Fred Astaire
Birth name	Frederick Austerlitz Jr.
Born	May 10, 1899(1899-05-10) Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	June 22, 1987 (aged 88) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Years active	1917 – 1981
Spouse(s)	Phyllis Livingston Potter (1933-1954) Robyn Smith (1980-1987)
Awards Academy Awards Academy Honorary Award 1950 Lifetime Achievement BAFTA Awards Best Supporting Actor 1974 The Towering Inferno Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries/Movie 1958 An Evening with Fred Astaire 1978 A Family Upside Down Golden Globe Awards Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy 1951 Three Little Words Cecil B. DeMille Award 1961 Lifetime Achievement Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture 1975 The Towering Inferno Other Awards AFI Life Achievement Award 1981 Lifetime Achievement

Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska,^[1] was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of seventy-six years, during which he made thirty-one musical films. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... “Omaha” redirects here. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Honorary Award is given irregularly by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards. ... BAFTA Award The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... In the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role actors of all nationalities are eligible to receive the award. ... The Towering Inferno is a 1974 disaster movie adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. ... An Emmy Award. ... This is a list of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie winners: 1974: William Holden - The Blue Knight 1975: Peter Falk - Columbo 1976: Hal Holbrook - Sandburgs Lincoln 1977: Christopher Plummer - The Moneychangers 1978: Michael Moriarty - Holocaust 1979: Peter Strauss - The Jericho... Fred Astaire and Barrie Chase on the cover of TV Guide the week of the special A sound recording of the show was released as an LP on the Chrysler Corporation label An Evening with Fred Astaire was a one-hour television special starring Fred Astaire, broadcast on NBC on... The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. ... Three Little Words (MGM) is a 1950 Hollywood musical film biography of the Tin Pan Alley songwriting partnership of Kalmar and Ruby and stars Fred Astaire as lyricist Bert Kalmar, Red Skelton as composer Harry Ruby, along with Vera-Ellen, Debbie Reynolds and Arlene Dahl. ... The Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures has been given annually since 1952 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Golden Globe Award ceremonies in Hollywood, California. ... Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year. ... The Towering Inferno is a 1974 disaster movie adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... “Omaha” redirects here. ... Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Largest metro area Omaha Area  Ranked 16th  - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 0. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ... Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... Ginger Rogers (Virginia Katherine McMath, July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an Academy Award-winning American film and stage actress and singer. ...

Balanchine^[2] and Nureyev^[3] rated him the greatest dancer of the twentieth century, and he is generally acknowledged to have been the most influential dancer in the history of film and television musicals. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. George Balanchine (January 9 (O.S.) = January 22 (N.S.), 1904–April 30, 1983) was one of the 20th centurys foremost choreographers, and one of the founders of American ballet. ... Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (Russian spelling Рудольф Хаметович Нуреев, Tatar form Rudolf Xämät ulı Nuriev) (17 March 1938 – 6 January 1993), Russian-born dancer, was regarded... Part of the AFI 100 Years. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Early life and career

Fred and Adele Astaire. ca. 1906.

His father, Frederick E. Austerlitz, was an Austrian immigrant (a brewer by trade) ^[1] and a Catholic; his mother Ann Gelius Austerlitz was born in the U.S. to Lutheran German parents; Astaire became an Episcopalian in 1912.^[4] After arriving in New York City, Austerlitz moved to Omaha, Nebraska hoping to find work in his trade and he landed a job with the Storz Brewing Company. Shortly thereafter he met and married Ann. Adele was their first born and she quickly revealed herself to be an instinctive dancer and singer. Fred Jr. was born about 18 months later. Early on, Ann dreamed of escaping Omaha by virtue of her children's talents. She envisioned a "brother-and-sister act", which was fairly common to vaudeville at the time. Although he refused dance lessons at first, Fred Jr. easily mimicked his sister's steps. Soon he took up the piano, the accordion, and the clarinet. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... This article is about the Episcopal Church in the United States. ... Omaha is the name of some places in the United States: *Omaha, Nebraska (the most familiar one) Omaha, Georgia Omaha, Illinois Omaha, Texas It is also the name of a Native American tribe, after which the city in Nebraska is named; see Omaha (tribe). ... This article is about the musical variety theatre. ...

When their father became suddenly unemployed, the family moved to New York City to launch the show business career of the children. Adele and Fred Jr. had a teasing rivalry but fortunately they quickly acknowledged their individual strengths--his being durability and hers greater overall talent. Astaire was a name taken by him and his sister Adele Astaire in 1905, when they were taking instruction in dance, speaking, and singing in preparation for developing an act. Family legend attributes it to an uncle surnamed "L'Astaire".^[5] Finally, their first act took shape and was called Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty. In it Fred wore a top hat and tails in the first half and a lobster outfit in the second. The goofy act debuted in Keyport, New Jersey in a "tryout theater", and the local paper wrote, "the Astaires are the greatest child act in vaudeville." ^[6]After a short time, as a result of Fred Jr's sterling salesmanship, they landed a major contract and they played the famed Orpheum circuit through out the U.S., including Omaha. Soon Adele grew to at least three inches taller than Fred and the pair began to look incongruous. The family decided to take a two-year break from show business, also to avoid trouble from the Gerry Society and the child labor laws of the time. Adele Astaire, 1927 Lady Charles Cavendish (September 10, 1896 -January 25, 1981) [1], better known as Adele Astaire was an American dancer and entertainer. ... The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was founded in 1875 by Elbridge Thomas Gerry and Nehry Bergh as the worlds first child protective agency. ...

Their career resumed with mixed fortunes, though with increasing skill and polish, as they began to incorporate tap dancing into their routines. From Aurelia Coccia, they learned the tango, waltz, and other ballroom dances popularized by Vernon and Irene Castle. Fred was always on the lookout for new steps he spotted on the circuit and was starting to demonstrate his ceaseless quest for novelty and perfection. Finally, they broke into Broadway with Over The Top (1917), a patriotic revue. They followed up with several more shows and of their work in The Passing Show of 1918, Heywood Broun wrote "In an evening in which there was an abundance of good dancing, Fred Astaire stood out...He and his partner, Adele Astaire, made the show pause early in the evening with a beautiful loose-limbed dance."^[7]By this time, Fred's dancing skill was beginning to outshine his sister's, though she still set the tone of their act and her sparkle and humor drew much of the attention, due in part to Fred's careful preparation and strong supporting choreography. Heywood Broun was a reporter, sportswriter and newspaper columnist in New York City. ...

Some sources ^[8] state that the Astaire siblings appeared in a 1915 film entitled Fanchon, the Cricket, starring Mary Pickford, but the Astaires have consistently denied this.^[9] Mary Pickford (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979) was an Oscar-winning Canadian motion picture star and co-founder of United Artists in 1919. ...

