Fred Astaire, born Frederick Austerlitz (Omaha (Nebraska), 10 may 1899 – Los Angeles, June 22, 1987) was an American Broadway and film- ballroom dancer, singerand actor. He is often mentioned together with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films.
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Biography[Edit][]
Youth[Edit][]
"Astaire" was a name he together with his sister Adele had adopted for their vaudeville act when they were about 5 years old. It is said that the name comes from an uncle who had L'Astaire as a surname. In the 1920s, Adele and Fred regularly performed in Broadway theaters, this stopped in 1932 when she married her first husband, Lord Charles Cavendish, a son of the Duke of Devon.
There is a well-known story about the Fred Astaire's RKO screen test that was rejected with "can't sing. Can not acting. Is a bit bare. Can a little dance ". Many of the millions of fans of his films felt that he could dance well anyway. Cole Porter wrote a number of songs specifically for him.
Career[Edit][]
He worked for the first time with Ginger Rogers in his second film Flying down to Rio. The combination of the two dancers and choreography by Hermes Pan made sure that dance was an important element of the Hollywood filmmusical. Other films with Rogers are The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935) and Carefree (1938). He also worked with other big stars, especially with Bing Crosby in the movie Holiday Inn (1942) and Blue Skies (1946). After he withdrew from show business that year, he soon came back to the white screen to the role of the injured Gene Kelly in Easter Parade (1948) opposite Judy Garland and Peter Lawford. Later he played in The Band Wagon (1953) with Cyd Charisse.
Even though he had given up dancing remained Astaire acting, and appeared in films such as On the Beach (1959), Finian's cemetary Rainbow (1968), and The Towering Inferno (1974) where he received his only Oscar nomination in the Best supporting Actorcategory. His last film was the movie Ghost Story (1981).
Fred Astaire died in 1987 following a pneumonia and is just like Ginger Rogers buried in the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California.
Filmography[Edit][]
- Dancing Lady (1933)
- 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) (*)
- A Damsel in Distress (1937)
- Carefree (1938) (*)
- The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) (*)
- Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
- Second Chorus (1940)
- You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
- Holiday Inn (1942)
- You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
- The sky's the Limit (1943)
- Yolanda and the Thief (1945)
- Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
- Blue Skies (1946)
- Easter Parade (1948)
- The Babajide or Broadway (1949) (*)
(*) with Ginger Rogers
- Three Little Words (1950)
- Let's Dance (1950)
- Royal Wedding (1951)
- Belle of New York (1952)
- The Bandwagon (1953)
- Daddy Long Legs (1955)
- Funny Face (1957)
- Silk Stockings (1957)
- On the Beach (1959)
- The Pleasure of His Company (1961)
- The Notorious Landlady (1962)
- Finian's cemetary Rainbow (1968)
- Midas Run (1969)
- Santa Claus is Comin' To Town (voice of postman)
- Just One More Time (1974)
- That's Entertainment! (1974) (Narrator)
- The Towering Inferno (1974)
- The Lion Roars Again (1975)
- That's Entertainment, Part II (1976) (Narrator)
- The Amazing Dobermans (1976)
- The Purple Taxi (1977)
- Ghost Story (1981)
- George Stevens: A filmmaker's Journey (1985) (documentary)
Television Work[Edit][]
- General Electric Theater (1953-1962)
- Episode 147: "Imp on a Cobweb Leash" (1 december 1957)
- Episode 185: "Man on a Bicycle" (11 January 1959)
- 1958 Oscar ceremony (26 March 1958)
- An Evening with Fred Astaire (1958) (dance-special)
- Another Evening with Fred Astaire (1959) (dance-special)
- Astaire Time (1960) (dance-special)
- Alcoa Premiere (1961-1963) (host)
- Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963-1967)
- Oscar Awards 1965 (5 april 1965)
- Dr. Kildare (1961-1966)
- Episode 153: "Fathers and Daughters" (22 november 1965)
- Episode 154: "A Gift of Love" (23 november 1965)
- Episode 155: "The Tent-Dwellers" (29 november 1965)
- Episode 156: "Going Home" (30 november 1965)
- The Hollywood Palace (1964-1970)
- Episode 60: (10 February 1965)
- Episode 74: (22 January 1966)
- Episode 81: (12 March 1966)
- Episode 88: (30 april 1966)
- The Fred Astaire Show (1968) (dance-special)
- It Takes a Thief (1968-1970)
- Episode 46: "The Great Casino Caper" (October 16, 1969)
- Episode 49: "The Three Virgins of Rome" (6 november 1969)
- Episode 53: "The Second Time Around" (4 december 1969)
- Episode 64: "An Evening with Alister Mundy" (9 March 1970)
- Oscar Awards 1970 (7 april 1970)
- The over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again (1970)
- Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970) (voice)
- Fred Astaire Salutes the Fox Musicals (1974)
- Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire: A Couple of Song and Dance Men (1975)
- The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town (1977) (voice)
- A Family Upside Down (1978)
- Battlestar Galactica
- Episode 11: "The Man With Nine Lives" (28 January 1979)
- The Man in The Santa Claus Suit (1979)
Palmares[Edit][]
[1]Astaire in Royal Wedding*1950- Golden Globe as "Best lead actor-Music/Comedy" for Three Little Words
- 1958 – Emmy Award for "best lead actor" for An Evening with Fred Astaire
- 1959-Dance Magazine award
- 1960-nominated for an Emmy Award for Another Evening with Fred Astaire
- 1960-Golden Globe Award for his entire oeuvre
- 1961 — Emmy Award for "best program" for Astaire Time
- 1965- George Award
- 1968-nominated for an Emmy Award for The Fred Astaire Show
- 1975-Golden Globe for "best supporting actor", BAFTA and David di Donatello's for The Towering Inferno
- 1978 – Emmy Award for "best actor-Drama/Comedy Special" for A Family Upside Down
- 1978-honored by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
- 1978-National Artist Award of the American National Theatre Association
- 1981-Lifetime Achievement Award from the AFI
- 1987-Today Dance Shoe Award (with Rudolf Nureyev)
- 1989- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (posthumous)
- 1991-buried in the "the Ballroom dancer's Hall of Fame" (posthumous)
Trivia[Edit][]
- Astaire is one of the celebrities featured on the cover of the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles. Paul McCartney grew up with the music of Astaire.
Others about Astaire[Edit][]
[2]Astaire in Royal Wedding*Frank Sinatra: I only have one thing to say about Fred: he's probably the best dancer I have ever seen during my years in show business!
- Audrey Hepburn: he had style. Its habits were settled banal, and even worse, extremely elegant, because he had class. Or was he nice? I think he had charm, and charm is the most beautiful in the world, right?
- Michael Jackson: no one will ever Mr. Astaire can match, but I never stopped trying to imitate him; it's his style, all aspects of his art: he exercises and exercises until he can as he wants it.