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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. 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 which
revolutionized the genre.
Balanchine[1] and Nureyev[2] rated him the greatest
dancer of the 20th Century, and he is generally acknowledged to have been the
most influential dancer in the history of filmed and televised musicals. He was
named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.
****
Birth name: Frederic Austerlitz Jr.
Date of birth: May 10, 1899
Birth location: Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Date of death: June 22, 1987
Death location: Los Angeles, California, USA
****
Early
life and career
His father was an Austrian immigrant and a
Catholic; his mother was born in the U.S. to Lutheran German parents; Astaire
became an Episcopalian in 1912[3].
Astaire was a name taken by him and his sister
Adele Astaire for their vaudeville act in 1905. Family legend attributes it to
an uncle surnamed "L'Astaire"[4]. Their vaudeville career continued, with mixed
fortunes and some interruptions due to the actions of the Gerry Society, until
they broke into Broadway with Over The Top in 1917. Many sources state that the
Astaire siblings appeared in a 1915 film entitled Fanchon, the Cricket, starring
Mary Pickford, but this is uncorroborated.
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 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.
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 it 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". However the test was clearly
disappointing and in a 1933 studio memo David O. Selznick, who had signed
Astaire to RKO and commissioned the test, described it as "wretched". In any
event, the test report did not affect RKO's plans for Astaire, first loaning him
out 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.
Rogers
and Astaire
On his return to RKO Pictures he took 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."
Although Astaire was initially very reluctant to become part of another dancing
team, he was persuaded by the obvious public appeal of the Astaire-Rogers
pairing and he went on to make a total of ten musical films with Ginger Rogers.
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), Shall We Dance (1937), and Carefree (1938).
Their partnership elevated them both to stardom; as Katharine Hepburn reportedly
said, "He gives her class and she gives him sex."[1].
Astaire is credited with two important innovations
in early film musicals. First, his insistence 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 - a policy Astaire maintained from The Gay
Divorcee (1934) onwards, until he was overruled by Francis Ford Coppola - who
also fired Hermes Pan - when directing Finian's Rainbow (1968). He famously
quipped: "Either the camera will dance, or I will." Second, he was adamant that
all song and dance routines be seamlessly integrated into the plotlines of the
film. 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.
Dance commentators Arlene Croce and John Mueller
consider Rogers to have been Astaire's greatest dance partner[5], while
recognizing that later partners such as Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse, Vera Ellen,
and Eleanor Powell displayed superior technical dance skills. Film critic
Pauline Kael adopts a more neutral stance.[6]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[7], "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 and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle and, 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 tenth and final outing in The Barkleys of Broadway.
Dancing
and singing prowess
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 recognisable dance style which greatly influenced the American Smooth
style of ballroom dance, and set standards against which subsequent filmed dance
musicals would be judged. He choreographed all his own routines, usually 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.
Extremely modest about his singing abilities - he
frequently claimed that he couldn't sing[8] - Astaire introduced some of the
most celebrated songs from the Great American Songbook, in particular, Cole
Porter's: "Night and Day" from Gay Divorce (1932); Irving Berlin's "Isn't it a
Lovely Day", "Cheek to Cheek" and "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" from Top Hat
(1935), "Let's Face the Music and Dance" from Follow the Fleet (1936) and
"Change Partners" from Carefree (1938). He first presented Jerome Kern's "The
Way You Look Tonight" from Swing Time 1936); the Gershwins' "They Can't Take
That Away From Me" from Shall We Dance (1937), "A Foggy Day" and "Nice Work if
You Can Get it" from A Damsel in Distress (1937) and he introduced Johnny
Mercer's "One for My Baby" from The Sky's the Limit (1943) and "Something's
Gotta Give" from Daddy Long Legs (1955) along with Harry Warren and Arthur
Freed's "This Heart of Mine" from Ziegfeld Follies (1946).
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" from Lady, Be Good (1924), "Funny Face"
and "'S Wonderful" from Funny Face (1927); and, in duets with Ginger Rogers, he
presented Irving Berlin's "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket" from Follow
the Fleet (1936), Jerome Kern's "I Won't Dance" from Roberta (1935), "Pick
Yourself Up" and "A Fine Romance" from 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).
Although he possessed a light voice, he was admired
for his lyricism, diction and phrasing [9] - 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."[10] 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"
[11]. Jerome Kern considered him the supreme male interpreter of his songs[12]
and Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer also admired his unique treatment of their
work. And while George Gershwin was somewhat critical[13] of Astaire's singing
abilities, he wrote many of his most memorable songs for him.