While on the hunt for new music and dance ideas, Fred Astaire first met George Gershwin, who was working as a song plugger in Jerome H. Remick's, in 1916.^[10] Their chance meeting was to have profound consequences for the subsequent careers of both artists. Gershwin redirects here. ...

During the 1920s, Fred and Adele appeared on Broadway and on the London stage in shows such as George and Ira Gershwin's Lady Be Good (1924) and Funny Face (1927), and later in The Band Wagon (1931), winning popular acclaim with the theater crowd on both sides of the Atlantic. After the close of Funny Face, the Astaires went to Hollywood for a screen test at Paramount studios. They were rejected which turned out to be a blessing, as a movie contract at that time might well have sidetracked Fred's career. As a team, they made a few recordings. They split in 1932, when Adele married her first husband, Lord Charles Cavendish, a son of the Duke of Devonshire. Fred went on to achieve success on his own on Broadway and in London with Gay Divorce, while considering offers from Hollywood. The end of the partnership helped Fred Astaire expand his range. Free of the brother-sister constraints of the pairing, he could create more romantic and later more sexually charged routines, as with Cyd Charisse. For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Lady Be Good (title sometimes presented with an exclamation point) is the title of a Broadway musical play that was written by Guy Bolton, Fred Thompson, featured music by George and Ira Gershwin. ... Funny Face is a 1927 musical composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. ... The Dukes of Devonshire are members of the aristocratic Cavendish family in the United Kingdom. ... Gay Divorce (1932) is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. ... Cyd Charisse Cyd Charisse is an American dancer and actress. ...

Fred Astaire with his sister Adele in 1921

According to Hollywood folklore, an RKO Pictures screen test report on Astaire, now lost along with the test, is supposed to have read: "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little." The producer of the Astaire-Rogers pictures Pandro S. Berman claimed he had never heard the story in the 1930s and that it only emerged years later. Astaire, in a 1980 interview on ABC's 20/20 with Barbara Walters, insisted that the report had actually read: "Can't act. Slightly bald. Also dances". In any case, the test was clearly disappointing, and David O. Selznick, who had signed Astaire to RKO and commissioned the test, described it as "wretched" in a 1933 studio memo. However, this did not affect RKO's plans for Astaire, first lending him for a few days to MGM in 1933 for his Hollywood debut, where he appeared as himself dancing with Joan Crawford in the successful musical film Dancing Lady. Image File history File links AdeleFred1921. ... Image File history File links AdeleFred1921. ... This article is about the film production company. ... Screen Test was a British childrens quiz show produced by the BBC which ran from 1969 to 1984. ... Pandro Samuel Berman (28 March 1905 – 13 July 1996), known as Pandro S. Berman, was an American film producer. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... This article is about the television show. ... Barbara Jill Walters[1] (born September 25, 1929[2]) is an American journalist, writer and media personality who has been a regular fixture on morning television shows (Today and The View), an evening news magazine (20/20), and on The ABC Evening News as the first female evening news anchor. ... David O. Selznick David Oliver Selznick (May 10, 1902–June 22, 1965), was one of the icon Hollywood producers of the Golden Age. ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... For other persons named Joan Crawford, see Joan Crawford (disambiguation). ... Dancing Lady is a 1933 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical comedy film starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone, as well as Robert Benchley, Nelson Eddy, Fred Astaire, and Ted Healy and his Three Stooges. ...

Fred and Ginger

The announcement of the Astaire-Rogers screen partnership - from the trailer to Flying Down to Rio

On his return to RKO Pictures, he got fifth billing alongside Ginger Rogers in the 1933 Dolores Del Rio vehicle Flying Down to Rio. In a review, Variety magazine attributed its massive success to Astaire's presence: "The main point of Flying Down to Rio is the screen promise of Fred Astaire ... He's assuredly a bet after this one, for he's distinctly likable on the screen, the mike is kind to his voice and as a dancer he remains in a class by himself. The latter observation will be no news to the profession, which has long admitted that Astaire starts dancing where the others stop hoofing." Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Flying Down to Rio is a musical film made by RKO and released on December 29, 1933. ... This article is about the film production company. ... Ginger Rogers (Virginia Katherine McMath, July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an Academy Award-winning American film and stage actress and singer. ... Dolores Del Rio Dolores del Río (August 3, 1905 - April 11, 1983) was a Mexican film actress. ... Flying Down to Rio is a musical film made by RKO and released on December 29, 1933. ... Variety is a daily newspaper for the entertainment industry. ...

Although Astaire was initially very reluctant to become part of another dance team, he was persuaded by the obvious public appeal of the Astaire-Rogers pairing. That partnership, and the choreography of Astaire and Hermes Pan, helped make dancing an important element of the Hollywood film musical. Astaire and Rogers made ten films together, including The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), and Carefree (1938). Six out of the nine musicals he created became the biggest moneymakers for RKO; all of the films brought a certain prestige and artistry that all studios coveted at the time. Their partnership elevated them both to stardom; as Katharine Hepburn reportedly said, "He gives her class and she gives him sex appeal."^[11] Astaire easily received the benefits of a percentage of the film's profits, something extremely rare in actors' contracts at that time; and complete autonomy over how the dances would be presented, allowing him to revolutionize dance on film. The only other entertainer to receive this treatment at the time was Greta Garbo. Look up Choreography in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Fred Astaire and Hermes Pan working out a dance routine Hermes Pan (December 10, 1909 – September 19, 1990) was an American dancer and choreographer. ... ... The Gay Divorcee is a 1934 film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. ... Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Smoke Gets In Your Eyes from Roberta (1935): RKO publicity still Roberta is a 1935 musical film by RKO starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Randolph Scott. ... Duke Ellington wearing a top hat. ... Follow the Fleet (RKO) is a 1936 Hollywood musical comedy film with a nautical theme and stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, Lucille Ball, and Betty Grable, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. ... This article is about the film. ... Shall We Dance is the seventh in the sequence of ten Astaire-Rogers musical comedy films. ... Carefree is a 1938 film starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. ... It has been suggested that Tom Hepburn be merged into this article or section. ... Greta redirects here. ...

