Fred Astaire Facts ADD TO WORD LIST Fred Astaire Facts Fred Astaire (1899-1987) was a preeminent dancer and choreographer who worked in vaudeville, revue, musical comedy, television, radio, and Hollywood musicals. He achieved admiring recognition not only from his peers in the entertainment world, but also from major figures in ballet and modern dance. Fred Astaire, born Frederick Austerlitz on May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, began performing in vaudeville with his sister, Adele, in 1905. The Astaires eventually became featured performers, and in 1917 they moved to the musical stage where they appeared in ten productions, most of them hugely successful, particularly two musical comedies with songs by George and Ira Gershwin (Lady, Be Good in 1924 and Funny Face in 1927) and a revue with songs by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz (The Band Wagon in 1931). When his sister retired from show business in 1932 to marry, Astaire sought to reshape his career.

He settled on the featured role in Gay Divorce, a "musical play" with songs by Cole Porter. This show proved Astaire could flourish without his sister, and it also helped establish the pattern of most of his film musicals: it was a light, perky, unsentimental comedy, largely uncluttered by subplot, built around a love story for Astaire and his partner (Claire Luce) that was airy and amusing, but essentially serious— particularly when the pair danced together. Astaire Goes to Hollywood In 1933 Astaire married Phyllis Livingston Potter. Shortly after his marriage Astaire went to Hollywood. At RKO he had a featured part in the exuberant, fluttery Flying Down to Rio (1933). The film was a hit, and it was obvious Astaire's performance and screen appeal were a major factor in that success. The Gay Divorcee (1934), a film version of Gay Divorce, was the first of Astaire's major pictures with Ginger Rogers, and it scored even better at the box office than Flying Down to Rio.

With this and seven more films in the 1930s (the most popular of which was Top Hat of 1935), they reached their full development as a team—one of the legendary partnerships in the history of dance, characterized by breathless high spirits, emotional richness, bubbling comedy, and beguiling romantic compatibility. For these films Astaire created a rich series of romantic and playful duets for the team, as well as an array of dazzling and imaginative solos for himself. Astaire's musicality, together with the opportunity of working on such a classy, highly profitable project, made his films attractive to many of the top popular-song composers of the day: Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and the Gershwins. By the end of the 1930s the revenues from the films with Rogers were beginning to decline and, after a disagreement over fees with the studio, Astaire left. The next years were nomadic but successful ones for Astaire. He made nine films at four different studios and continued to fashion splendid dances.

He appeared with a variety of partners— tap virtuoso Eleanor Powell, Paulette Goddard, Rita Hayworth, Joan Leslie, and Lucille Bremer—and he also did a pair of films with Bing Crosby. Musically, Astaire continued to attract the best: Porter, Berlin, Kern, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, and lyricist Johnny Mercer. Retirement and Creation of Dancing Schools In 1946 Astaire retired from motion pictures to create a chain of dancing schools, a venture that was eventually proved to be successful. In 1947 he returned to movies to make the highly profitable Easter Parade at MGM, opposite Judy Garland. Nine more musicals followed. His partners in these included Ginger Rogers for one picture, as well as Vera-Ellen, Cyd Charisse, Leslie Caron, Betty Hutton, Jane Powell, and Audrey Hepburn. This period was marked by a great personal tragedy for Astaire—the agonizing death of his beloved wife from cancer in 1954 at the age of 46.

By the mid-1950s the era of the classic Hollywood musical as Astaire had experienced it—indeed, defined it— was coming to an end, and Astaire moved into other fields. On television he produced four multiple award-winning musical specials with Barrie Chase as his partner. He also tried his hand at straight acting roles with considerable success in eight films between 1959 and 1982. Over the years he played a number of characters on television— usually suave ones—in dramatic specials and series. As he entered his 80s, Astaire, a life-long horse racing enthusiast, romanced, and in 1980 married, Robyn Smith, a successful jockey in her mid-30s. He died seven years later. Ginger Rogers, Astaire's long time dance partner, passed away in April 1995. Rogers is often quoted as having said, "I did everything Fred did, only backwards and in high heels." Their partnership lasted sixteen years, from 1933 to 1949.

Astaire's Legacy Over the course of his long film career, Fred Astaire appeared in 212 musical numbers, of which 133 contain fully developed dance routines, a high percentage of which are of great artistic value, a contribution unrivaled in films and with few parallels in the history of dance. And, because he worked mainly in film, Astaire is that great rarity: a master choreographer the vast majority of whose works are precisely preserved. Although the creation of many of Astaire's dances involved a degree of collaboration with others, the guiding creative hand and the final authority was Astaire himself. His choreography is notable for its inventiveness, wit, musicality, and economy. Characteristically, each dance takes two or three central ideas and carefully presents and develops them—ideas that might derive from a step, the music, the lyrics, the qualities of his partner, or the plot situation. Astaire's dances are stylistically eclectic, an unpredictable blend of tap and ballroom with bits from other dance forms thrown in. What holds everything together is Astaire's distinctive style and sensibility: the casual sophistication, the airy wit, the transparent rhythmic intricacy, and the apparent ease of execution.

Astaire also focused his attention on the problems of filming dance and settled on an approach that was to dominate Hollywood musicals for a generation: both camerawork and editing are fashioned to enhance the flow and continuity of the dances, not to undercut or overshadow it. A perfectionist, Astaire spent weeks working out his choreography. Although his perfectionism, his propensity to worry, his shyness, and his self-doubt could make him difficult, even exasperating, to work with, he was an efficient planner and worker. His courtesy, enormous professionalism, and tireless struggle for improvement earned him the admiration of his co-workers. Astaire's legacy continues to be revisited, sometimes with controversy. In January 1997, Astaire's image returned to television through special effects editing when Dirt Devil grafted their vacuum cleaners into dance scenes from Astaire's films for three of their commercials. The advertisements were completed and run with Robyn Astaire's blessing. The commercials, which aired during the Super Bowl, were panned by the press, the general feeling being that replacing Ginger Rogers with a vacuum cleaner was in poor taste.

Further Reading on Fred Astaire Fred Astaire's autobiography which, shattering Hollywood tradition, he wrote himself (in longhand) is Steps in Time (1959). His work is discussed and analyzed in Arlene Croce, The Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers Book (1972) and John Mueller, Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films (1985). Useful interviews with Astaire are included in Morton Eustis, Players at Work (1937) and in Inter/View (June 1973). Astaire can also be found on the World Wide Web. A listing of his movies can be found at ~amatth13/fred.html . Information on Astaire can also be found at ‘The Astaires,’ by Kathleen Riley - The New York Times The New York Times ‘The Astaires,’ by Kathleen Riley By TONI BENTLEY Continue reading the main story Let’s talk about Fred.

