Actors - Fred Astaire

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	Actors - Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films.

His unparalleled skill as a dancer leads many critics to cite him as the best dancer ever to come out of Hollywood.

Early life and career

His father was an Austrian immigrant and a Catholic, though the family originally has Jewish roots; his mother was born in the U.S. to Lutheran German parents; Astaire became an Episcopalian during his youth.

Astaire was a name taken by him and his sister Adele Astaire for their vaudeville act when they were about 5 years old. It is said to have come from an uncle surnamed "L'Astaire". Many sources state that the Astaire siblings appeared in a 1915 film entitled Fanchon, the Cricket, starring Mary Pickford, but this is a myth (although it is believed that they were present to watch the filming).

During the 1920s, Fred and Adele appeared on Broadway and on the London stage in shows such as Lady Be Good
, Funny Face
and The Band Wagon, winning popular acclaim with the theater crowd on both sides of the Atlantic. They split in 1932, when she 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.

Famously, a Paramount Pictures screen test report on Astaire read simply: "Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Also dances." After a brief detour at MGM in 1933, where he appeared as himself dancing with Joan Crawford in the film Dancing Lady
, he eventually ended up at RKO Studios, where he made the top musicals of that era, with Rogers as his costar.

Dancing and singing prowess

See also: Fred Astaire's Solo and Partnered Dances

He 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. He drew from a variety of influences, including tap and other African-American styles, classical dance and the elevated style of Vernon and Irene Castle. He choreographed all his own routines, often with the assistance of other choreographers, primarily Hermes Pan.

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 20th century dance legends as George Balanchine, the Nicholas Brothers, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Margot Fonteyn, Bob Fosse, Gregory Hines, Gene Kelly, Rudolph Nureyev, and Bill Robinson.

Always modest about his singing abilities, he is considered by some to have introduced more standards from the Great American Songbook than any other singer, and composers such as Cole Porter wrote a number of songs especially for him, and quite a few are among evergreen ballroom foxtrots: "Night and Day", "Cheek to Cheek", "Let's Face the Music and Dance", "The Way You Look Tonight", "A Fine Romance", "They Can't Take that Away from Me", and "Change Partners". Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and the Gershwins contributed classic songs for his musicals, in large part because of his sincere, unmannered delivery of their songs.

Rogers and Astaire

His second film, Flying Down to Rio
, paired him with Ginger Rogers for the first time. That partnership, and the choreography of Astaire and Hermes Pan, helped make dancing an important element of the Hollywood film musical. The Astaire-Rogers series are among the top films of the 1930s. They include The Gay Divorcee
(1934), Roberta
(1935), Top Hat
(1935), Follow the Fleet
(1936), Swing Time
(1936), and Carefree
(1938). Their partnership elevated them both to stardom: as Katherine Hepburn reportedly said, "He gives her class and she gives him sex appeal."

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Fred Astaire ]

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Actors - Fred Astaire

Early life and career

Dancing and singing prowess

Rogers and Astaire

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