Astaire is credited with two important innovations in early film musicals. First, he insisted that the (almost stationary) camera film a dance routine in a single shot, if possible, while holding the dancers in full view at all times. Astaire famously quipped: "Either the camera will dance, or I will." Astaire maintained this policy from The Gay Divorcee (1934) onwards, until overruled by Francis Ford Coppola, who directed 1968's Finian's Rainbow, his first film musical. (Coppola also fired Hermes Pan from the film.) Astaire's style of dance sequences thus contrasted with the Busby Berkeley musicals, which were known for dance sequences filled with extravagant aerial shots, quick takes, and zooms on certain areas of the body, such as the arms or legs. Second, Astaire was adamant that all song and dance routines be seamlessly integrated into the plotlines of the film. Instead of using dance as spectacle as Busby Berkeley did, Astaire used it to move the plot along. Typically, an Astaire picture would include a solo performance by Astaire - which he termed his "sock solo", a partnered comedy dance routine, and a partnered romantic dance routine. Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five-time Academy Award winning American film director, producer, and screenwriter. ... Finians Rainbow is a 1968 American movie musical. ... Kaleidoscopic Choreography from Footlight Parade, 1933 Busby Berkeley (November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976), born William Berkeley Enos in Los Angeles, California, was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer. ...

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" from Roberta (1935): RKO publicity still

Dance commentators Arlene Croce, Hannah Hyam and John Mueller consider Rogers to have been Astaire's greatest dance partner,^[12] while recognizing that some of his later partners displayed superior technical dance skills, a view shared^[13] by Hermes Pan and Stanley Donen.^[14] Film critic Pauline Kael adopts a more neutral stance,^[15] while Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel writes "The nostalgia surrounding Rogers-Astaire tends to bleach out other partners."^[16] Image File history File links Fredginger. ... Image File history File links Fredginger. ... Ginger Rogers (Virginia Katherine McMath, July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an Academy Award-winning American film and stage actress and singer. ... Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Smoke Gets In Your Eyes from Roberta (1935): RKO publicity still Roberta is a 1935 musical film by RKO starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Randolph Scott. ... Arlene Croce (born 1934) was a dance critic for the New Yorker magazine from 1973 to 1998. ... John E. Mueller (born 1937, St. ... Stanley Donen (born April 13, 1924) is an American film director and choreographer hailed by David Quinlan as the King of the Hollywood musicals. His most famous work is Singin in the Rain, which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. ... Pauline Kael (June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. ... “TIME” redirects here. ... Richard Warren Schickel (b. ...

Mueller sums up Rogers' abilities as follows: "Rogers was outstanding among Astaire's partners not because she was superior to others as a dancer but because, as a skilled, intuitive actress, she was cagey enough to realize that acting did not stop when dancing began ... the reason so many women have fantasized about dancing with Fred Astaire is that Ginger Rogers conveyed the impression that dancing with him is the most thrilling experience imaginable." According to Astaire,^[17] "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."

However, Astaire was still unwilling to have his career tied exclusively to any partnership, having already been linked to his sister Adele on stage. He even negotiated with RKO to strike out on his own with A Damsel in Distress in 1937, unsuccessfully as it turned out. He returned to make two more films with Rogers, Carefree (1938) and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939). When both lost money, Astaire left RKO, while Rogers remained and went on to become the studio's hottest property in the early forties. They were reunited in 1949 for their final outing, The Barkleys of Broadway. A Damsel in Distress (RKO) is a 1937 English-themed Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Joan Fontaine, George Burns and Gracie Allen, with a screenplay by P.G. Plum Wodehouse based on his novel, music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin, and directed by George Stevens. ... Carefree is a 1938 film starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. ... The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is a biographical musical comedy starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver and Walter Brennan. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Dancing and singing prowess

See also: Fred Astaire's Solo and Partnered Dances This is a quick reference guide to over one hundred and forty of Fred Astaires Solo and Partnered Dances compiled from his thirty-one Hollywood musical comedy films produced between 1933 and 1968, and his award-winning television special An Evening with Fred Astaire (1958). ...

Fred Astaire dancing on the walls and ceiling in "You're All the World to Me" from Royal Wedding (1951)

Astaire was a virtuoso dancer, able to convey lighthearted adventuresomeness or deep emotion when called for. His technical control and sense of rhythm were astonishing; according to one anecdote, he was able, when called back to the studio to redo a dance number he had filmed several weeks earlier for a special effects number, to reproduce the routine with pinpoint accuracy, down to the last gesture. Astaire's execution of a dance routine was prized for its elegance, grace, originality and precision. He drew from a variety of influences, including tap and other African-American rhythms, classical dance and the elevated style of Vernon and Irene Castle, to create a uniquely recognizable dance style which greatly influenced the American Smooth style of ballroom dance, and set standards against which subsequent film dance musicals would be judged. He choreographed all his own routines, usually with the assistance of other choreographers, primarily Hermes Pan. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Royal Wedding (MGM) is a 1951 Hollywood musical comedy film set in London in 1947 at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, and stars Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill and Keenan Wynn, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay... A virtuoso (from Italian virtuoso, late Latin virtuosus, Latin virtus meaning: skill, manliness, excellence) is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability at singing or playing a musical instrument. ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... Vernon and Irene Castle in 1914 Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers of the early 20th century. ... Ballroom dance is a style of partner dance which originated in the western world and is now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the globe. ... Gaskell Ball Ballroom dance, refers collectively to a set of partner dances, which originated in the Western world and are now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the globe. ...

His perfectionism was legendary, as was his modesty and consideration towards his fellow artists; however, his relentless insistence on rehearsals and retakes was a burden to some. Although he viewed himself as an entertainer first and foremost, his consummate artistry won him the adulation of such twentieth century dance legends as George Balanchine, the Nicholas Brothers, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Margot Fonteyn, Bob Fosse, Gregory Hines, Gene Kelly, Rudolph Nureyev, and Bill Robinson. George Balanchine (January 9 (O.S.) = January 22 (N.S.), 1904–April 30, 1983) was one of the 20th centurys foremost choreographers, and one of the founders of American ballet. ... The Nicholas Brothers were a famous American tap dance pair of brothers. ... For the Russian athlete, see Aleksandr Baryshnikov. ... Margot Fonteyn in 1948. ... Bob Fosse, early promotional image Bob Fosse (June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was a musical theater choreographer and director. ... Gregory Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was a Tony Award-winning American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer. ... For the similarly-named American actress, see Jean Kelly. ... Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (Russian spelling Рудольф Хаметович Нуреев, Tatar form Rudolf Xämät ulı Nuriev) (17 March 1938 – 6 January 1993), Russian-born dancer, was regarded... Bill Bojangles Robinson (May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949) was a pioneer and pre-eminent African-American tap dance performer. ...

