Fred Astaire

One of the most noted dancing duos of all time is Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, despite the fact they only made ten movies together, and he actually had many other dance partners. Yet, it was this pairing that he became most known for, being recognized for revolutionizing dancing in movies, and placing #5 on the list of the American Film Institute's Greatest Male Star of All Time.

Born Frederick Austerlitz on May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, he changed his last name to Astaire when dancing in a Vaudeville act with his sister Adele when they were both young. Some say the name was taken from an uncle, L'Astaire. Although the Gerry Society tried to step in to protect them as children, they nonetheless continued performing. While it's been rumored that the Astaires made a movie together in 1915, it has been unsubstantiated, and in 1917, they did make it to Broadway with Over the Top. They continued to perform on Broadway and the London stage as well, but in 1932, the Astaires retired their act when Adele married.

Fred Astaire continued performing onstage with The Gay Divorcee while waiting to see what offers would come in from Hollywood. He did a screen test for RKO Pictures, and it's become a very famous rumor that the comments written after the screen test were, "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little." Astaire himself has refuted it, saying it said slightly bald and also dances, but regardless of the exact wording, it didn't go well for him. He was lent out to MGM, and his first movie became Dancing Lady with Joan Crawford in 1933.

It was also in 1933 that Astaire married for the first time to Phyllis Potter. She brought to their union her son Peter from her first marriage, and together they had two more children, Fred Jr. and Ava, who now works to preserve her father's heritage. That same year Astaire made his first movie with Ginger Rogers, Flying Down to Rio. Katharine Hepburn once said that the reason the odd pairing of Astaire and Rogers worked, was that he brought her class, and she brought him sex. They went on to make nine more movies together, including Astaire reprising his role in The Gay Divorcee and Top Hat. Rogers had never danced with a partner before, and didn't know how to tap, but her work ethic brought her along with her craft, and years later Astaire said eventually she improved so much that anyone else that danced with him looked wrong.

Astaire had a unique work ethic as well, and steered away from the Busby Berkeley dancing that was being done in musicals at the time. Instead, Astaire preferred the dances be filmed with only one camera, and the dancers remain in full view throughout. He also insisted on his own perfection, requiring rehearsals and multiple takes, while some found it unnecessary.

Choreographing his own unique routines, he created his own style, a mixture of several different dance styles.

Leaving the safety of RKO and Rogers behind, Astaire teamed up with a variety of different partners, both male and female. He danced with Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn and Blue Skies; Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich and You Were Never Lovelier; and both Lucille Bremer and Gene Kelly in Ziegfeld Follies. In his late forties, Astaire tried to retire, yet came back to replace Kelly in Easter Parade after an injury to Kelly, giving Astaire the male lead opposite Judy Garland and Ann Miller. He was then back into movies full swing, appearing in Silk Stockings, Funny Face, and one last time with Rogers in The Barkleys of Broadway. It was also during this time that his wife, Phyllis, died.

Astaire retired from dancing yet again, this time wanting to concentrate on more dramatic acting roles, and he appeared in On the Beach, to good reviews. While no longer dancing in movies, he did continue in a series of television specials that won many Emmy awards. In 1968, Astaire danced in one final musical, Finian's Rainbow. While his co-star, Petula Clark, admitted to being nervous about dancing with him, he admitted to being nervous about singing with her, despite the fact he had sung many well-known songs in his movies, such as “Cheek to Cheek,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” and “One For My Baby.”

Although his musical dancing days were done, Astaire continued to act, receiving an Academy Award nomination, his only one, for Towering Inferno. He reprised his dancing relationship with Kelly one last time in the documentaries of That's Entertainment, and co-starred with Helen Hayes as an elderly couple in A Family Upside Down, winning him yet another Emmy Award. His last film was Ghost Story, starring with Patricia Neal and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

In 1980 Astaire remarried to an actress and champion jockey, Robyn Smith, who was forty-five years younger than him. In 1987, he died after a bout of pneumonia, with one last request to thank his fans for all their support over the years. He was buried in Oakwood Memorial Park, the same place where Ginger Rogers was laid to rest eight years later.

YUDDY