Other
teamings
After breaking with Rogers in 1939, Astaire left
RKO to pursue new film opportunities. He teamed up with other stars, notably
with Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn (1942) and 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.
After announcing his retirement with Blue Skies in
1946, Astaire soon returned to the big screen to replace the injured Gene Kelly
in Easter Parade (1948) opposite Judy Garland, and for a final reunion with
Rogers, 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 musicals in a twenty-five
year period. 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).
Later
career
Astaire did not give up dancing completely, and
made a series of highly-rated specials for television into the early 1960s, each
featuring Barrie Chase with whom Astaire enjoyed an Indian summer of dance
creativity. One 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.
Astaire's final 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 last on-screen 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.
Astaire continued to act into the 1970s, appearing
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 performing a song-and-dance routine with Gene Kelly. 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. His
final film was the 1981 adaptation of Peter Straub's Ghost Story.
He received an honorary Academy Award in 1950 "for
his unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures."
He also won Emmys in 1961 and 1978.
He received Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the
first year they were awarded. The American Film Institute awarded him their
"Lifetime Achievement Award" for 1981.
Always immaculately turned out, he remained
something of a male fashion icon even in his later years, eschewing his
trademark top hat, white tie and tails (which he always despised) in favour of a
breezy casual style of tailored sports jackets, coloured shirts, cravates and
slacks - the latter usually held up by the idiosyncratic use of an old tie in
place of a belt.
Personal life
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).
Astaire, a lifelong horse-racing enthusiast,
married again in 1980, to Robyn Smith, an actress turned champion jockey almost
45 years his junior.
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.
Portrayals of Fred Astaire on film
Astaire has never[14] been portrayed on film,
although in August 2006 it was announced[15] that Benji Schwimmer,
multi-national award winner, as well as the winner of the televised dance
competition "So You Think You Can Dance", would be playing Fred Astaire in an
upcoming movie. When alive, Astaire always refused permission for such
portrayals saying "However much they offer me, and offers come in all the time,
I shall not sell."[16] His will included a clause requesting that no such
portrayal ever take place. Commenting on this clause, Astaire said: "It is there
because I have no particular desire to have my life misinterpreted, which it
would be", adding, in a somewhat cryptic explanation, "I have had various
sadnesses in my life."[17]
Trivia
Fred Astaire is biographical entry number 0000001
at the Internet Movie Database.
Astaire made headlines again at age 78 when
hospitalized after breaking his left wrist while riding his grandson's
skateboard,[18] and was awarded[19] life membership of the National Skateboard
Society. At the time he remarked[20]: "Gene Kelly warned me not to be a damned
fool, but I'd seen the things those kids got up to on television doing all sorts
of tricks. What a routine I could have worked up for a film sequence if they had
existed a few years ago. Anyway I was practising in my drive-way."
Filmography
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 Barkleys of Broadway (1949) (*)
Three Little Words (1950)
Let's Dance (1950)
Royal Wedding (1951)
The Belle of New York (1952)
The Band Wagon (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 Rainbow (1968)
Midas Run (1969)
Just One More Time (1974) (short subject)
That's Entertainment! (1974) (narrator)
The Towering Inferno (1974)
The Lion Roars Again (1975) (short subject)
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)
(*) w/ Ginger Rogers
Television work
General Electric Theater (1953-1962)
Episode 147: "Imp on a Cobweb Leash" (December 1,
1957)
Episode 185: "Man on a Bicycle" (January 11, 1959)
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) (as host)
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963-1967)
Episode 30: "Think Pretty" (October 2, 1964)
Dr. Kildare (1961-1966)
Episode 153: "Fathers and Daughters" (November 22,
1965)
Episode 154: "A Gift of Love" (November 23,1965)
Episode 155: "The Tent-Dwellers" (November 29,
1965)
Episode 156: "Going Home" (November 30, 1965)
The Hollywood Palace (1964-1970)
Episode 60: (February 10, 1965)
Episode 74: (January 22, 1966)
Episode 81: (March 12, 1966)
Episode 88: (April 30, 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" (November
6, 1969)
Episode 53: "The Second Time Around" (December 4,
1969)
Episode 64: "An Evening with Alister Mundy" (March
9, 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 (1978-1980)
Episode 11: "The Man With Nine Lives" (January
28,1979)
The Man in the Santa Claus Suit (1979)
* * * *
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