Extremely modest about his singing abilities — he frequently claimed that he couldn't sing^[18] — Astaire introduced some of the most celebrated songs from the Great American Songbook, in particular, Cole Porter's: "Night and Day" in Gay Divorce (1932); Irving Berlin's "Isn't it a Lovely Day", "Cheek to Cheek" and "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" in Top Hat (1935), "Let's Face the Music and Dance" in Follow the Fleet (1936) and "Change Partners" in Carefree (1938). He first presented Jerome Kern's "The Way You Look Tonight" in Swing Time (1936); the Gershwins' "They Can't Take That Away From Me" in Shall We Dance (1937), "A Foggy Day" and "Nice Work if You Can Get it" in A Damsel in Distress (1937); Johnny Mercer's "One for My Baby" from The Sky's the Limit (1943) and "Something's Gotta Give" from Daddy Long Legs (1955); and Harry Warren and Arthur Freed's "This Heart of Mine" from Ziegfeld Follies (1946). Songwriter Harold Arlen (right) with singer Bing Crosby (left) and Decca Records owner Jack Kapp (center) Great American Songbook is an informal term referring to the interrelated music of Broadway musical theater, the Hollywood musical, and Tin Pan Alley, in a period that begins roughly in the 1920s and tapers... Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter from Peru, Indiana. ... Night and Day is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1932 musical play The Gay Divorce. ... Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was an American composer and lyricist, one of the most prodigious and famous American songwriters in history. ... Cheek to Cheek is a song written by Irving Berlin, and first performed by Fred Astaire in the movie Top Hat (1935). ... Lets Face the Music and Dance is a notable song, written by Irving Berlin, made particularly notable by a famous dance by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the film Follow the Fleet. ... Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of popular music. ... The Way You Look Tonight is a song featured in the film Swing Time, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. ... Gershwin redirects here. ... They Cant Take That Away From Me is a 1937 song (see 1937 in music) written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and first performed by Fred Astaire in the movie Shall We Dance (1937). ... Nice Work If You Can Get It is a popular song. ... John Herndon Johnny Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was a popular American songwriter and singer. ... // Countless renditions of One For My Baby. ... The Skys The Limit (RKO) is a 1943 Hollywood musical comedy film with a wartime theme starring Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley, Robert Ryan and Eric Blore, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. ... Somethings Gotta Give is a popular song. ... Daddy Long Legs (MGM) is a 1955 Hollywood musical comedy film set in France and stars Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Fred Clark and Thelma Ritter, with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. ... Harry Warren (December 24, 1893 - September 22, 1981) was a music composer of many different styles. ... Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 - April 12, 1973) was born Arthur Grossman in Down Ton Ton Village. ... This article is about the film. ...

Fred Astaire singing in Second Chorus (1940)

Astaire also co-introduced a number of song classics via song duets with his partners. For example, with his sister Adele, he co-introduced the Gershwins' "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" from Stop Flirting (1923), "Fascinating Rhythm" in Lady, Be Good (1924), "Funny Face" in Funny Face (1927); and, in duets with Ginger Rogers, he presented Irving Berlin's "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket" in Follow the Fleet (1936), Jerome Kern's "Pick Yourself Up" and "A Fine Romance" in Swing Time (1936), along with The Gershwins' "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" from Shall We Dance (1937). With Judy Garland, he sang Irving Berlin's "A Couple of Swells" from Easter Parade (1948); and, with Jack Buchanan, Oscar Levant, and Nanette Fabray he delivered Betty Comden and Adolph Green's "That's Entertainment" from The Band Wagon (1953). Image File history File links Size of this preview: 799 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (962 × 722 pixel, file size: 199 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 799 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (962 × 722 pixel, file size: 199 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Second Chorus is a 1940 Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Burgess Meredith, Paulette Goddard, Artie Shaw and Charles Butterworth, with music by Artie Shaw, Bernie Hanighen, Hal Borne and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. ... Fascinating Rhythm is a popular song. ... A Fine Romance is a popular song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. ... Lets Call the Whole Thing Off is a song written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 film Shall We Dance. ... Shall We Dance is the seventh in the sequence of ten Astaire-Rogers musical comedy films. ... Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 - June 22, 1969) was an Academy Award-nominated American film actress and singer, best known for her role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939). ... Easter Parade is a 1948 musical film starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. ... Jack Buchanan (April 2, 1891 - October 20, 1957) was a British actor and singer. ... Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906 - August 14, 1972) was an American pianist, composer, author, comedian, and an actor, better known for his mordant character and witticisms, on the radio and in movies and television, than his music. ... Nanette Fabray (born October 27, 1920 in San Diego, California) is an American actress. ... Comden and Green was the writing duo of Betty Comden and Adolph Green. ... Adolph Green (December 2, 1914 – October 23, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freeds production unit at MGM, during the genres heyday. ... The Band Wagon is a musical comedy film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1953, which tells the story of an aging musical star who wants to star in a Broadway play that will restart his career. ...

Although he possessed a light voice, he was admired for his lyricism, diction and phrasing^[19] - the grace and elegance so prized in his dancing seemed to be reflected in his singing, a capacity for synthesis which led Burton Lane to describe him as "The world's greatest musical performer."^[20] Irving Berlin considered Astaire the equal of any male interpreter of his songs - "as good as Jolson, Crosby or Sinatra, not necessarily because of his voice, but for his conception of projecting a song".^[21] Jerome Kern considered him the supreme male interpreter of his songs^[22] and Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer also admired his unique treatment of their work. And while George Gershwin was somewhat critical^[23] of Astaire's singing abilities, he wrote many of his most memorable songs for him. In his heyday, Astaire was referenced^[24] in lyrics of songwriters Cole Porter, Larry Hart and Eric Maschwitz and continues to inspire modern songwriters.^[25] Burton Lane (February 2, 1912, New York City - January 5, 1997, New York City) was a composer and lyricist. ... Al Jolson was a highly acclaimed American singer, comedian and actor of Jewish heritage whose career lasted from 1911 until his death in 1950. ... Harry Lillis Bing Crosby (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor whose career lasted from 1926 until his death in 1977. ... Sinatra redirects here. ... Rodgers and Hart was the songwriting team consisting of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. ... Eric Maschwitz (1901-1969) (sometimes credited as Holt Marvell) was a British entertainer, writer and broadcaster. ...

Astaire was a songwriter of note himself, with "I'm Building Up To An Awful Letdown" - written with lyricist Johnny Mercer - reaching number 4 in the Hit Parade of 1936.^[26] He recorded his own "It's Just Like Taking Candy from a Baby" with Benny Goodman in 1941, and nurtured a lifelong ambition to be a successful popular song composer.^[27] John Herndon Johnny Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was a popular American songwriter and singer. ... Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David Goodman[1] , (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American jazz musician and virtuoso clarinetist, known as King of Swing, Patriarch of the Clarinet, The Professor, and Swings Senior Statesman. // Goodman was born in Chicago, the ninth of twelve children of poor Jewish...

