and devoted friends and I couldn’t have become the dancer, actress, and person that I am. Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers - Famous Dancer Ginger Rogers By Treva Bedinghaus Updated January 03, 2016. Born Virginia Katherine McMath on July 16, 1911, Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer , and singer. Known mostly for her dance partnership with Fred Astaire, she appeared in films as well as on stage. She was also featured on radio and television programs throughout much of the 20th century. Early Years of Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers was born in Independence, Missouri, but she was raised mostly in Kansas City.

Roger's parents separated before she was born. Her grandparents, Walter and Saphrona Owens, lived close to them. Her father kidnapped her twice, then she never saw him again. Her mother later divorced her father. Rogers moved in with her grandparents in 1915 so that her mother could make a trip to Hollywood to try to get an essay she had written made into a film. She was successful and went on to write scripts for Fox Studios. Rogers remained close to her grandfather. She and her family moved to Texas when she was nine years old. continue reading below our video 7 Places to Find Inspiration for Crafting She won a dance contest that helped her become successful in vaudeville. She became a well-known Broadway actress with debut stage role in Girl Crazy. She then received a contract with Paramount Pictures, which was short-lived. In 1933, Rogers had a supporting role in the successful film 42nd Street. She starred in several films during the 1930s with Fred Astaire , such as Swing Time and Top Hat. She became one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s.

She won the Academy Award for Best Actree for her performance in Kitty Foyle. Film Roles Rogers had a successful career in film. Her first movie roles were three short films made in 1929: Night in the Dormitory, A Day of a Man of Affairs, and Campus Sweethearts. In 1930, she signed a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures. She broke the contract to move to Hollywood with her mother. In California, she signed a three-picture film deal and made feature films for Warner Bros., Monogram, and Fox. She then made a significant breakthrough as Anytime Annie in the Warner Brothers film 42nd Street (1933). She also made a series of films with Fox, Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, and RKO Radio Pictures. Partnership With Fred Astaire Rogers was well-known for her partnership with Fred Astaire. Between 1933 and 1939, the pair made 10 musical films together: Flying Down to Rio, The Gay Divorcee, Roberta, Top Hat, Follow the Fleet, Swing Time, Shall We Dance, Carefree, and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle.

Together, the duo revolutionized the Hollywood musical. They introduced elegant dance routines, set to songs specially composed for them by the greatest popular song composers. The couple's dance routines were mostly choreographed by Astaire, but Rogers had significant input. In 1986, Astaire said "All the girls I ever danced with thought they couldn't do it, but of course they could. So they always cried. All except Ginger. No no, Ginger never cried". Astaire respected Rogers. He once said that when they were first paired together in Flying Down to Rio, "Ginger had never danced with a partner before. She faked it an awful lot. She couldn't tap and she couldn't do this and that ... but Ginger had style and talent and improved as she went along. She got so that after a while everyone else who danced with me looked wrong." Personal Life Rogers first married at age 17 to her dancing partner Jack Pepper in 1929. They divorced in 1931. In 1934, she married actor Lew Ayres. They divorced seven years later. In 1943, Rogers married her third husband, Jack Briggs, a U.S. Marine.

They divorced in 1949. In 1953, she married Jacques Bergerac, a French actor. They divorced in 1957. She married her last husband in 1961. He was director and producer William Marshall. They divorced in 1971. Rogers was a Christian Scientist. She devoted a great deal of time to her faith. She was also a member of the Republican Party. She died at home on April 25, 1995, at the age of 83. It was determined that the cause of death was a heart attack. Ginger Rogers - Biography - IMDb Ginger Rogers Biography Showing all 102 items Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (5) | Trade Mark (2) | Trivia (52) | Personal Quotes (36) | Salary (1) Overview (5) 5' 4½" (1.64 m) Mini Bio (1) Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri on July 16, 1911.

Her mother, known as Lelee, went to Independence to have Ginger away from her husband. She had a baby earlier in their marriage and he allowed the doctor to use forceps and the baby died. She was kidnapped by her father several times until her mother took him to court. Ginger's mother left her child in the care of her parents while she went in search of a job as a scriptwriter in Hollywood and later to New York City. Mrs. McMath found herself with an income good enough to where she could send for Ginger. Lelee became a Marine in 1918 and was in the publicity department and Ginger went back to her grandparents in Missiouri. During this time her mother met John Rogers. After leaving the Marines they married in May, 1920 in Liberty, Missouri. He was transferred to Dallas and Ginger (who treated him as a father) went too. Ginger won a Charleston contest in 1925 (age 14) and a 4 week contract on the Interstate circuit. She also appeared in vaudeville acts which she did until she was 17 with her mother by her side to guide her. Now she had discovered true acting.