And his partners: Rita, Cyd, Paulette, Vera-Ellen, Nanette, the two Powells — Eleanor and Jane — Judy, Leslie, Audrey, numerous couches and chairs, several tables (dining and coffee), a British ceiling and one supremely fortunate coat rack. But mainly, of course, there was the divine Ginger, always magnificently dressed, occasionally, as in “Top Hat,” by three or four well-endowed ostriches . While the Hays Office in the mid-’30s was in its most censorial early days, its enforcers changing any plotline or dialogue from which they could squeeze sexual innuendo, they managed in their verbal vigilance to, myopically, overlook Fred Astaire’s duets with Ginger Rogers, in which he demonstrates clearly, concisely, even overtly, every move any aspiring lover might do well to adopt. Put down the Kama Sutra and its impossible acrobatics, rent “The Gay Divorcee” and watch Astaire seduce a resistant Rogers, transforming her from a feisty, fast-talking, fast-walking, too-good-for-you dame into a dewy-eyed ingénue, slowed and silenced by love.

In the Cole Porter number “Night and Day,” Astaire pursues her about the dance floor with the wit of changing rhythms, sometimes syncopated, sometimes right on the beat, sometimes pausing to breathe the moment. He chases her, coaxes her, mirrors her, challenges her and goes hip to hip with her. He even spoons her, vertically. She isn’t sure, she turns away, she reconsiders, gives a little, gives a little more, then, overcome, bends backward and surrenders completely to the rhythm, the moment and the man. He flips her around, catches her, sends her off spinning alone only to meet her, unexpectedly, when she slows, pulls her in tight and takes her into a thrilling crescendo, then to a fantastically casual ending, as if to say, “That? Oh, that was nothing,” his modesty after brilliance his most disarming charm. Astaire is our American Casanova camouflaged in tux and tails or sailor suit as a clean-cut gentleman, sometimes a naïve goof, zooming about in Hollywood musical fluff. Good, solid, still funny fluff.

As “Night and Day” closes, Astaire lands Rogers gently on a steep incline — she’s mesmerized by the magician who just took her on the ride of her life — bends over her suggestively, pulls back and says, “Cigarette?” Mute and dazed, she declines. But we need Paul Henreid to light one for us. Yep, the Hays Office really did miss the dance. Thank God. Continue reading the main story Rogers was Astaire’s best partner (the coat rack vying for a close second ), though none, not even she, could match him as a dancer — watch how he takes off in his solos like Mercury in winged taps. But it didn’t matter: they were good and gorgeous, and he did the rest. Hermes Pan, Astaire’s longtime choreographic collaborator, said, “Except for times Fred worked with real professional dancers like Cyd Charisse, it was a 25-year war.” So why did these women look like goddesses with Astaire? Because of Adele. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Adele? Yes, his sister, Adele.

For the duration of their astonishing 27-year partnership, the longest in his life — it began when Fred was 5 and Adele 8 — she was the undisputed star of the duo. In her fascinating new book, “The Astaires,” the Australian theater historian Kathleen Riley describes the exploits of this brother-sister team in glorious detail. And it becomes clear that it was behind and beside, but never in front of, Adele that Fred learned not only how to dance, but how to present a woman, honor her and make her glow. It is now a mostly lost art, hard-won equality having removed woman’s pedestal and left her prevaricating in the ditch of parallelism. Fred Astaire, with his astounding physical abilities, didn’t just redefine the notion of grace; he single-handedly (or, more accurately, double-footedly) pushed the concept further than anyone had before, or has since, on the great screen. While Gene Kelly sparred heroically in a mighty battle with gravity — like Atlas, he held the world aloft, and you knew it — Astaire simply sidestepped the fight and actually came down upon gravity rather than trudging up it like most mortals.

His dancing in such classic films as “Swing Time,” “Roberta” and “Shall We Dance” provides not only an exhilarating experience, but a purifying one that crosses the border of sheer entertainment into a spiritual, moral realm. He can certainly restore one’s faith in humanity should it, by chance, ever falter — or at least in one extraordinary human being’s capacity for beauty. “He is like Bach,” George Balanchine said. “Astaire has that same concentration of genius; there is so much of the dance in him that it has been distilled.” Photo Stage partners: Adele and Fred Astaire in the 1920s. Their 27-year career together began when he was 5 and she was 8. She was the undisputed star of the duo. Credit From “The Astaires” Astaire’s career in Hollywood had a less than promising start, with a screen test that elicited the now famous summation (which Riley regards as apocryphal) from one of those ever reliable executives: “Can’t act. Slightly bald. Also dances.” But David O.

Selznick was so charmed by Astaire, despite “his enormous ears and bad chin line,” that he signed him anyway. The rest really is history. Ah, but to live in a world, as in Astaire’s films, where just around every corner lies a gleaming Art Deco ballroom and invisible orchestra — just in case one feels like dancing. Riley performs the great service of giving us the history before the history, of Fred and Adele, the biggest vaudeville and musical theater stars of their time. It’s a love story rarely told, of that between a sister and her brother, one bonded in blood but cemented by hoofing. It’s also the tale of one more relentlessly devoted stage mother, who joins Rose Thompson Hovick in that distinguished pantheon of ambitious bulldozers. Adele and Fred were born in Omaha. Their mother, Johanna Geilus, was a first-generation American, her parents having emigrated from East Prussia in 1878.

Their father, Frederic Austerlitz, who went by Fritz, was born in Linz, Austria, in 1868, one year after his Jewish parents had converted to Catholicism, their pragmatic solution to anti-Semitism. The newborn Fritz was baptized in the Catholic Church. Arriving at Ellis Island at age 24, Fritz had “theatrical yearnings and dandified ways” and dreamed of being a singer and musician. Moving to Omaha, he met the spunky 15-year-old Johanna Geilus at a Lutheran church gathering, married her and eventually worked for the Storz Brewing Company. A kind and loving father, he later became an alcoholic. He died at age 56, but not before doing all he could to support and advise on his children’s careers, and suffering the humiliation of being supported by those children. Frederic Austerlitz II, blue-eyed and blond-haired, was born May 10, 1899, two years and eight months after his dark-eyed, dark-haired sister, Adele. He quickly followed his vivacious, mischievous sibling into the local dancing school, where his mother hoped the classes would strengthen her frail little boy.

At age 4 he was found one day in a corner prancing about on his tippy-toes in a pair of pointe shoes, beautiful arches in evidence, a trick he would carry into his early vaudeville days. A teacher’s suggestion that the brother and sister might have a stage career if properly trained was all that was needed for the eager Austerlitzes to board a train in January 1905, headed for New York and stardom. Remarkable for young parents to take such a risk based on so little — and on such little people — and to reap such stunning reward. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Fritz returned to work in Nebraska while mother and children moved into a boardinghouse, and Fred and Adele began their studies at the Alviene Master School of the Theatre and Academy of Cultural Arts. Alviene tapped little Fred’s head one day and said, “We’re going to make a big star out of you.” When Fred repeated this to his father, Fritz cried. Adele and Fred had plenty of incentive to succeed.