Other teamings

Astaire with Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody 1940

In 1939, Astaire left RKO to freelance and pursue new film opportunities. He teamed up with other stars, notably with Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn (1942) and later Blue Skies (1946). He was almost outdanced in Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) by one of his first post-Rogers dance partners, Eleanor Powell. Other partners during this period included Paulette Goddard in Second Chorus (1940), Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Joan Leslie in The Sky's the Limit (1943), and Lucille Bremer in Yolanda and the Thief (1945) and Ziegfeld Follies (1946). Ziegfeld Follies also contains a memorable teaming of Astaire with Gene Kelly. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (454x648, 112 KB) This work is a copyrighted publicity photograph. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (454x648, 112 KB) This work is a copyrighted publicity photograph. ... Eleanor Powell, left, in Broadway Melody of 1938. ... Freelance 800F - The compact solution ABBs Freelance 800F control system combines easy engineering with an open, modern system architecture. ... Harry Lillis Bing Crosby (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor whose career lasted from 1926 until his death in 1977. ... Holiday Inn is a 1942 film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, which featured the music of Irving Berlin. ... Blue Skies is a 1946 musical film. ... Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell dance to Begin the Beguine in Broadway Melody of 1940. ... Eleanor Powell, left, in Broadway Melody of 1938. ... Paulette Goddard (June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990),[1] an Oscar-nominated American film and theatre actress. ... Second Chorus is a 1940 Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Burgess Meredith, Paulette Goddard, Artie Shaw and Charles Butterworth, with music by Artie Shaw, Bernie Hanighen, Hal Borne and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. ... Rita Hayworth (October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987), was an American actress who reached fame during the 1940s as the eras leading sex symbol. ... Youll Never Get Rich (Columbia Pictures) is a 1941 Hollywood musical comedy film with a wartime theme starring Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Robert Benchley, Cliff Nazarro, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. ... You Were Never Lovelier (Columbia Pictures) is a 1943 Hollywood musical comedy film, set in Buenos Aires. ... Actress Joan Leslie Joan Leslie (born January 26, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan) was an American actress. ... The Skys The Limit (RKO) is a 1943 Hollywood musical comedy film with a wartime theme starring Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley, Robert Ryan and Eric Blore, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. ... Lucille Bremer (February 21, 1917 – April 16, 1996) was an American film actress and dancer. ... Yolanda and the Thief (MGM) is a 1945 Hollywood musical comedy film set in a fictional Latin American country, and stars Fred Astaire, Lucille Bremer, Frank Morgan, Ludwig Stossl and Mildred Natwick, with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Arthur Freed. ... This article is about the film. ... For the similarly-named American actress, see Jean Kelly. ...

After announcing his retirement with Blue Skies in 1946, Astaire concentrated on his horse-racing interests and went on to found the Fred Astaire Dance Studios in 1947 - which he subsequently sold in 1966. However, he soon returned to the big screen to replace the injured Gene Kelly in Easter Parade opposite Judy Garland and Ann Miller, and for a final reunion with Rogers in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949). He then went on to make more musicals throughout the 1950s: Let's Dance (1950) with Betty Hutton, Royal Wedding (1951) with Jane Powell, Three Little Words (1950) and The Belle of New York (1952) with Vera-Ellen, The Band Wagon (1953) and Silk Stockings (1957) with Cyd Charisse, Daddy Long Legs (1955) with Leslie Caron, and Funny Face (1957) with Audrey Hepburn. His legacy at this point was thirty musical films in twenty-five years. Afterwards, Astaire announced that he was retiring from dancing in film to concentrate on dramatic acting, scoring rave reviews for the nuclear war drama On the Beach (1959). Fred Astaire Dance Studios, Inc. ... Ann Miller was born on April 12, 1923 and died on January 22, 2004. ... Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg, February 26, 1921 – March 11, 2007[1]) was an American film actress and singer. ... Royal Wedding (MGM) is a 1951 Hollywood musical comedy film set in London in 1947 at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, and stars Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill and Keenan Wynn, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay... Jane Powell (born April 1, 1929) is an American singer, entertainer and actor. ... Three Little Words (MGM) is a 1950 Hollywood musical film biography of the Tin Pan Alley songwriting partnership of Kalmar and Ruby and stars Fred Astaire as lyricist Bert Kalmar, Red Skelton as composer Harry Ruby, along with Vera-Ellen, Debbie Reynolds and Arlene Dahl. ... The Belle Of New York (MGM) is a 1952 Hollywood musical comedy film set in New York circa 1900 and stars Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen, Alice Pearce, Marjorie Main and Keenan Wynn, with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. ... Vera-Ellen Westmeyer Rohe (February 16, 1921 - 30 August 1981) was an American actress and dancer known best by just her hyphenated first name. ... The Band Wagon is a musical comedy film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1953, which tells the story of an aging musical star who wants to star in a Broadway play that will restart his career. ... Silk Stockings is a 1957 MGM musical film remake of Ninotchka. ... Cyd Charisse Cyd Charisse is an American dancer and actress. ... Daddy Long Legs (MGM) is a 1955 Hollywood musical comedy film set in France and stars Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Fred Clark and Thelma Ritter, with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. ... Leslie Caron (IPA: ) (born July 1, 1931) is an Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning, and Emmy-winning motion picture actress and dancer. ... Funny Face (TV series). ... Audrey Hepburn (4 May 1929 - 20 January 1993) was an Academy Award and Tony Award winning Anglo-Dutch actress of film and theatre, Broadway stage performer, ballerina, fashion model, and humanitarian. ... Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1966. ... On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic end-of-the-world novel written by British author Nevil Shute after he had emigrated to Australia. ...

Later career

Astaire did not retire from dancing completely. He made a series of four highly rated, Emmy-winning musical specials for television in 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1968, each featuring Barrie Chase, with whom Astaire enjoyed an Indian summer of dance creativity. The first of these programs, 1958's An Evening with Fred Astaire, won nine Emmy Awards, including "Best Single Performance by an Actor" and "Most Outstanding Single Program of the Year." It was also noteworthy for being the first major broadcast to be prerecorded on color videotape. An Emmy Award. ... Barrie Chase (born October 20, 1933), a dancer and actress, made four television specials as Fred Astaires young partner in the 1960s, taking the place that Ginger Rogers had held thirty years before as Astaires primary dance partner. ... Fred Astaire and Barrie Chase on the cover of TV Guide the week of the special A sound recording of the show was released as an LP on the Chrysler Corporation label An Evening with Fred Astaire was a one-hour television special starring Fred Astaire, broadcast on NBC on... An Emmy Award. ... Bottom view of VHS videotape cassette with magnetic tape exposed Videotape is a means of recording images and sound onto magnetic tape as opposed to movie film. ...

Astaire's last major musical film was Finian's Rainbow (1968), in which he shed his white tie and tails to play an Irish rogue who believes if he buries a crock of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox it will multiply. His dance partner was Petula Clark, who portrayed his skeptical daughter. He admitted to being as nervous about singing with her as she confessed to being apprehensive about dancing with him. But unfortunately for him, the film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, was a box-office failure. Finians Rainbow is a 1968 American movie musical. ... This article is about United States Army post. ... Petula Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932), is an English singer, actress and composer best known for her upbeat popular international hits of the 1960s. ... Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five-time Academy Award winning American film director, producer, and screenwriter. ...

