Fred Astaire
British Art Photo postcard, no. 36-2.
American dancer, choreographer, singer, and actor Fred Astaire (1899-1987) was a unique dancer with his top hat and tails, his uncanny sense of rhythm, perfectionism, and innovation. He began his highly successful partnership with Ginger Rogers in Flying Down to Rio (1933). They danced together in 10 musicals in which he made all song and dance routines integral to the plotlines. Another innovation was that a closely tracking dolly camera filmed his dance routines in as few shots as possible. His career in film, television and theatre spanned a total of 76 years.
Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz in 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska, to Johanna (Geilus) and Fritz Austerlitz, a brewer. 'Astaire' was a name that he and 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 his surname. They conquered Broadway in 1917 with the play 'Over the Top'. In the 1920s, Adele and Fred performed regularly in Broadway theatres. Their duo ended in 1932 when she married her first husband, Lord Charles Cavendish, a son of the Duke of Devon. Astaire headed to Hollywood. There is a famous story about the RKO Pictures screen test of Fred Astaire who was rejected with "Can't sing. Can't act. Gets a bit bald. Can dance a little". Many of the millions of fans of his films thought he could dance quite well after all. Cole Porter wrote a number of songs specifically for him. Signed to RKO, he was loaned to MGM to appear in the musical Dancing Lady (Robert Z. Leonard, 1933) with Joan Crawford. The film was a breakthrough for Astaire, who appears as himself and dances with Crawford. He first worked with Ginger Rogers in his second film, Flying down to Rio (Thornton Freeland, 1933). It was a box office success. They danced together in 9 RKO pictures. Their characters, after initially disliking each other, fell in love and performed dance and song numbers together. The two sang the hits of popular composers such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter in their films. The combination of the two dancers and the choreography of Hermes Pan made dance an important element of the Hollywood film musical. His films with Rogers include The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich, 1934), Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 1935), and Carefree (Mark Sandrich, 1938). During these years, he was also active in recording and radio.
From the late 1930s, Ginger Rogers concentrated more and more on her solo career, and Fred Astaire danced with other partners. He danced with Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich (Sidney Lanfield, 1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (William A. Seiter, 1942), with Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940 (Norman Taurog, 1940), and with Joan Leslie in The Sky's the Limit ( Edward H. Griffith, 1943). Astaire also worked with Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn (Mark Sandrich, 1942) and Blue Skies (Stuart Heisler, 1946). After the great box-office failure of the fantasy comedy Yolanda and the Thief (Vincente Minnelli, 1945), Astaire temporarily retired from the film business. He soon returned to the big screen to take over the role of the injured Gene Kelly in Easter Parade (Charles Walters, 1948) opposite Judy Garland and Peter Lawford. Later he starred in The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953) with Cyd Charisse. One of his last musical roles was as fashion photographer Dick Avery alongside Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face (Stanley Donen, 1957). By the end of the 1950s, the popularity of musical films had waned considerably. Astaire, now in his 60s, increasingly refrained from dance roles, although he still appeared in television dance specials in the 1960s, which won several Emmy Awards. Astaire continued to act, appearing in such films as On the Beach (Stanley Kramer, 1959), Finian's Rainbow (Francis Ford Coppola, 1968) alongside Petula Clark, and The Towering Inferno (John Guillermin, 1974) where he received his only Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. His last film was Ghost Story (John Irvin, 1981). Fred Astaire died of pneumonia in 1987 and, like Ginger Rogers, is buried in the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California. He was married twice. He was first married to Phyllis Livingston Potter from 1933 till her death in 1954. They had two children, Ava Astaire-McKenzie and Fred Astaire Jr. From 1980 till his death in 1987, he was married to Robyn Smith.
Sources: Diana Hamilton (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Fred Astaire
British Art Photo postcard, no. 36-2.
American dancer, choreographer, singer, and actor Fred Astaire (1899-1987) was a unique dancer with his top hat and tails, his uncanny sense of rhythm, perfectionism, and innovation. He began his highly successful partnership with Ginger Rogers in Flying Down to Rio (1933). They danced together in 10 musicals in which he made all song and dance routines integral to the plotlines. Another innovation was that a closely tracking dolly camera filmed his dance routines in as few shots as possible. His career in film, television and theatre spanned a total of 76 years.
Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz in 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska, to Johanna (Geilus) and Fritz Austerlitz, a brewer. 'Astaire' was a name that he and 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 his surname. They conquered Broadway in 1917 with the play 'Over the Top'. In the 1920s, Adele and Fred performed regularly in Broadway theatres. Their duo ended in 1932 when she married her first husband, Lord Charles Cavendish, a son of the Duke of Devon. Astaire headed to Hollywood. There is a famous story about the RKO Pictures screen test of Fred Astaire who was rejected with "Can't sing. Can't act. Gets a bit bald. Can dance a little". Many of the millions of fans of his films thought he could dance quite well after all. Cole Porter wrote a number of songs specifically for him. Signed to RKO, he was loaned to MGM to appear in the musical Dancing Lady (Robert Z. Leonard, 1933) with Joan Crawford. The film was a breakthrough for Astaire, who appears as himself and dances with Crawford. He first worked with Ginger Rogers in his second film, Flying down to Rio (Thornton Freeland, 1933). It was a box office success. They danced together in 9 RKO pictures. Their characters, after initially disliking each other, fell in love and performed dance and song numbers together. The two sang the hits of popular composers such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter in their films. The combination of the two dancers and the choreography of Hermes Pan made dance an important element of the Hollywood film musical. His films with Rogers include The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich, 1934), Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 1935), and Carefree (Mark Sandrich, 1938). During these years, he was also active in recording and radio.
From the late 1930s, Ginger Rogers concentrated more and more on her solo career, and Fred Astaire danced with other partners. He danced with Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich (Sidney Lanfield, 1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (William A. Seiter, 1942), with Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940 (Norman Taurog, 1940), and with Joan Leslie in The Sky's the Limit ( Edward H. Griffith, 1943). Astaire also worked with Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn (Mark Sandrich, 1942) and Blue Skies (Stuart Heisler, 1946). After the great box-office failure of the fantasy comedy Yolanda and the Thief (Vincente Minnelli, 1945), Astaire temporarily retired from the film business. He soon returned to the big screen to take over the role of the injured Gene Kelly in Easter Parade (Charles Walters, 1948) opposite Judy Garland and Peter Lawford. Later he starred in The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953) with Cyd Charisse. One of his last musical roles was as fashion photographer Dick Avery alongside Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face (Stanley Donen, 1957). By the end of the 1950s, the popularity of musical films had waned considerably. Astaire, now in his 60s, increasingly refrained from dance roles, although he still appeared in television dance specials in the 1960s, which won several Emmy Awards. Astaire continued to act, appearing in such films as On the Beach (Stanley Kramer, 1959), Finian's Rainbow (Francis Ford Coppola, 1968) alongside Petula Clark, and The Towering Inferno (John Guillermin, 1974) where he received his only Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. His last film was Ghost Story (John Irvin, 1981). Fred Astaire died of pneumonia in 1987 and, like Ginger Rogers, is buried in the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California. He was married twice. He was first married to Phyllis Livingston Potter from 1933 till her death in 1954. They had two children, Ava Astaire-McKenzie and Fred Astaire Jr. From 1980 till his death in 1987, he was married to Robyn Smith.
Sources: Diana Hamilton (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.