She married in March, 1929, and after several months realized she had made a mistake. She acquired an agent and she did several short films. She went to New York where she appeared in the Broadway production of "Top Speed" which debuted Christmas Day, 1929. Her first film was in 1929 in A Night in a Dormitory (1930). It was a bit part, but it was a start. Later that year, Ginger appeared, briefly in two more films, A Day of a Man of Affairs (1929) and Campus Sweethearts (1930). For awhile she did both movies and theatre. The following year she began to get better parts in films such as Office Blues (1930) and The Tip-Off (1931). But the movie that enamored her to the public was Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933). She did not have top billing but her beauty and voice was enough to have the public want more. One song she popularized in the film was the now famous, "We're in the Money".

Also in 1933 she was in 42nd Street (1933). She suggested using a monocle and this also set her apart. In 1934, she starred with Dick Powell in Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934). It was a well received film about the popularity of radio. Ginger's real stardom occurred when she was teamed with Fred Astaire where they were one of the best cinematic couples ever to hit the silver screen. This is where she achieved real stardom. They were first paired in 1933's Flying Down to Rio (1933) and later in 1935's Roberta (1935) and Top Hat (1935). Ginger also appeared in some very good comedies such as Bachelor Mother (1939) and Fifth Avenue Girl (1939) both in 1939. Also that year she appeared with Astaire in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939). The film made money but was not anywhere successful as they had hoped. After that studio executives at RKO wanted Ginger to strike out on her own.

She made several dramatic pictures but it was 1940's Kitty Foyle (1940) that allowed her to shine. Playing a young lady from the wrong side of the tracks, she played the lead role well, so well in fact, that she won an Academy Award for her portrayal. Ginger followed that project with the delightful comedy, Tom, Dick and Harry (1941) the following year. It's a story where she has to choose which of three men she wants to marry. Through the rest of the 1940s and early 1950s she continued to make movies but not near the caliber before World War II. After Oh, Men! Oh, Women! (1957) in 1957, Ginger didn't appear on the silver screen for seven years. By 1965, she had appeared for the last time in Harlow (1965). Afterward, she appeared on Broadway and other stage plays traveling in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. After 1984, she retired and wrote an autobiography in 1991 entitled, "Ginger, My Story" which is a very good book.

On April 25, 1995, Ginger died of natural causes in Rancho Mirage, California. She was 83. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson Spouse (5) Was a Christian Scientist. Was given the name "Ginger" by her little cousin who couldn't pronounce "Virginia" correctly. Brought her first cousin Helen Nichols to Hollywood, renamed her Phyllis Fraser, and guided her through a few films. Phyllis Fraser married and then became known as Phyllis Fraser . Interred at Oakwood Memorial Park, Chatsworth, California, USA, the same cemetery as long-time dancing/acting partner Fred Astaire is located. Sort-of cousin of Rita Hayworth . Ginger's aunt married Rita's uncle. She didn't drink: she had her very own ice cream soda fountain Directed her first stage musical, "Babes In Arms", at age 74. Was fashion consultant for the J.C. Penney chain from 1972-1975. A keen artist, Ginger did many paintings, sculptures and sketches in her free time but could never bring herself to sell any of them. Was Hollywood's highest paid star of 1942.

Author Graham Greene always said he would have liked Ginger to play the role of Aunt Augusta in the film version of his novel "Travels With My Aunt". When the film Travels with My Aunt (1972) was made in 1972 the role was played by Maggie Smith . The well-known quote often attributed to her--"My first picture was [ Kitty Foyle (1940)]. It was my mother who made all those films with Fred Astaire "--was actually fabricated for a 1966 article in "Films In Review". Always the outdoor sporty type, she was a near-champion tennis player, a topline shot and loved going fishing. She made her final public appearance on 3/18/95 (just five weeks before her death) when she received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award. Was badly affected by illness in her last years after suffering two strokes that had left her wheelchair-bound and visibly overweight, while her voice had become a shrunken rasp. Related to Random House publisher and What's My Line? (1950) panelist Bennett Cerf through marriage, when he married Ginger's cousin Phyllis Fraser .