Photo Credit Illustration from “The Astaires.” They made their debut only months later, in “The Wedding Cake,” an elaborate 12-minute act designed for them, featuring the children as bride and groom, each atop a huge wedding cake, Adele in white satin and Fred, yes, in a miniature top hat, white tie and tails. Johanna knew that a less “foreign,” not to mention less Jewish, name than Austerlitz was needed for the stage, and thus her children became “The Astaires,” after various trial runs as “The Austers,” “The Astiers” and “The Astares.” She, in turn, became Ann Astaire. Just in case this tale seems all too prescient, Alviene might well have told all his new students and their eager, paying parents they would be “stars” — and besides, Fred returned in the second half of “The Wedding Cake” as a lobster. The act was not a great success, but it was the first of many spanning their childhood. It took years of practice, new acts, new teachers and plenty of failure for them to acquire anything close to top billing. “My sister and I had to saw our way through,” Astaire once wrote.

They played many one-night stands in “every rat trap and chicken coop in the Middle West,” he said, often receiving equal billing with trained seals, dogs and illusionists. During these years Fred considered himself a liability to Adele, who was impulsive, funny, lively and bursting with charisma. “The girl seems to have talent,” one theater manager opined, “but the boy can do nothing.” Riley quotes a passage from the manuscript for Astaire’s autobiography, “Steps in Time,” in which he describes himself as “a small boy who went through the motions conscientiously, afraid he would forget his lines.” Years later Vincente Minnelli, who directed Astaire in “The Band Wagon,” said: “He lacks confidence to the most enormous degree. . . . He always thinks that he’s no good.” But lest Astaire’s propensity to endlessly rehearse be pathologized in Freud’s armchair, it is well to remember that Fred preferred to dance on that armchair, while most of us just sit. At age 14 Fred took on the musical responsibilities for their act, frequenting Tin Pan Alley, where he met a 15-year-old George Gershwin in one of the cubicles at the music publisher Jerome H.

Remick & Company. Gershwin was working for $15 a week, plugging other people’s songs, and the boys dreamed of George’s writing a musical for Fred one day. “Lady, Be Good!” (1924) and “Funny Face” (1927) were two of those dreams. During their last, and best, year in vaudeville, in 1917, the Astaires received telegrams from both an agent for the Shuberts — resulting in a two-year Broadway contract — and the impresario Charles Dillingham, who presented them in “Apple Blossoms” at his Globe Theater (now the Lunt-Fontanne) in 1919. “We killed ’em in the first act,” Fred said, “and ‘panicked ’em’ in the third.” The score was by Fritz Kreisler, who played for their rehearsals.

Of the Astaires’ performance in “For Goodness Sake,” in 1922 (which featured their star turn in the show’s “nut” number, “The Whichness of the Whatness”), a critic raved, “Somewhere, sometimes perhaps there may have been a more charming juvenile team than Fred and Adele, but certainly not in the memory of anyone in the audience that filled the Lyric Theater.” That same year, the “hard-drinking, banjo-playing satirist” Ashton Stevens, “dean of American drama critics” and escort to Sarah Bernhardt, became one of a long list of distinguished intellectuals to fall in love with Adele, some of whom took their adoration across the footlights. Stevens made his declaration in a subtle headline in The Chicago Herald-Examiner: “Falling in Love With Adele Astaire. In Which It Is Told How the Well-Known Heart of Ashton Stevens Is Stricken by the Deftest of the Dancing Girls.” He went on to rhapsodize that “the pliant body of Miss Astaire . . . assumes a slanting partial paralysis which slays boredom where it sits.” Oh, my.

Such proclamations do make one wonder what delights have been lost to the annals of theater criticism in the intervening decades since the erection of that annoying fourth wall, a lame beard for bias prevention. George Jean Nathan, with H. L. Mencken editor of The Smart Set and The Ameri­can Mercury, went one further, choosing to compare George Bernard Shaw’s play “Back to Methuselah” to Adele’s dancing: “If the purpose of theater is to entertain, then I say that the Astaire girl entertains twice as greatly as Shaw’s play.” Nathan proceeded to squire Adele around town, had an eight-month romance with her, followed her to Europe and dedicated his book “The House of Satan” to her. The romance ended when Adele found out that the “French ambassador” her lover was meeting went by the name Lillian Gish. While Nathan conceded that brother Fred was “a fellow of no mean foot,” he asserted that “a dance without skirts is to me not a dance.” Way to go, George. Photo Adele and Fred Astaire in 1911.

Credit Courtesy Antoine Dutot Museum & Gallery When the Astaires crossed the pond for the first time, in 1923, to star in “Stop Flirting” at the Shaftesbury in London, their popularity kicked into a high gear from which it never descended — until Adele retired eight years later to marry into British aristocracy. The show ran for 16 months, and each performance included no fewer than 18 dances, a tour de force that left British critics reaching for biblical superlatives: “Nothing like them since the Flood.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story As the toasts of the town they cavorted with Noël Coward, the Prince of Wales (long before Mrs. Simpson) — he saw the show 10 times — and the prince’s three brothers, who ushered the young Americans about town to all the trendiest clubs, where Fred was caught dancing an “inappropriate” Charleston with Lady Edwina Mountbatten. When not dancing, the siblings endorsed shampoo, cold cream, pens, toothbrushes, bronchial pastilles and shoes. “Astairia” was afoot. J. M.

Barrie asked Adele to play Peter Pan (she couldn’t for contractual reasons), while P. G. Wodehouse, A. A. Milne, John Galsworthy, Hugh Walpole and Somerset Maugham became admirers and friends. Cecil Beaton likened Adele, “with her large amusing head on a minute exquisite little body,” to Felix the Cat, while another critic took a more existential tone: “Hers is not only the poetry of motion but its wit, its malice, its humor.” Back in the States they signed to star in the first Broadway collaboration by the Gershwin brothers, “Black-Eyed Susan.” When the show premiered, happily renamed “Lady, Be Good!,” Alexander Woollcott wrote that Fred Astaire’s feet and Gershwin’s music surely “were written in the same key.” “The Man I Love” was created for Adele, but the elegiac ballad was thought to slow up Act II and was cut. It went on to quite a solo career, recorded by Billie Holiday, Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald, though alas never by Adele, its inspiration. Showbiz.

“Lady” was a sensation and ran for 330 performances on Broadway before moving to the West End for 326 more shows. “Funny Face” followed, and Riley has uncovered evidence that while George Gershwin and Adele had a flirtation, it came to nothing. “George loved all the girls,” Adele said in an interview, previously unpublished, “but absolutely I know he was impotent. . . . I would have had George except he wasn’t given to women. And he wasn’t given to men either.” After a bomb called “Smiles,” the Astaires starred in the musical revue “The Band Wagon” in 1931. (The subsequent 1953 film with Astaire and Cyd Charisse bore little resemblance to the original.) It was to be Adele’s swan song before she retired from the stage, at 35, to marry Lord Charles Cavendish and move into his 200-room, one-bathroom (according to Adele) castle in Ireland. Whether Fred would have a career of his own after losing Adele was a subject of considerable conjecture in the press.