Astaire continued to act into the 1970s, appearing on television as the father of Robert Wagner's character of Alexander Mundy in It Takes a Thief and in films such as The Towering Inferno (1974), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination in the category of Best Supporting Actor. He appeared in the first two That's Entertainment! documentaries in the mid-1970s. In the second, aged seventy-six, he performed a number of song-and-dance routines with Gene Kelly -- which marked his last dance performances in a musical film. In 1976, he recorded a disco-styled rendition of Carly Simon's "Attitude Dancing." In 1978, Fred Astaire co-starred with Helen Hayes in a well-received television film, A Family Upside Down, in which they play an elderly couple coping with failing health. Astaire won an Emmy Award for his performance. He made a well-publicized guest appearance on the science fiction TV series Battlestar Galactica in 1979, as Chameleon, the maybe-father of Starbuck, in the installment "The Man With Nine Lives," a role written for him by Donald P. Bellisario after Astaire asked his agent to obtain a role for him in that series program. His final film role was the 1981 adaptation of Peter Straub's novel Ghost Story. This horror film was also the last for two of his most prominent castmates, Melvyn Douglas and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. For other persons named Robert Wagner, see Robert Wagner (disambiguation). ... It Takes a Thief was an American action-adventure television series that aired on the ABC Network for two and a half seasons between January 9, 1968 to March 24, 1970. ... The Towering Inferno is a 1974 disaster movie adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... This article is about the 1974 MGM documentary film. ... For the similarly-named American actress, see Jean Kelly. ... This article is about the music genre. ... Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1945 in New York City) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe and two-time Grammy Award winning American musician who emerged as one of the leading lights of the early 1970s singer-songwriter movement. ... Helen Hayes (October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress whose successful and award-winning career spanned almost 70 years. ... An Emmy Award. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction movie and television series, produced in 1978 by Glen Larson and starring Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict. ... Donald Paul Bellisario (born August 8, 1935 in North Charleroi, Pennsylvania) is an American television producer and scriptwriter. ... Peter Straub at the University of South Florida on February 15, 2007 Peter Francis Straub, born March 2, 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a writer of fiction and poetry, best known as a prolific horror author. ... Ghost Story is a film based on the book by Peter Straub. ... Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg (April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981), better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor who won all three of the entertainment industrys highest awards, two Oscars, one Tony and an Emmy. ... Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. ...

Awards and honors

Fred Astaire has accrued the following awards and honors:^[28]

• 1938 - Invited to place his hand and foot prints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood.
• 1950 - Ginger Rogers presented an honorary Academy Award to Astaire "for his unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures".

Fred Astaire's hand and foot prints at Grauman's Chinese Theater

• 1950 - Golden Globe for "Best Motion Picture Actor -Music/Comedy" for Three Little Words.
• 1958 - Emmy Award for "Best Single Performance by an Actor" for An Evening with Fred Astaire.
• 1959 - Dance Magazine award.
• 1960 - Nominated for Emmy Award for "Program Achievement" for Another Evening with Fred Astaire.
• 1960 - Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for "Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures".
• 1961 - Emmy Award for "Program Achievement" in 1961 for Astaire Time.
• 1961 - Voted Champion of Champions - Best Television performer in annual television critics and columnists poll conducted by Television Today and Motion Picture Daily.
• 1965 - The George Award from the George Eastman House for "outstanding contributions to motion pictures".
• 1968 - Nominated for an Emmy Award for Musical Variety Program for The Fred Astaire Show.
• 1972 - Named Musical Comedy Star of the Century by Liberty Magazine.
• 1973 - Subject of a Gala by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
• 1975 - Golden Globe for "Best Supporting Actor", BAFTA and David di Donatello awards for The Towering Inferno.

Plaque honoring Astaire in Lismore

• 1978 - Emmy Award for "Best Actor - Drama or Comedy Special" for A Family Upside Down.
• 1978 - Honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
• 1978 - First recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors.
• 1978 - National Artist Award from the American National Theatre Association for "contributing immeasurably to the American Theatre".
• 1981 - The Lifetime Achievement Award from the AFI.
• 1987 - The Capezio Dance Shoe Award (co-awarded with Rudolph Nureyev).
• 1989 - Posthumous award of Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
• 1991 - Posthumous induction into the Ballroom Dancer's Hall of Fame.
• 2000 - Ava Astaire McKenzie unveils a plaque in honor of her father, erected by the citizens of Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland.
• 2008 - Conference to honor the life and work of Fred Astaire at Oriel College, University of Oxford, June 21-24.^[29]

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Ginger Rogers (Virginia Katherine McMath, July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an Academy Award-winning American film and stage actress and singer. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 1. ... The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... Three Little Words (MGM) is a 1950 Hollywood musical film biography of the Tin Pan Alley songwriting partnership of Kalmar and Ruby and stars Fred Astaire as lyricist Bert Kalmar, Red Skelton as composer Harry Ruby, along with Vera-Ellen, Debbie Reynolds and Arlene Dahl. ... An Emmy Award. ... Fred Astaire and Barrie Chase on the cover of TV Guide the week of the special A sound recording of the show was released as an LP on the Chrysler Corporation label An Evening with Fred Astaire was a one-hour television special starring Fred Astaire, broadcast on NBC on... Dance Magazine is a major American trade publication for dance. ... An Emmy Award. ... The Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures has been given annually since 1952 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Golden Globe Award ceremonies in Hollywood, California. ... An Emmy Award. ... The George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection in Rochester, New York, comprises over 23,000 titles, including features, shorts, documentaries, newsreels, and paper artifacts. ... An Emmy Award. ... Liberty Magazine is a publication of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that covers issues involving separation of church and state, and current events in politics. ... The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. ... The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... David di Donatello is a prestigious movie award assigned each year for cinematic performances and production by Ente David di Donatello, part of Accademia del Cinema Italiano. ... The Towering Inferno is a 1974 disaster movie adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2048x1536, 2049 KB) This photograph was taken by me on October 23rd, 2006, of the memorial plaque honouring Fred Astaire on the wall of Maddens Summerhill Cafe (formerly Maddens pub) on Main Street, Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2048x1536, 2049 KB) This photograph was taken by me on October 23rd, 2006, of the memorial plaque honouring Fred Astaire on the wall of Maddens Summerhill Cafe (formerly Maddens pub) on Main Street, Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland. ... An Emmy Award. ... The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) is the organization which awards the Emmys. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... An award is something given to a person or group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (Russian spelling Рудольф Хаметович Нуреев, Tatar form Rudolf Xämät ulı Nuriev) (17 March 1938 – 6 January 1993), Russian-born dancer, was regarded... The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording [1]. This award is distinct from the Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which honors specific recordings rather than individuals, and... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 52. ... College name Oriel College Collegium Orielense Named after Blessed Virgin Mary Established 1324 Sister College Clare College, Cambridge Trinity College, Dublin Provost Sir Derek Morris JCR President Dougall Meston Undergraduates 304 MCR President Michael Griffin Graduates 158 Homepage Boatclub Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from... The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ...