Was asked to replace Judy Garland in both Harlow (1965) and Valley of the Dolls (1967). She turned down "Dolls" because she hated the script; she did, however, accept Harlow (1965). She played Jean Harlow 's mother and, unlike the movie, garnered good reviews. The film was made in only eight days. First cousin, once removed, of Christopher Cerf and Jonathan Cerf . Was a life-long Republican. Turned down lead roles in To Each His Own (1946) and The Snake Pit (1948). Both of these roles went on to be played to great acclaim by Olivia de Havilland . She also turned down Barbara Stanwyck's role in "Ball of Fire.". Her first teaming with Fred Astaire , Flying Down to Rio (1933), was her 20th film appearance but only Astaire's second. In a 1991 TV interview when asked why the Fred Astaire / Rogers union wasn't known as "Ginger & Fred" rather than "Fred & Ginger" (as Ginger had been in films longer), she replied, "It's a man's world".

Her tied-to-the-hip relationship with her mother, Lela E. Rogers , proved eternal. They're buried side by side at Oakwood Memorial Park. The grave of Ginger's screen partner, Fred Astaire , is just yards away. Was named #14 Actress on The AFI 50 Greatest Screen Legends Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna 's song "Vogue" A distant cousin of Lucille Ball , according to Lucie Arnaz . She was of Welsh and Scottish heritage. During the last years of her life she retired in Oregon and bought a ranch in the Medford area because she liked the climate. She donated money to the community and funded the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater in downtown Medford, which was named after her. In Italy, most of her films were dubbed by either Lidia Simoneschi or Wanda Tettoni . She was occasionally dubbed by Andreina Pagnani ; Dhia Cristiani ; Rosetta Calavetta and Giovanna Scotto . Has a street named after her in Rancho Mirage, California, her final winter home. Ginger Rogers Road is located in the Mission Hills Golf Course.

It crosses Bob Hope Drive, between Gerald Ford Drive and Dinah Shore Drive and 2 blocks from Frank Sinatra Drive. She was a conservative Republican, a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a Christian Scientist and a vocal supporter of the Hollywood blacklist. Salary for 1938, $219,500. One of the celebrities whose picture Anne Frank placed on the wall of her bedroom in the "Secret Annex" while in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam, Holland. Her great-great-grandfather was a doctor who discovered quinine, the cure for malaria. For the "Cheek to Cheek" number in Top Hat (1935), she wanted to wear an elaborate blue dress heavily decked out with ostrich feathers. When director Mark Sandrich and Fred Astaire saw the dress, they knew it would be impractical for the dance. Sandrich suggested that Rogers wear the white gown she had worn performing "Night and Day" in The Gay Divorcee (1934). Rogers walked off the set, finally returning when Sandrich agreed to let her wear the offending blue dress.

As there was no time for rehearsals, she wore the blue feathered dress for the first time during filming of the "Cheek to Cheek" number, and as Astaire and Sandrich had feared, feathers started coming off the dress. Astaire later claimed it was like "a chicken being attacked by a coyote". In the final film, some stray feathers can be seen drifting off it. To patch up the rift between them, Astaire presented Rogers with a charm of a gold feather to add to her charm bracelet. This was the origin of Rogers' nickname "Feathers". The shedding feathers episode was recreated to hilarious results in a scene from Easter Parade (1948) in which Astaire danced with a clumsy, comical dancer played by Judy Garland . Turned down Donna Reed 's role in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). She first introduced the song "The Continental" in The Gay Divorcee (1934) and it went on to be the first song that won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Replaced Judy Garland in the film The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) after Garland was suspended from MGM due to her tardiness.

Was offered the part of Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday (1940), but she turned it down. As a result Rosalind Russell was cast instead. Inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in 2009. Was good friends with actress Maureen O'Hara since the late 1930s. When Ginger Rogers received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1992, Robyn Smith , widow of Fred Astaire , withheld all rights to clips of Rogers' scenes with Astaire, demanding payment. The Kennedy Center refused and Rogers received her honor without the retrospective show. Despite being married 5 times, all of her marriages ended under a decade. Her longest marriage was her last, to William Marshall , which lasted 8 years. Rogers holds the record for actresses at New York's prestigious Rdio City Music Hall with 23 films for a total of 55 weeks. According to the 1974 book "Holly-Would" Rogers was taught the Charleston by Eddie Foy Jr. and went on the win the championship of Texas when she was only 15.