His first solo foray, in “Gay Divorce,” with Claire Luce, was inconclusive, with one critic contending, “two Astaires are better than one.” Both his mother and his sister were leading skeptics, possibly for selfish reasons, and together waged a war against their beloved Fred’s even marrying a lovely, young divorced socialite, Phyllis Potter, on whom he had set his heart in a two-year pursuit. Adele went so far as to say she wished her brother was gay, so he would never leave her, while Ann Astaire monitored his every move — he was, apparently, still living with her. Photo The Astaires in 1927. Credit Photofest “Mother is so difficult at times,” Fred wrote to Adele in early 1933. “She’ll have a fit I suppose if I get married to anybody within the next 10 years. I don’t know what she expects me to do — keep a couple of tarts or play with myself. . . . I’m so tired of sneaking in at night — having all my telephone conversations listened to. . . .

I don’t want to lose this girl.” Eventually, Adele and Ann accepted the inevitable, and Fred married his beloved Phyllis and moved to Hollywood, where he danced a little. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Eight months before the 1934 premiere of “The Gay Divorcee,” Astaire sent a telegram to his agent, Leland Hayward: “what’s all this talk about me being teamed with ginger rogers? i will not have it leland. . . . i’ve just managed to live down one partnership and i don’t want to be bothered with any more.” He went on, bothered or not, to make nine more movies with Rogers, thereby putting on celluloid the best dancing filmed to date. Adele’s marriage was unhappy and resulted in the stillborn births of a daughter and twins, followed by a miscarriage, alongside the devastating progression of her husband’s acute alcoholism. Lord Cavendish, eventually an invalid in his own castle, died in 1944, age 38. The following year Irving Berlin asked Adele to return to the stage to play Annie Oakley in “Annie Get Your Gun,” but Adele declined and remarried instead.

(Hello, Ethel Merman.) During the war years she volunteered in London at the Ameri­can Red Cross, dancing with the troops and writing letters for the wounded G.I.’s to send home, signing them, in a moving show of how her fame had receded, “Adele Astaire, Fred’s sister” — and there she will always remain, “Fred’s sister.” It is Riley’s biggest challenge to describe Adele’s electrifying qualities, especially as she was, indisputably, the “bigger star” of the pair, the “lilac flame,” as one critic wrote. “It was not one dominant attribute but the anarchic coexistence, in one petite, sweetly brazen figure, of a seeming mass of bewitching, opalescent contradictions,” Riley writes. “Underlying the irruptive element of danger and incorrigible gaiety . . . was a fundamental vulnerability.” While likely an accurate assessment of Adele’s appeal, and not too overblown at that, this does illustrate one of the interesting questions about criticism in general and academic books in particular.

Riley’s book suffers, though not egregiously, from the rather humor­less, linear reportage — the laundry-list narrative — and the slightly defensive tone of so much academic writing, in which being correct is clearly more valued than being interesting or, God forbid, entertaining, and resisting interpretation is preferred above such vulgarities as outright declaration. (For unsurpassed writing and out-on-a-limb — a good place to be with Astaire — assessment, see Arlene Croce’s “Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers Book.”) But Riley is also generous with the quotations of those who were there. George Jean Nathan literally takes the cake, calling Adele “as unconscious as a peach shortcake, as careless about it all as a United States senator’s necktie.” Ah, yes, those ever-present careless senatorial ties. Despite his somewhat compromised position as her suitor, Nathan brings outrageous wit to his furious praise. But one can also feel his passion, and a madcapness matching Adele’s.

She is “a dozen Florestan cocktails filtered through silk,” “a figure come out of Degas to a galloping ragtime tune.” While there is, sadly, no footage of Fred and Adele dancing together, there is one other way, besides Nathan’s glorious flurries, to reach back in time and touch her, via a handful of audio recordings of the Astaires singing, made in the late 1920s. In “Funny Face” — written for them — they sing to each other, starting with Fred: “You have all the qualities of Peter Pan / . . . You’re a cutie / With more than beauty / You’ve got such a lot / of Personal-i-T-N-T.” When Adele counters back to her brother in her soubrette soprano — she sounds like an untrained Gertrude Lawrence, her British contemporary — with “I love your funny face / Your sunny, funny face,” she lingers on the word “love” with such high-pitched, childlike ardor that one feels the force of the brother-sister love story Riley tells consolidated into sheer, albeit rather tremulous, sweetness.

Riley’s book makes clear that during those three decades of dancing with Adele, Fred was driven, in part, by the belief that he was “a detriment to my sister,” and thus honed his craft on so many levels, devising new levels in the process, that he became a creature, like Mayakovsky’s “cloud in trousers,” beyond his sister’s obviously radiant, though possibly only-of-her-time, talent. While Adele charmed them in the spotlight, her brother became an artist of the highest order. When Astaire was given a Life Achievement Award by the American Film Institute, in 1981, he was 81 years old. As he took the stage a single ring shone on his elegant hands: the gold signet pinky ring that Adele had given him in London over 50 years earlier. This ring can be seen in virtually all his films, circling his finger as he circles the waists of one beautiful woman after another. “My sister, Adele,” he said in his unscripted speech, “was mostly responsible for my being in show business. She was the whole show, she really was.

In all the vaudeville acts we had and the musical comedies we did together, Delly was the one that was the shining light and I was just there pushing away.” Just pushing away. Like Bach. THE ASTAIRES Fred Astaire - Musical Tap Dance in the 20th Century Musical Tap Dance in the 20th Century By: Kiley Vanasdal Fred Astaire growing up Fred Astaire was born on May 10, 1899 in Omaha Nebraska and died in Los Angeles California on June 22, 1987(“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire’s real name is Frederick Austerlitz (“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire was an American dancer that starred in motion pictures and also danced on stage for people (“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire is most commonly known for his musical comedy films that he was in with Ginger Rodgers (“Fred Astaire”). “He is regarded by many as the greatest popular-music dancers of all time” (“Fred Astaire). Fred Astaire was born into well off financially family (“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire first started studying dancing when he was the age of four (“Fred Astaire”).

In 1906, his sister and him performed an act together, which became popular as a vaudeville attraction (“Fred Astaire”). Their first performance was in Keyport, New Jersey when Fred was the age of 6 and a half years old (“Fred Astaire Biography”).”Fred and Adele (his sister) grew up dancing together in vaudeville, and were bonafide stars while still in their teens and twenties, with smash hits on the New York and London Stages” (“Fred Astaire Biography”). In 1915, Fred Astaire and his sister was in Mary Pickford’s film Fanchon the Cricket (“Fred Astaire”). In 1917, Fred Astaire and his sister made their debut on Broadway’s Over the Top (“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire and his sister performed on stage in 1922 For Goodness Sake, in 1927 Funny Face, and in 1931 The Band Wagon; all of these performances made Fred and his sister famous at the international level (“Fred Astaire”). The picture to the left is of Fred Astaire from Fred Astaire Pictures. Web. 6 Apr 2011.

