Happy Birthday, Fred Astaire May 10, 1899- June 22, 1987...Born Freidrich Emanuel Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska to an Austrian father and an American mother who longed to leave the boredom of her life there. When his older sister Adele showed early singing and dancing talent, Astaire's mother put together a vaudeville act and recruited the four year old Fred as his sister's partner, changing their last name to something she felt was less cumbersome and more elegant. When his father lost his job, it gave his mother the excuse to pack up the family and move to New York to further the careers of the young Astaires.
Both children took dance and acting classes and Fred learned to play the accordion, clarinet and piano. Their first vaudeville act was called "Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty" and it was a big hit. They toured around the U.S. on the circuit but Adele began to grow taller than her brother and they took a two year break to let him catch up and to avoid the child labor laws.
When the act resumed, both performers had become more polished and they began to incorporate tap dancing into their act, inspired and taught by Bill Robinson. They also took ballroom dance classes from Aurelio Coccia (Rita Hayworth's father), learning the dances made popular by Vernon and Irene Castle. Adele was the acknowledged talent of the two siblings. Her dancing and stage presence was highly praised (sadly there is no footage of her performing). Fred was always on the lookout for new music and novelty dance steps to incorporate into the act.
At age 14, he met George Gershwin who was working as a song plugger and they would strike up a friendship that would greatly affect both of their careers. In 1917 the Astaires appeared in their first Broadway show, "Over the Top" and their dancing caught the attention of the critics. More shows followed and in 1920s the Astaire siblings starred in the Gershwin's "Funny Face" and "Lady Be Good" followed by "Band Wagon" in 1931. The shows traveled to London where the Astaire's became even bigger stars and where Adele would meet her future husband, Lord Charles Cavendish. They did a screen test for Paramount in the late 20's but were not considered movie material. An evaluation of Fred's first screen test stated, "Can't act, can't sing, balding, can dance a little."
In 1932, Adele married and retired from performing. Fred was crushed, never quite believing that he had the talent to go it alone. His starring role in the musical "The Gay Divorcee" proved him wrong, especially the dance number he created with his new partner Claire Luce to Cole Porter's "Night and Day" which stole the show. It was later performed in the film version in 1934 and changed the way dance was presented in movies. Offers from Hollywood began pouring in and Astaire decided to try it again.
In 1933 Astaire married Phyllis Potter and moved to Hollywood. Although the studio still it had it's doubts, David O. Selznick held out hope for the new talent he had signed in a memo, stating, "I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test." Astaire had a brief part in a Joan Crawford movie before he was cast as a minor character with Ginger Rogers in "Flying down to Rio" in 1933, a movie and partnership that would change everything for the two young actors. The duo became film's most beloved dance team whose routines feature an amalgam of dance styles including ballroom, tap and ballet. Katherine Hepburn described their partnership, "Fred gave Ginger class and Ginger gave Fred sex."
The pair made 10 films together but Fred's perfectionism, grueling work schedule and reluctance to be tied to one dance partner broke up the duo in 1939. Astaire would go on to partner a list of beautiful and talented women, Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland, Leslie Caron and Audrey Hepburn among others. The only dancer he truly felt could best him in tap was Eleanor Powell. In 1946 at the age of 47 he announced his retirement only to re-emerge in 1948 to replace an injured Gene Kelly in "Easter Parade". Astaire kept working, doing more musical films as well as taking on non-dancing roles and branching out onto television.
His final film role was in 1981.
He had a huge impact on dance on film, from his sparkling, precise, often romantic choreography, to his new innovations on how the scenes were photographed to his insistence that the dance be a further vehicle for the plot instead of just an adornment. Dancers and choreographers as diverse as Jerome Robbins, Rudolph Nureyev, Michael Jackson, Sammy Davids, Jr., Gregory Hines and George Balanchine acknowledge his influence and importance. He also influenced popular music and introduced many of the popular songs of the time including "Night and Day', "Fascinating Rhythm", "Funny Face", "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket", "A Fine Romance", "Pick Yourself Up", "Shall We Dance", "The Way You Look Tonight" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me" among others. His personal style and elegance set the bar for men's fashion as well.
He was happily married to his wife Phyllis for 21 years with whom he had two children. After her death and after his final retirement he married jockey Robyn Smith who shared his love of horses and horse racing. Astaire die at the age of 88 of pneumonia. George Balanchine compared him to Bach, calling him, "the most interesting, the most innovative, the most elegant dancer of our times." Yet Astaire himself remained perpetually insecure about his artistry.Vincent Minnelli stated that, "He lacks confidence to the most enormous degree, of all people in the world...He always thinks he is no good." Astaire described his performances this way, "I've never yet got anything 100% right. Still, it's never as bad as I think it is."
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