Was the 16th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Kitty Foyle (1940) at The 13th Academy Awards on February 27, 1941. Fred Astaire confided in Raymond Rohauer, curator of New York Gallery of Modern Art, "Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work fine for her. Actually she made things very fine for both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success.". Made the cover of Life magazine four times; 8/22/38, 12/9/40, 3/2/42 and 9/5/51. In 1976, when Fred Astaire was asked by British TV interviewer Michael Parkinson on "Parkinson" who his favorite dancing partner was, Astaire answered "Excuse me, I must say Ginger was certainly the one. You know the most effective partner I ever had. Everyone knows. That was a whole other thing what we did...I just want to pay a tribute to Ginger because we did so many pictures together and believe me it was a value to have that girl...she had it. She was just great!".

In 1986 Fred Astaire recalled "All the girls I ever danced with thought they couldn't do it. So they always cried. All except Ginger. No, no, Ginger never cried.". Personal Quotes (36) My mother told me I was dancing before I was born. She could feel my toes tapping wildly inside her for months. When two people love each other, they don't look at each other, they look in the same direction. [1983] They're not going to get my money to see the junk that's made today. The only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first. [in the early 1930s] I don't know which I like best. I love the applause on the stage. But pictures are so fascinating - you reach many millions through them. And you make more money, too. When you're happy, you don't count the years. Hollywood is like an empty wastebasket. [on her partnership with Fred Astaire ] After all, it's not as if we were Bud Abbott and Lou Costello . We did have careers apart from each other. The most important thing in anyone's life is to be giving something.

The quality I can give is fun, joy and happiness. This is my gift. [on working with Katharine Hepburn ] She is snippy, you know, which is a shame. She was never on my side. [1987] It'd be fun to have a chum around, but it's very hard to have a chum unless you're married to him. And I don't believe in today's concept for living with someone unmarried. Even when one is of a certain age to make one's own decisions, there are many times when it is great to be able to go back and talk it over with the people one loves - one's family. [her explanation for bringing excess luggage to London in 1969 for her year-long stint on stage as "Mame"] I believe in dressing for the occasion. There's a time for sweater, sneakers and Levis and a time for the full-dress jazz. As for the little touches, well, a year is quite a long time and they make one feel at home. [on her screen partnership with Fred Astaire ] We had fun and it shows. True, we were never bosom buddies off the screen; we were different people with different interests.

We were only a couple on film. I'm most grateful to have had that joyous time in motion pictures. It really was a Golden Age of Hollywood. Pictures were talking, they were singing, they were coloring. It was beginning to blossom out: bud and blossom were both present. In everything that I do I learn and try to put it to use. I have learned to go through life not into it. It's like a boat. You mustn't let the water in or you're sunk. Of course, I've made mistakes and I have had failures, but I do not dwell on them because people don't care about garbage. When I make a mistake it's like a bad leaf on a lettuce - I throw it out into the wastebasket. I don't care what the critics say. My fabulous mom will give me a good review if nobody else does. You bring out a lot of your own thoughts and attitudes when acting. I think a great deal of it has to do with the inner you. You know, there's nothing damnable about being a strong woman. The world needs strong women. There are a lot of strong women you do not see who are guiding, helping, mothering strong men. They want to remain unseen.

It's kind of nice to be able to play a strong woman who is seen. It was tough being a woman in the theatrical business in those days. [speaking in 1975] The were such a pretty time. I know it was a bad time for an awful lot of people, but not for me. I remember the whole atmosphere, the ambiance of the [1930s] with a glow because success was knocking at my door. I got to California in [1932], just in time to do Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), where I sang "We're In the Money". It was a whole new life for me. I was excited about it. It was happy and beautiful and gay and interesting. I was surrounded by marvelous people, all the top people of our industry. I think the motion pictures talked themselves out of business when they sold their backlogs [to TV networks]. They sold what they thought were old clothes. It turns out some of them had better material in them than their new ones. [on being asked in 1943 what a girl needs to be a movie star] Intelligence, adaptability and talent.