< Fred Astaire In 1933, Fred Astaire was in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Dancing Lady and was considered a featured dancer in this production with the Three Stooges, Joan Crawford, and Clark Gable ("Fred Astaire"). In 1933, Fred was in Flying Down to Rio, which was produced by RKO Radio Production with Ginger Rodgers (“Fred Astaire”). “They were a sensation, stealing the picture from stars Delores del Rio and Gene Raymond, and public demand compelled RKO to feature the pair in classic series of starring vehicles throughout the 1930 with The Gay Divorce (1934), Top Hat Swing Time (1936) often cited as the best a lot” (“Fred Astaire”). Ginger Rodger’s class and earthiness and Fred’s elegance were said that together made Fred have sex appeal (“Fred Astaire”). “Their dance routines, often in the midst of sumptuous Art Deco settings, were intricate tap or graceful ballroom numbers that served as sophisticated statements of romantic love” (“Fred Astaire”). The picture to the left is of Fred Astaire with Ginger Rodgers from Fred Astaire Pictures. Web. 6 Apr 2011.

< Fred Astaire's dance style and films Fred Astaire’s dance style that made him popular was his “relaxed, light, effortless, and largely improvised” (“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire was a very hardworking dance performer, who would practice his dance routines for as many hours as needed to perfect them, because he was a perfectionist (“Fred Astaire”). “Working in collaboration with legendary choreographer Hermes Pan for his films with Rodgers, Astaire eschewed the then-popular Busby Berkley approach to filmed musicals and its emphasis on special effects, surreal settings, and chorus girls in ever-changing kaleidoscope patterns” (“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire also performed with other partners, which include Eleanor Powell, Lucille Bremer, and Rita Hayworth in 1939 after his last film of RKO Astaire-Rodgers film (“Fred Astaire”). “He retired temporarily in 1946 but returned to the screen in 1948 and appeared in a series if Technicolor musicals for MGM that, next to his films with Rodgers, constitute his most highly regarded body of work” (“Fred Astaire”).

In 1948 Easter Parade, 1949 The Barkleys of Broadway (empty shoes dance), 1951 Royal Wedding (ceiling dance and use of a hat rack), and 1952 “The Belle of New York (dance on air) were the films that made Astaire the most famous because of his dance routines that he performed in them (“Fred Astaire”). “The best of Astaire’s films during this period was The Band Wagon (1953), often cited as one of the greatest of film musicals; it featured Astaire’s memorable duet with Cyd Charisse to the song “Dancing in the Dark” (“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire’s last musical for MGM was in 1957 Silk Stockings (“Fred Astaire”). “He continued to dance with new partner Barrie Chase for several Emmy Award-winning television specials throughout the 1950’s and ‘60s; and he danced again on-screen in Finian’s Rainbow (1968) and for a few steps with Gene Kelly in That’s Entertainment, Part II (1976)” (“Fred Astaire”).

Fred Astaire contributes to that art of dance and is commonly known for his American vocal style (“Fred Astaire”). “Astaire received much praise from jazz critics for his innate sense of swing and his conversational way with a song” (“Fred Astaire”). The picture on the left is of Fred Astaire with Cyd Charrise from Fred Astaire Pictures. Web. 6 Apr 2011. < The video below shows Fred Astaire performing his ceiling dance in the Royal Wedding (showing his dance style) this video below was from "Fred Astaire-Royal Wedding-Famous Ceiling Dance." Web. 6 Apr 2011. < Fred Astaire's more films and awards “Astiare’s most notable dramatic roles were in On the Beach (1959); The Pleasure of His Company (1962); The Towering Inferno (1974), for which he received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor; and Ghost Story (1981), his final film” (“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire contributed to the film in 1950, so he was awarded and honorary Academy Award (“Fred Astaire”).

“He received a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1981” (“Fred Astaire”). Fred Astaire stated in 1959 in Steps in Time (his autobiography), “I have no desire to prove anything by it. I just dance” (“Fred Astaire”). “Fred Astaire brought to the screen a completely unique persona; his style, his innate grace, his singing voice, and of course, the dancing are all inimitable” (“Fred Astaire Biography”). “The charm, the elegance, the true class of the man still shine today” (“Fred Astaire Biography”). Why I chose to write about Fred Astaire's dance style and achievements and how Fred Astaire's dance style affects me when I think about his dance style or watch him dance I chose Fred Astaire’s dance style because it intrigues me. The way he looks like he is floating across the room when he dances amazes me. I also choose to write about Fred Astaire and his dance style because it also intrigues me about his elegance of his movements when he dances.

I chose to write about Fred Astaire and his musical tap dance style compared to Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Gene Kelly because his elegant dance style interested me more than the other two's dance styles of musical tap. Fred Astaire’s dance style affects me when I think about it or watch him dance by making me want to get up and dance with him. I feel this way because he is so elegant when he dances and I want to be that graceful when I dance. When I watch Fred Astaire dance it makes me feel entertained and want to keep watching him dance. Also when I watch Fred Astaire dance, it makes me want to be in the 20th century dancing with him. Create a free website Fred Astaire | American dancer and singer | Britannica.com American dancer and singer Gene Kelly Fred Astaire, original name Frederick Austerlitz (born May 10, 1899, Omaha , Nebraska , U.S.—died June 22, 1987, Los Angeles , California ), American dancer of stage and motion pictures who is best known for a number of highly successful musical comedy films in which he starred with Ginger Rogers.

He is regarded by many as the greatest popular-music dancer of all time. Fred Astaire, 1936. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Astaire was born into a wealthy family. He studied dancing from the age of four and in 1906 formed an act with his sister, Adele, that became a popular vaudeville attraction. The two appeared briefly in the Mary Pickford film Fanchon the Cricket (1915) and made their Broadway debut in Over the Top (1917). They achieved international fame with stage hits that included For Goodness Sake (1922), Funny Face (1927), and The Band Wagon (1931). When Adele retired after marrying Lord Charles Cavendish in 1932, Astaire made a screen test, receiving the verdict from executives: “Can’t act, can’t sing. Balding. Can dance a little.” He was nevertheless cast as a featured dancer in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production Dancing Lady (1933), which starred Joan Crawford , Clark Gable , and the Three Stooges .

Also in 1933 Astaire was paired with Ginger Rogers in the RKO Radio Pictures production Flying Down to Rio . They were a sensation, stealing the picture from stars Delores del Rio and Gene Raymond, and public demand compelled RKO to feature the pair in a classic series of starring vehicles throughout the 1930s, with The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935), and Swing Time (1936) often cited as the best of the lot. Although Astaire worked well with several leading ladies throughout his career, his partnership with Rogers had a special chemistry. Their respective elegance (Astaire) and earthiness (Rogers) rubbed off on one another, and it has often been said that he gave her class and she gave him sex appeal. Their dance routines, often in the midst of sumptuous Art Deco settings, were intricate tap or graceful ballroom numbers that served as sophisticated statements of romantic love. Only once—in Carefree (1938)—did Astaire and Rogers share an on-screen kiss, and then only in a dream sequence.

An advertisement for the film Flying Down to Rio (1933), starring Ginger … © 1933 RKO Radio Pictures Inc.; photograph from a private collection Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in The Gay Divorcee (1934), directed by … © 1934 RKO Radio Pictures Inc. Fred Astaire (centre) in Top Hat (1935). The Bettmann Archive Fred Astaire (left) and Irving Berlin during the filming of Top Hat (1935). © Bettmann/Corbis Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in Swing Time (1936). © 1936 RKO Radio Pictures Inc. Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle … © 1939 RKO Radio Pictures Inc. Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent Astaire’s immensely popular dancing style appeared relaxed, light, effortless, and largely improvised. In reality, he was a hard-working perfectionist who tirelessly rehearsed routines for hours on end.