Personal life

Always immaculately turned out, Astaire remained something of a male fashion icon even into his later years, eschewing his trademark top hat, white tie, and tails (which he always despised) in favor of a breezy casual style of tailored sports jackets, colored shirts, cravates, and slacks — the latter usually held up by the idiosyncratic use of an old tie in place of a belt. Fred was also inspired by Bill "Bojangles" Robinson to do tap dancing as well. ^[30] Bill Bojangles Robinson (May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949) was a pioneer and pre-eminent African-American tap dance performer. ...

Astaire married for the first time in 1933, to Phyllis Potter (née Phyllis Livingston Baker, 1908-1954), a Boston-born New York socialite and former wife of Eliphalet Nott Potter III (1906-1981). In addition to Phyllis's son, Eliphalet IV, known as Peter, the Astaires had two children, Fred Jr. (born 1936, he appeared with his father in the movie Midas Run but became a charter pilot and rancher instead of an actor), and Ava, Mrs. Richard McKenzie (born 1942) who remains actively involved in promoting her late father's heritage.

Described by his friend David Niven as "a pixie — timid, always warm-hearted, with a penchant for schoolboy jokes," Astaire was a lifelong golf and horse-racing enthusiast, whose horse Triplicate won the 1946 Hollywood Gold Cup. He remained physically active^[31] well into his eighties and remarried in 1980, to Robyn Smith, an actress turned champion jockey almost 45 years his junior. Ms. Smith was a jockey for Alfred G. Vanderbilt II. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. ...

Fred Astaire died in 1987 from pneumonia at the age of 88 and was interred in the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California. One last request of his was to thank his fans for their years of support. This article is about human pneumonia. ... The Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 22601 Lassen Street, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California. ... Chatsworth is a community of Los Angeles, bordered by the Santa Susana Mountains and unincorporated Los Angeles County lands to the north, Porter Ranch to the northeast, Northridge to the east, West Hills to the south, and the Simi Hills, Ventura County, Simi Valley, and Chatsworth Lake Manor to the... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ...

Astaire has never^[32] been portrayed on film. Astaire always refused permission for such portrayals, saying, "However much they offer me -- and offers come in all the time -- I shall not sell."^[33] His will included a clause requesting that no such portrayal ever take place; Astaire commented, "It is there because I have no particular desire to have my life misinterpreted, which it would be."^[34]

Filmography

Three Little Words (MGM) is a 1950 Hollywood musical film biography of the Tin Pan Alley songwriting partnership of Kalmar and Ruby and stars Fred Astaire as lyricist Bert Kalmar, Red Skelton as composer Harry Ruby, along with Vera-Ellen, Debbie Reynolds and Arlene Dahl. ... Royal Wedding (MGM) is a 1951 Hollywood musical comedy film set in London in 1947 at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, and stars Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill and Keenan Wynn, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay... The Belle Of New York (MGM) is a 1952 Hollywood musical comedy film set in New York circa 1900 and stars Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen, Alice Pearce, Marjorie Main and Keenan Wynn, with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. ... The Band Wagon is a musical comedy film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1953, which tells the story of an aging musical star who wants to star in a Broadway play that will restart his career. ... Daddy Long Legs (MGM) is a 1955 Hollywood musical comedy film set in France and stars Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Fred Clark and Thelma Ritter, with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. ... Funny Face (TV series). ... Silk Stockings is a 1957 MGM musical film remake of Ninotchka. ... On the Beach is a post-apocalyptic end-of-the-world novel written by British author Nevil Shute after he had emigrated to Australia. ... The Pleasure of His Company is a 1961 film starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds. ... When William Gridley (Jack Lemmon) arrives from the US in London, he rents part of Carly Hardwickes (Kim Novak) house from her and promptly begins to fall in love. ... Finians Rainbow is a 1968 American movie musical. ... Santa Claus is Coming to Town is a Christmas song. ... This article is about the 1974 MGM documentary film. ... The Towering Inferno is a 1974 disaster movie adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. ... Thats Entertainment, Part II was a 1976 motion picture by MGM, and a sequel to the 1974 documentary, Thats Entertainment!. Like the previous film, Thats Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s. ... Ghost Story is a film based on the book by Peter Straub. ...

Television work

General Electric Theater was a half-hour CBS television anthology broadcast every Sunday evening beginning February 1, 1953 and ending May 27, 1962. ... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 30th Academy Awards was the first time the entire ceremony was broadcast live. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Fred Astaire and Barrie Chase on the cover of TV Guide the week of the special A sound recording of the show was released as an LP on the Chrysler Corporation label An Evening with Fred Astaire was a one-hour television special starring Fred Astaire, broadcast on NBC on... Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre was an anthology television series which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967. ... is the 275th day of the year (276th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... Date: 5 April Host: Bob Hope Location: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, USA Notes: For the first time, the Academy presents an award in the field of makeup. ... is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Dr. James Kildare was a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show. ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 333rd day of the year (334th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 334th day of the year (335th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... The Hollywood Palace was an hour-long television variety show produced by Nick Vanoff. ... is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... It Takes a Thief was an American action-adventure television series that aired on the ABC Network for two and a half seasons between January 9, 1968 to March 24, 1970. ... is the 289th day of the year (290th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... is the 68th day of the year (69th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 42nd Academy Awards were presented April 7, 1970 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Santa Claus Is Comin to Town is a 1970 stop motion television special , made by Rankin-Bass. ... The following is a complete list episodes for the original continuity of Battlestar Galactica. ... is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...