And by talent I mean the capacity for hard work. Lots of girls come here with little but good looks. Beauty is a valuable asset, but it is not the whole cheese. Rhythm is born in all of us. To be a desirable dancing partner you don't have to do all the intricate fancy steps that happen to be in vogue. All you have to do is be a good average dancer and anybody who spends the time and effort can accomplish this. I believe in living each day as it comes, to the best of my ability. When it's done, I put it away, remembering that there will be a tomorrow to take it's place. If I have any philosophy, that's it. To me it's not a fatalistic attitude. [on Fred Astaire , 1976] I adore the man. I always have adored him. It was the most fortunate thing that ever happened to me, being teamed with Fred: he was everything a little starry-eyed girl from a small town ever dreamed of. {on Howard Hughes ] Howard was one of the best dancers I ever knew, and fascinating to be with. Terribly bright and intelligent. But he was immersed in his work.

I've made thousands of mistakes, but they've all been stepping stones toward a better concept of life. Gossip is hardly uplifting. I won't go to movies with permissiveness, four-letter words, or violence. Show me E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Chariots of Fire (1981) instead. That's entertainment, not exploitation of the human body. You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything. Part of the joy of dancing is conversation. Trouble is, some men can't talk and dance at the same time. Looking back at my life's voyage, I can only say that it has been a golden trip. Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but black and white films still hold an affectionate place in my heart; they have an incomparable mystique and mood. There's nothing a man can do, that I can't do better and in heels. There are no small parts. Only small actors. The fun, joy, and humor dry up in a relationship when one of the partners is swimming in gin. To my way of thinking, it is selfishness personified to see life through the bottom of a liquor bottle.

Salary (1) Ginger Rogers, Who Danced With Astaire and Won an Oscar for Drama, Dies at 83 Ginger Rogers, Who Danced With Astaire and Won an Oscar for Drama, Dies at 83 By PETER B. FLINT Ginger Rogers, the vivacious actress whose supple grace in the arms of Fred Astaire lifted the spirits of Depression-era moviegoers in some of the most elegantly romantic musical films ever made, died yesterday at her home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. She was 83. The blond, blue-eyed actress, who came out of Charleston contests and the vaudeville circuits to win notice as a cherub-faced flapper with a piping voice and a sassy air in early musicals like "42d Street" and "Gold Diggers of 1933," went on to win acclaim for her dramatic portrayals and an Academy Award for best actress for her depiction of a lovelorn career woman in the 1940 film "Kitty Foyle." The potent chemistry of her partnership with Astaire, in a succession of urbane romances that featured rapturous dance routines, propelled her into the top 10 of Hollywood's box-office attractions.

"He gives her class, and she gives him sex," Katharine Hepburn once said. By 1941, Ginger Rogers was the highest-paid American woman, earning $355,000 a year. While her graceful dancing was on display in her many musicals, Miss Rogers also won renown in dramatic roles including an aspiring actress in "Stage Door" (1937) and a prostitute's daughter in "Primrose Path" (1940). Her gift for comedy bubbled through movies like "Bachelor Mother" (1939), "Tom, Dick and Harry" (1941) and "The Major and the Minor" (1942). In a screen career that began with a bit role in "Young Man of Manhattan" in 1930, she made more than 70 movies. But the Astaire-Rogers musicals, epitomizing grace, energy and sophistication, were her enduring memorial. The couple, in their smooth, seemingly effortless style, spun gossamer fantasies from the infectious scores of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and Vincent Youmans.

Anna Kisselgoff, the chief dance critic of The New York Times, said yesterday: "Ginger Rogers was a better dancer than most people gave her credit for. She may have swooped and dipped into many a romantic swoon, but her footwork was as precise as Astaire's." The plots of their films often turned on mistaken identity and other far-fetched devices, but they were accepted as breathing spaces between the couple's champagne dance numbers in lavish settings where all the walls, telephones and pianos were white, the butlers were always comic and love was the only concern. Under Astaire's painstaking coaching, Miss Rogers's dancing became more fluid with each film, and the consensus was that none of his later partnerships generated the electricity they did. Writing in 1972, the dance critic Arlene Croce said Miss Rogers "danced with love, with pride in the beauty of an illusion -- and with one of the most elegant dancer's bodies imaginable." She added, "She avoided any suggestion of toil or inadequacy." When the actress went to the stage of the Biltmore Bowl in the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles to accept her Oscar on Feb.