Working in collaboration with legendary choreographer Hermes Pan for his films with Rogers, Astaire eschewed the then-popular Busby Berkeley approach to filmed musicals and its emphasis on special effects, surreal settings, and chorus girls in ever-changing kaleidoscope patterns. Instead, Astaire revolutionized the movie musical by simplifying it: solo dancers or couples were shot in full-figure, and dances were filmed with a minimum of edits and camera angles. He is regarded as a pioneer in the serious presentation of dance on film. You Can’t Handle the Truth: Famous Movie Quotes After the last RKO Astaire-Rogers film, in 1939, Astaire appeared with various partners such as Eleanor Powell , Rita Hayworth (whom Astaire cited as his favourite on-screen partner), and Lucille Bremer. He retired temporarily in 1946 but returned to the screen in 1948 and appeared in a series of Technicolor musicals for MGM that, next to his films with Rogers, constitute his most highly regarded body of work.

Several of Astaire’s most-famous dance routines appear in these films, such as the slow-motion dance in Easter Parade (1948), the dance with empty shoes in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949, his only reunion with Ginger Rogers), the ceiling dance and the duet with a hat rack in Royal Wedding (1951), and the dance on air in The Belle of New York (1952). The best of Astaire’s films during this period was The Band Wagon (1953), often cited as one of the greatest of film musicals; it featured Astaire’s memorable duet with Cyd Charisse to the song “ Dancing in the Dark. ” Astaire’s run of classic MGM musicals ended with Silk Stockings (1957), after which his screen appearances were mostly in nondancing character roles. He continued to dance with new partner Barrie Chase for several Emmy Award-winning television specials throughout the 1950s and ’60s, and he danced again on-screen in Finian’s Rainbow (1968) and for a few steps with Gene Kelly in That’s Entertainment, Part II (1976).

Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth in You’ll Never Get Rich (1941), directed … © 1941 Columbia Pictures Corporation Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies In addition to Astaire’s immeasurable contributions to the art of dance, he was noted for his quintessentially American vocal style. Although possessing a rather thin-toned tenor voice, Astaire received much praise from jazz critics for his innate sense of swing and his conversational way with a song. Several compilations have been issued of Astaire songs from film sound tracks, but his best vocal recordings were those he undertook in the early 1950s with jazz combos led by pianist Oscar Peterson . They have been released under several titles on various LP and CD collections over the years. Astaire’s most notable dramatic roles were in On the Beach (1959); The Pleasure of His Company (1962); The Towering Inferno (1974), for which he received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor; and Ghost Story (1981), his final film.

He was awarded an honorary Academy Award for his contributions to film in 1950, and he received a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1981. Despite the many accolades for his unquestionable greatness, Astaire remained as modest and elegant as the characters he portrayed. As he said in his autobiography , Steps in Time (1959), “I have no desire to prove anything by it. I just dance.” More about Fred Astaire Fred Astaire - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) (1899-1987). Highly popular for his graceful, seemingly effortless dancing and innovative choreography, American dancer Fred Astaire starred in numerous Broadway musicals and motion pictures. He is best known for his tap and ballroom numbers with Ginger Rogers in musical comedy films. Top hat, white tie, tails, and a formal cane epitomized the elegance of his dancing style, but in his routines he used many other props-a mop, a hat rack, dumbbells, golf clubs, firecrackers, even funhouse mirrors.

He danced on the tops of bottle-stacked bars and pianos, over furniture and, in a memorable number from the film Royal Wedding (1951), up the walls and across the ceiling. Article History Fred Astaire Profile Remind Me Fred Astaire Profile Noel Coward called him "the greatest dancer who ever lived," and Oscar Levant considered him "the best singer of songs the movie world ever knew." Fred Astaire was also a charming light comedian and a convincing actor, but it was in his musical numbers that he became a sublime presence on the screen. His great dedication, discipline and simple hard work obviously figured into Astaire's superlative performances, but perhaps even more important was the emotional commitment to his material; no less an authority than Irving Berlin recognized that "First he knew the value of a song, and his heart was in it before his feet took over." The man who would become the movies' personification of grace, elegance and gentle humor was born Frederick Austerlitz on May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, to an Austrian immigrant in the beer business. Fred began dancing lessons at age five and soon was performing with his sister, Adele, at church events.

Their mother took the youngsters to New York City in 1905 for further training and experience in vaudeville. They played the famed Orpheum Circuit throughout the country, learning various dances and performing tricks from their coworkers. Fred and Adele made their Broadway debut in a patriotic review called Over the Top in 1917 and followed up with other appearances in New York and London including George and Ira Gershwin's Lady Be Good (1924) and Funny Face (1927). By 1930 Robert Benchley was calling Fred Astaire "the greatest tap dancer in the world." Fred and Adele ended their professional pairing in 1932 when she married her first husband, the British nobleman Lord Charles Arthur Francis Cavendish. After a movie contract with Samuel Goldwyn that lasted only a few months and resulted in no films, Astaire signed with RKO. The fabled reaction to his screen test there: "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Dances a little." His feature-film debut came on loan-out to MGM, playing himself in the Joan Crawford vehicle Dancing Lady (1933).

Then lightning struck: Astaire was cast opposite another recent RKO contractee, Ginger Rogers, as the second leads in Flying Down to Rio (1933), the nominal stars of which were Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. The musical was a huge smash, and the Astaire/Rogers version of the "Carioca" became a national dance sensation. There followed eight more Astaire/Rogers hit musicals from RKO: The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Top Hat(1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), Carefree (1938) and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939). Katharine Hepburn famously analyzed their partnership: "He gives her class and she gives him sex appeal." Despite their delightful pairing on screen, Astaire and Rogers were not always in harmony as collaborators; their producer, Pandro S.

Berman, described their working relationship as "six years of mutual aggression." Astaire, who had teamed with non-dancer Joan Fontaine in A Damsel in Distress (1937) during the ongoing Rogers partnership, later turned to a series of new costars at various studios: Eleanor Powell (another Grade A dancer) in MGM'S Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), Paulette Goddard in Paramount's Second Chorus (1940), Rita Hayworth (reportedly named by Astaire as his favorite dance partner) in Columbia's You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942), and Joan Leslie in RKO's The Sky's the Limit (1943). Astaire settled in at MGM in the mid-1940s, turning out a delightful series of musicals with a variety of partners. He performed with Lucille Bremer in Yolanda and the Thief (1945) and Ziegfeld Follies (1945); the latter film also marked his only full-out onscreen number with Gene Kelly.

Astaire called his teaming with Judy Garland in Easter Parade (1948) one of the "high spots of enjoyment" in his career; he may have been less thrilled when Ginger Rogers replaced Garland in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), although they once more created an entertaining film. He teamed to great effect with ballet-trained Vera-Ellen in Three Little Words (1950) and The Belle of New York (1952). He had fun with Jane Powell in Royal Wedding (1951), which includes the famous "dancing on the ceiling" solo, and formed a spectacular team with sexy Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953) and Silk Stockings (1957). Astaire's final film musical was Warner Bros.' Finian's Rainbow (1968). Meanwhile he had built a career in straight comedies and as a secondary actor in dramatic films, culminating with an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for The Towering Inferno (1974). In addition to some 40 films, he also enjoyed award-winning careers in recording and on television, including a series of critically praised dance specials.