Awards

The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. ... Kaye entertaining U.S. troops at Sasebo, Japan, 25 Oct 1945 David Daniel Kaminsky, known as Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer and comedian. ... Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH (14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000), known as Sir John Gielgud, was an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Academy Award-winning British theatre and film actor. ... Murder on the Orient Express is a 1974 feature film directed by Sidney Lumet and based on the 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. ... In the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role actors of all nationalities are eligible to receive the award. ... The Towering Inferno is a 1974 disaster movie adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. ... Bradford Claude Dourif (March 18, 1950, Huntington, West Virginia) is an American Academy Award nominated actor. ... One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is a 1975 film directed by MiloÅ¡ Forman. ... James Stewart is the name of: // Actors James Stewart (actor) (1908–1997), Hollywood movie star, widely known as Jimmy Stewart. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the film director. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series: 1951: The Alan Young Show, CBS (Best Variety Show) 1952: Your Show of Shows, NBC (Best Variety Show); The Red Skelton Show, NBC (Best Comedy Show) 1953: Your Show of Shows... Fred Astaire and Barrie Chase on the cover of TV Guide the week of the special A sound recording of the show was released as an LP on the Chrysler Corporation label An Evening with Fred Astaire was a one-hour television special starring Fred Astaire, broadcast on NBC on... The Garry Moore Show was the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Moneychangers is a 1975 novel written by Arthur Hailey. ... This is a list of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie winners: 1974: William Holden - The Blue Knight 1975: Peter Falk - Columbo 1976: Hal Holbrook - Sandburgs Lincoln 1977: Christopher Plummer - The Moneychangers 1978: Michael Moriarty - Holocaust 1979: Peter Strauss - The Jericho... Michael Moriarty (born April 5, 1941) is a Tony-winning and Emmy-winning American actor. ... Holocaust was an Emmy Award-winning television miniseries broadcast in four parts in 1978 on the NBC television network. ... Monsieur Vincent is a 1947 French film about Vincent de Paul, the seventeenth century priest and charity worker. ... The Academy Honorary Award is given irregularly by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to celebrate motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards. ... Cecil Blount DeMille (August 12, 1881 – January 21, 1959) was one of the most successful filmmakers during the first half of the 20th century. ... Harry Lillis Bing Crosby (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor whose career lasted from 1926 until his death in 1977. ... The Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures has been given annually since 1952 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Golden Globe Award ceremonies in Hollywood, California. ... Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 - June 22, 1969) was an Academy Award-nominated American film actress and singer, best known for her role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939). ... Roy Acuff on the cover of The Great Roy Acuff (1964) Roy Claxton Acuff (15 September 1903 – 23 November 1992) was an American country musician. ... Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. ... For the song Caruso by Lucio Dalla, see Caruso (song). ... For the composer and conductor of the Ray Charles Singers, see Ray Charles (composer). ... Antoine Dominique Fats Domino (born February 26, 1928) is a classic R&B and rock and roll singer, songwriter and pianist. ... Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987), better known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. ... Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), born Eleanora Fagan and later nicknamed Lady Day (see Jazz royalty regarding similar nicknames), was an American jazz singer, a seminal influence on jazz and pop singers, and generally regarded as one of the greatest female jazz vocalists. ... Riley B. King (born September 16, 1925 in Itta Bena, Mississippi) better known as B. B. King or The King of Blues, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, widely considered one of the best and most respected blues musicians of all time. ... Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) is widely considered one of the finest violin virtuosi of the twentieth century. ... Igor Stravinsky. ... Arturo Toscanini (March 25, 1867 – January 16, 1957) was an Italian musician. ... Hank Williams Sr. ... The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording [1]. This award is distinct from the Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which honors specific recordings rather than individuals, and... Nat King Cole in The Blue Gardenia (1953) Nat King Cole (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965) was a hugely popular American singer and jazz musician. ... Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, widely considered to be one of the most influential of the 20th century. ... Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (Russian: ; Ukrainian: ) (1 October 1903 – 5 November 1989) was a Russian-American[1][2] pianist. ... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an Academy Award-winning English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. ...

References

• Fred Astaire: Steps in Time, 1959, multiple reprints.
• Larry Billman: Fred Astaire - A Bio-bibliography, Greenwood Press 1997, ISBN 0-313-29010-5
• G. Bruce Boyer: Fred Astaire Style, Assouline 2005, ISBN 2-84323-677-0
• Arlene Croce: The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book, Galahad Books 1974, ISBN 0-88365-099-1
• Jeffrey Crouse, "Letting His Wish Provide the Occasion: Fred Astaire in Top Hat", Film International, No. 5, 2003.
• Michael Freeland: Fred Astaire An Illustrated Biography, Grosset & Dunlap, 1976. ISBN 0-448-14080-2
• Sarah Giles: Fred Astaire - His Friends Talk, Bloomsbury, London, 1988, ISBN 0-7475-0322-2
• Benny Green: Fred Astaire, Bookthrift Co. 1980, ISBN 0896730182
• Stanley Green, Burt Goldblatt: Starring Fred Astaire, Dodd 1973, ISBN 0-396-06877-4
• Hannah Hyam: Fred and Ginger - The Astaire-Rogers Partnership 1934-1938, Pen Press Publications, Brighton, 2007. ISBN 978-1-905621-96-5
• Richard Lamparski: Manhattan Diary. BearManor Media 2006 ISBN 1-59393-054-2
• John Mueller: Astaire Dancing - The Musical Films of Fred Astaire, Knopf 1985, ISBN 0-394-51654-0
• Tim Satchell: Astaire, The Biography. Hutchinson, London. 1987. ISBN 0-09-173736-2
• Bob Thomas: Astaire, the Man, The Dancer. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1985. ISBN 0-297-78402-1
• The Astaire Family Papers, The Howard Gotleib Archival Research Center, Boston University, MA, U.S.A.

Notes

Eleanor Powell, left, in Broadway Melody of 1938. ... For other uses, see New Yorker. ... is the 329th day of the year (330th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Taking Back Sunday is a band from Amityville, New York, Long Island, New York. ... Michael Penn (born August 1, 1958, in Greenwich Village, New York City) is an American singer and songwriter. ... For the international organisation, see Interpol. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer on 21 May 1948 in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex) is an English performing artist, now based in Australia, whose singing career has spanned four decades. ... Just like Fred Astaire was a song by the indie band James. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... For other uses, see Sgt. ... Federico Fellini (January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993) was one of the most influential and widely revered film-makers of the 20th century. ... Ginger and Fred is a 1986 film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Marcello Mastroianni and Giulietta Masina. ... Dirt Devil is a brand name household vacuum cleaner. ... Royal Wedding (MGM) is a 1951 Hollywood musical comedy film set in London in 1947 at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, and stars Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill and Keenan Wynn, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Fred Astaire

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Fred Astaire

• Fred Astaire at the Internet Movie Database (Astaire is the first biographical entry in the IMDB database.)
• Fred Astaire at the TCM Movie Database
• Fred Astaire at the Internet Broadway Database
• Fred Astaire biography at Allmovie Guide
• Fred Astaire tribute site.
• Fred Astaire biography at AlsoDances.Net
• Time.com: The Great American Flyer Fred Astaire:1899-1987
• Time Magazine archive: Astaire essay by Richard Corliss
• Astaire's religious views incl. many extracts from his biographers
• Ava Astaire discusses her father's legacy. (BBC Television - Realplayer required)
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1624 Fred Astaire] at Find-A-Grave
• "He's in Heaven..." - In Memoriam Fred Astaire