27, 1941, she stood with tears streaming down her face and said: "This is the greatest moment of my life. I want to thank the one who has stood by me faithfully: my mother." It was her mother, the former Lela Owens, who groomed her for a show-business career with singing, dancing and acting lessons. Miss Rogers, whose given name was Virginia Katherine McMath, was born on July 16, 1911, in Independence, Mo. Her father, William McMath, and her mother were divorced soon after. Their daughter was called Ginger because a cousin could not pronounce Virginia, and she took her later surname from John Rogers, who was briefly her stepfather. She grew up in Kansas City, Mo., and Fort Worth. Her mother continued to manage her career until she died in 1977. At 15, Miss Rogers became the champion Charleston dancer in Texas. Then, for three years, her mother chaperoned her through four vaudeville acts a day throughout the South and Midwest. "I traveled with my mother, Lela, and there was never enough money," Miss Rogers said.

"I always had to roll down my silk stockings and carry a doll when we bought train tickets so I could go half-fare. If we had $3, we always figured how to tip for the trunks and still eat." She played Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago. When Miss Rogers was 18, they went to New York, where she sang with two bands and in a musical and starred in the Gershwins' 1930 Broadway hit "Girl Crazy," introducing the songs "But Not for Me" and "Embraceable You." At 19, she made her first feature film in New York, "Young Man of Manhattan," uttering a memorable instruction: "Cigarette me, big boy." In her third musical film, "42d Street," she was a risque, wisecracking chorine, Anytime Annie. "The only time she said no," a fellow actor quipped, "she didn't hear the question." Her big break came when she was 22, when she and Mr.

Astaire won supporting roles in "Flying Down to Rio." Their rollicking introduction of a dance called the Carioca stole the show from its nominal stars, Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. Over the next six years they were teamed in eight more movies and introduced a glittering array of now-standard songs and dances, among them "Night and Day" and "The Continental" from "The Gay Divorcee," "I Won't Dance" from "Roberta," "Cheek to Cheek" from "Top Hat," "Let's Face the Music and Dance" from "Follow the Fleet," "Never Gonna Dance" from "Swing Time" and "They All Laughed" from "Shall We Dance." Years later, she wrote about their partnership, emphasizing that Astaire was no Svengali. By the time they joined forces in "Flying Down to Rio" in 1933, she pointed out, she had made 20 films, he only one. She acknowledged that they had "occasional snits," but, she said: "We had fun, and it shows. True, we were never bosom buddies off the screen; we were different people with different interests.

We were a couple only on film." And, she noted: "I'd do three or four pictures between those I made with Fred. We weren't Siamese twins. I always wanted to stretch out and do some things as me, alone, by myself. I did, and among the things was 'Kitty Foyle.' " Miss Rogers's later films included an elaborate fantasy, "Lady in the Dark" (1944); a wartime romance, "I'll Be Seeing You" (1945); the comedies "Dreamboat" (1952), "Monkey Business" (1952) and "Forever Female" (1954), and melodramas like "Tight Spot" (1955) and "Harlow" (1965). Reviewers attributed her enduring success to a dualistic personality -- tough versus vulnerable, ingenuous versus calculating -- and to a talent for mimicry and pretense. In 1951, Miss Rogers won wide praise in a Broadway comedy, "Love and Let Love," although reviewers panned the play.

Typically, she concluded, "We could have gone on touring around the country, probably playing to packed houses and getting our money back, but I'd rather be a sitting duck in a big pond." In later musical triumphs, she succeeded Carol Channing in the title role of "Hello, Dolly!" on Broadway in 1965 and played the role to ovations for more than two years. In 1969, she introduced "Mame" to London audiences. Gower Champion, who directed her in "Dolly," hailed her "drive, verve, spark and talent." Miss Rogers liked to keep busy. She often worked in summer stock, appearing in productions of musicals like "Annie Get Your Gun" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and in comedies like "Tovarich" and "Bell, Book and Candle." In the 1970's she developed a successful nightclub act, and she was also a fashion consultant to the J. C. Penney chain. In her last film, in 1965, she played Jean Harlow's mother in "Harlow." By then, she was unhappy with the frankness of Hollywood films.