His final feature was Ghost Story (1981); he died in 1987. Fred Astaire - Biography - IMDb Fred Astaire Biography Showing all 82 items Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (46) | Personal Quotes (26) Overview (4) 5' 9" (1.75 m) Mini Bio (1) Fred Astaire was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Johanna (Geilus) and Fritz Austerlitz, a brewer. Fred entered show business at age 5. He was successful both in vaudeville and on Broadway in partnership with his sister, Adele Astaire . After Adele retired to marry in 1932, Astaire headed to Hollywood. Signed to RKO, he was loaned to MGM to appear in Dancing Lady (1933) before starting work on RKO's Flying Down to Rio (1933). In the latter film, he began his highly successful partnership with Ginger Rogers , with whom he danced in 9 RKO pictures. During these years, he was also active in recording and radio.

On film, Astaire later appeared opposite a number of partners through various studios. After a temporary retirement in 1945-7, during which he opened Fred Astaire Dance Studios, Astaire returned to film to star in more musicals through 1957. He subsequently performed a number of straight dramatic roles in film and TV. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Diana Hamilton <hamilton@gl.umbc.edu> Spouse (2) ( 12 July 1933 - 13 September 1954) (her death) (2 children) Trade Mark (3) Often wore top hat and tails His unique dancing Ending an active dance sequence by calmly strolling off Trivia (46) Ranked #73 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Following his death, he was interred at Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth, California, where longtime dancing partner, Ginger Rogers , is located. The evaluation of Astaire's first screen test: "Can't act. Can't sing. Balding.

Can dance a little." Astaire disguised his very large hands by curling his middle two fingers while dancing. First met lifelong best friend Irving Berlin on the set of Top Hat (1935). After Blue Skies (1946), New York's Paramount Theater generated a petition of 10,000 names to persuade him to come out of retirement. Born at 9:16pm-CST The only time he and Gene Kelly ever danced together on screen (other than the linking-segments in the 1976 compilation movie, That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)) was in one routine, titled "The Babbitt and the Bromide" in the 1946 movie Ziegfeld Follies (1945). Appears on the cover of The Beatles ' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album. He was one of the first Kennedy Center Honorees in 1978. Don McLean 's song "Wonderful Baby" was written with Astaire in mind; Astaire reportedly loved the song, and recorded it for an album.

Made a cameo appearance in John Lennon and Yoko Ono 's film Imagine (1972), escorting Yoko through a doorway; after one successful take, he asked to try again, believing he could do a better job. In 2000, the following album was released as a tribute to him: "Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire". All songs were performed by Stacey Kent . He was voted the 19th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. His legs were insured for one million dollars. Famously wore a necktie around his waist instead of a belt, an affectation he picked up from his friendship with actor Douglas Fairbanks but often mistakenly attributed to Astaire alone. He was voted the 23rd Greatest Movie Star of All Time by Premiere magazine. Named the #5 Greatest Actor on the 50 Greatest Screen Legends by the American Film Institute. Born only 18 months after his sister Adele Astaire .

Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna 's song "Vogue" He and Ginger Rogers appeared in 10 movies together: Flying Down to Rio (1933), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), Carefree (1938), The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) and The Barkleys of Broadway (1949). Although he spent most of his childhood touring on the vaudeville circuit, he would occasionally settle down with his family and their neighbors and friends, who were almost all families of Austrian immigrants. Aside from starring in the film Funny Face (1957), he also starred in the original 1927 Broadway version of the George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin musical "Funny Face". Although he was the male lead in the show, he did not play the same character he does in the film, and the storyline of the original stage musical was entirely different from the one in the film.

Both play and film used many of the same songs. The studio may have felt that the original plot of "Funny Face" could not be properly adapted into a movie as it was an "ensemble" musical with people dropping out and parts changing all the time. Apparently the studio bought the rights to the title just so they could use the song. The plot of this movie is actually that of the unsuccessful Broadway musical "Wedding Bells" by Leonard Gershe . His character in the film is based on photographer Richard Avedon , who in fact, set up most of the photography shown in the film. The soggy Paris weather played havoc with the shooting of the wedding dress dance scene. Both Astaire and Audrey Hepburn were continually slipping in the muddy and slippery grass. While all music and songs were known to be dubbed (recorded before filming), his tap dancing was dubbed also. He "over-dubbed" his taps - recording them live as he danced to the previously recorded taps. Wore his trademark top hat and tails in his very first movie appearance, Dancing Lady (1933). Good friends with actress Carol Lynley . Fred's father was born in Austria.

Fred's paternal grandparents, Salomon Stefan Austerlitz and Lucie Hellerová, were Czech Jews who had converted to Catholicism. Fred's mother was born in Nebraska, to David Geilus and Wilhelmine Klaatke, Lutheran immigrants from Germany. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 36-38. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2002 (inaugural class). For Daddy Long Legs (1955), Leslie Caron told Fred that she wanted to create her own costumes for the film. Fred Astaire told her: "Okay, but no feathers, please", recalling the troubles he had with one of Ginger Rogers ' elaborate ostrich feathered gowns in a dance from Top Hat (1935). A feather broke loose from Ginger Rogers' dress and stubbornly floated in mid air around Astaire's face.

The episode was recreated to hilarious effect in a scene from Easter Parade (1948) in which Fred Astaire danced with a clumsy, comical dancer portrayed by Judy Garland . Tony Martin , the husband of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer star/dancer Cyd Charisse , said he could tell who she had been dancing with that day on the set. If she came home covered with bruises on her, it was the very physically-demanding Gene Kelly , if not it was the smooth and agile Fred Astaire . Owned Blue Valley Ranch, a Thoroughbred horse breeding farm in the San Fernando Valley. He maintained a racing stable of four or five horses which competed at racetracks in California. His most famous racehorse was Triplicate, winner of the 1946 Hollywood Gold Cup. Profiled in "American Classic Screen Interviews" (Scarecrow Press) (2010). 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.

Founder of Ava Records, named for his daughter, Ava Astaire-McKenzie . Joining ASCAP in 1942, he collaborated with Johnny Mercer and Gladys Shelly . His popular song compositions include "I'm Building Up to an Awful Let-Down", "Blue Without You", "If Swing Goes, I Go Too", "Just Like Taking Candy from a Baby", "Just One More Dance, Madame", "I'll Never Let You Go", "Oh, My Achin' Back" and "Sweet Sorrow". He was the very first name entered on IMDB (nm0000001). Politically, Astaire was a conservative and a lifelong Republican Party supporter, though he never made his political views publicly known. Along with Bing Crosby , George Murphy , Ginger Rogers and others, he was a charter (founding) member of the Hollywood Republican Committee. Universal Pictures offered Astaire the chance to direct the musical comedy Up in Central Park (1948), but he declined. William A. Seiter directed instead. He was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month.

[December 2013] He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6756 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. Became a father for the first time at age 36 when his first wife Phyllis Potter gave birth to their son Fred Astaire Jr. on January 21, 1936. Became a father for the second time at age 42 when his first wife Phyllis Potter gave birth to their daughter Ava Astaire-McKenzie on March 28, 1942. Died 18 years to the day after his Easter Parade (1948) co-star, Judy Garland . Garland on June 22, 1969 and Astaire on June 22, 1987. First wife Phyllis Potter (née Phyllis Livingston Baker) passed away from lung cancer at age 46 while Astaire was filming Daddy Long Legs (1955).

He was stepfather to Eliphalet IV (known as Peter), the son of his first wife, Phyllis, and her first husband, Eliphalet Nott Potter III. Personal Quotes (26) I have never had anything that I can remember in the business - and that includes all the movies and the stage shows and everything - that I didn't enjoy. I didn't like some of the small-time vaudeville, because we weren't going on and getting better. Aside from that, I didn't dislike anything. [on modern movies] They tend to overdo the vulgarity. I'm not embarrassed by the language itself, but it's embarrassing to be listening to it, sitting next to perfect strangers. Of course, [ Ginger Rogers ] was able to accomplish sex through dance. We told more through our movements instead of the big clinch. We did it all in the dance. I had some ballet training but didn't like it. It was like a game to me. People think I was born in top hat and tails. The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any. It's nice that all the composers have said that nobody interprets a lyric like Fred Astaire.

But when it comes to selling records I was never worth anything particularly except as a collector's item. [on his screen partnership with Ginger Rogers ] Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually, she made things very fine for the both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success. I suppose I made it look easy, but gee whiz, did I work and worry. Dancing is a sweat job. [to Jack Lemmon ] You're at a level where you can only afford one mistake. The higher up you go, the more mistakes you're allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it's considered to be your style. I don't want to be the oldest performer in captivity... I don't want to look like a little old man dancing out there. I have no desire to prove anything by it [dancing]. I never used it as an outlet or as a means of expressing myself. I just dance. [on John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977)] He's not a dancer. What he did in those dance scenes was very attractive but he is basically not a dancer. I was dancing like that years ago, you know.

Disco is just jitterbug. [on Ginger Rogers ] She may have faked a little, but we knew we had a good thing going. [on tap dancer Eleanor Powell ] Eleanor was an out-and-out dancer. She danced like a man. She slammed the floor and did it great and that's fine and suddenly she's on her toes in the ballet sequence -- it did look kinda funny. [on Rita Hayworth ] A great dancer but a different style to me. [on Judy Garland ] She was just simply wonderful. She danced beautifully, learned beautifully. She was very adept at whatever she did. Really in fine form. We were all set to do another picture together, but she got sick and that was the end of that. [on actress/dancer Leslie Caron ] A ballet dancer really, but technically good. I called her the sergeant major. [on Gene Kelly ] You know, that Kelly, he's just terrific. That's all there is to it. He dances like crazy, he directs like crazy. I adore this guy. I really am crazy about his work. (on dancing partner Cyd Charisse ) When you dance with her, you stay danced.

[on joining the cast of The Towering Inferno (1974)] It's a fun picture to make - all fire and water. I'm just a hoofer with a spare set of tails. 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. Excuse me, I must say Ginger was certainly the one. You know, the most effective partner I had. Everyone knows. That was a whole other thing that 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! Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually she made everything work very fine for both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success. See also Family Announcements, Fred Astaire - Funeral Directors and services - Family Announcements Announcements Originally printed on June 22, 1987 in the Family Announcements. Viewed by 1629 Visitors.

Dance maestro Fred Astaire, the man whose top hat and tails graced the cinema screen for decades, died from pneumonia in Los Angeleson 22 June, 1987, at the age of 88. His work with legendary dance partner Ginger Rogers, with whom he starred in ten films, and composer Irving Berlin, who contributed songs to six of Mr Astaire’s films, helped make him the cinema legend that lives on today. A box office hit on both sides of the Atlantic, Mr Astaire demonstrated great agility and dance prowess.His skills developed from the world of ballet, through to tap, vaudeville and revue leading him ultimately to the movie musicals for which he is best-known. He was born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 10, 1899, the son of an Austrian immigrant travelling salesman. He had one sister, Adele, 18 months his senior. With Adele he went to ballet school and later to a performing arts school which pioneered modern tap dancing. He and Adele made their vaudeville debut in 1905.

Their Broadway debut came in 1917 and they danced their way through to 1922 when they received rave reviews in For Goodness Sake with songs by George and Ira Gershwin. In the 1920s they continued along the route to stardom with stage triumphs such as Funny Face, Lady Be Good and Band Wagon but in 1932 Adele retired to get married and left Mr Astaire looking for a new partner. He teamed up with Clare Luce for Cole Porter’s comedy musical The Gay Divorce which was to be his last stage musical. A screen test for RKO pictures saw Mr Astaire signed up but there was to be no work and he made his film debut on loan-out to MGM in the 1933 film Dancing Lady. Later that year he featured in Flying Down To Rio where his female counterpart was RKO contract player Ginger Rogers. Their one dance number together stole the picture and the pair became the silver screen’s dance heroes going on to make nine films in just six years. They were depression-era money-makers including Top Hat, Follow the Fleet and Swing Time.

His RKO contract having run out, Mr Astaire freelanced and was involved in a number of films - Easter Parade with Judy Garland, his tenth and final film with Ms Rogers, The Barclays of Broadway, Royal Wedding with Jane Powell, The Band Wagon and Silk Stockings starring Cyd Charisse and Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn. One very special face-to-face meeting between Mr Astaire and Ms Rogers came in 1950 when she presented him with an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for “his unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures”. Mr Astaire ended his professional dancing career in 1970 when at 70 he said his age restricted his ability to perform at a level acceptable to himself. However his acting continued and he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in The Towering Inferno the blockbuster of 1974. In 1933 he married Phyllis Livingston Potter and the couple had two children, Fred Jr. and Ava. MrsAstairedied of cancer in 1955. Mr Astaire married his second wife, Robyn Smith, then aged 35, in 1980.

She was a former jockey, who shared Mr Astaire’s life-long love of horses and horse-racing. Throughout his life Mr Astaire worked hard to achieve his success which did not come easily. He learned his trade from the very basics and entered the world of performing through the hard road of revues and touring. His months of having to find work through freelancing were not easy and despite an enviable success rate not every film that carried the Astaire name met with hearty applause from the critics. True, he could sing and act but both skills were hidden behind the wizardry that was his ability to dance. They were the vehicles through which he showcased his ultimate love of dance, vehicles which carried him to the top. Mr Astaire strived to be the best and achieved his aim. He brought a unique persona to the screen. His style, his innate grace, his singing voice, and of course, his dancing, are all inimitable. The charm, the elegance and the true class of the man still shine today. Share your memories

Question: Who was Fred Astaire's dancing partner in the musical film The Band Wagon
Answer: Cyd Charisse