Looking back, she said, "We made happy pictures that people enjoyed seeing, not the kind the audiences have to go through trauma to see nowadays." Miss Rogers's autobiography, "Ginger: My Story," was published by HarperCollins in 1991. John Mueller, in The New York Times Book Review, found Miss Rogers's book short on insight and discreet to the point that "one does not get a terribly rich feel for her personality." In discussing her career, he continued, "she is far more likely to tell us what she wore than what she did." Miss Rogers was a Christian Scientist who never smoked or drank alcohol, except for an occasional glass of wine at supper. She loved the outdoors and exercised regularly. When her schedule allowed, she swam every day and played golf and tennis several times a week. She ate moderately and maintained a trim figure in middle age, giving this advice: "I try to feed my hunger rather than my appetite." In 1938, she built a mountaintop mansion in Beverly Hills with a large swimming pool, a tennis court and an elaborate soda fountain.

She also bought a big dairy and multi-crop ranch on the Rogue River near Medford, Ore., which eventually became her main home. The actress was married five times: to Edward Culpepper, a dancer and actor known in vaudeville as Jack Pepper (1928 to 1931); the actor Lew Ayres (1934 to 1940); Jack Briggs, another actor (1943 to 1949); Jacques Bergerac, a French actor and businessman (1953 to 1957), and William Marshall, a director and producer (1961-1967). All five marriages ended in divorce. "I yearned for a long, happy marriage with one person," she wrote. But, she said, her life had been blessed in other ways, and in 1987 she said she didn't mind being alone. "It'd be fun to have a chum around, but it's very had to have a chum unless you're married to him," she said.

"And I don't believe in today's concept for living with someone unmarried." In 1992, Miss Rogers was one of the recipients of the 15th annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement. Asked by one interviewer what personal quality she was proudest of, Miss Rogers replied: "The most important thing in anyone's life is to be giving something. The quality I can give is fun and joy and happiness. This is my gift." Ever a Trouper Through the Decades In more than six decades in show business, Ginger Rogers appeared in some 70 films, as well as in vaudeville, theater and television. Here are some highlights of her career. Films Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers grace Life cover - Aug 22, 1938 - HISTORY.com Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers grace Life cover Share this: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers grace Life cover Author Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers grace Life cover URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1938, Hollywood’s most famous dancing duo, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, are featured on the cover of Life magazine, offering readers a graceful vision at a time when America is in the grips of the Great Depression.

Born Frederick Austerlitz on May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, Astaire began touring the vaudeville circuit with his sister and dancing partner, Adele, in early childhood. By 1917, the siblings were performing in New York and London. After Adele married an English lord, Astaire began working in films, starting with a small role in Dancing Lady (1933). In his second film, Flying Down to Rio (1933), he was paired with Ginger Rogers, who had been born Virginia Katherine McMath on July 16, 1911, in Missouri. As a teenager, Rogers had been a champion Charleston dancer and had also toured on the vaudeville circuit. In 1930, she made a splash on Broadway in George and Ira Gershwin’s musical Girl Crazy.

Astaire and Rogers turned out to be a perfect match on the dance floor, and audiences flocked to see their dazzling, complex routines in the 10 movie musicals they made together, including The Gay Divorcee (1933), Top Hat (1935), Swing Time (1936) and Shall We Dance? (1937). The actress Katherine Hepburn once famously said of the couple: “He gives her class, and she gives him sex.” The pair’s final film together was 1949’s The Barkleys of Broadway. Although best known for her partnership with Astaire, Rogers made some 70 films during her career and won a Best Actress Academy Award for Kitty Foyle (1940). A savvy businesswoman, she invested her earnings wisely and became one of Hollywood’s wealthiest actresses. Married and divorced five times, Rogers had no children and continued to perform for most of her life, scoring triumphs on Broadway in Hello, Dolly! in 1965 and in London with Mame in 1969. Rogers died on April 25, 1995, at the age of 83.

After his partnership with Rogers in the 1930s, the debonair Astaire continued dancing onscreen with other partners, including Paulette Goddard, Rita Hayworth and Lucille Bremer. He went on to make such films as 1957’s Funny Face, with Audrey Hepburn, and 1974’s The Towering Inferno, which co-starred Steve McQueen and Paul Newman; his performance in the latter film earned Astaire his only Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. Astaire died at age 88 on June 22, 1987. Related Videos

Question: Who famously danced with Ginger Rogers?
Answer: Fred Astaire