Fred Astaire

American dancer, actor, and singer (1899–1987)

Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz,[1] May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), was an American dancer, actor, singer, choreographer and presenter. He was the most famous stage, movie and television dancer of his time.[2] He has gotten many honors. He won a Honorary Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was put into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1972, and the Television Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1999, the American Film Institute said Astaire was the fifth-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema in 100 Years... 100 Stars.[3][4]

Fred Astaire
Astaire in 1941
Born
Frederick Austerlitz

(1899-05-10)May 10, 1899
DiedJune 22, 1987(1987-06-22) (aged 88)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeOakwood Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupations
  • Dancer
  • actor
  • singer
  • choreographer
  • presenter
Years active1904–1981
Spouses
Phyllis Livingston Potter
(m. 1933; died 1954)
(m. 1980)
Children2
RelativesAdele Astaire (sister)
Musical career
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • percussion
  • piano
  • accordion
  • clarinet
Labels
Fred and Adele Astaire in 1921

Astaire's career was 76 years long. He starred in over 10 Broadway and West End musicals. He made 31 musical movies. He was also a dancer. He had very good rhythm and creativity.[5]

Astaire started dancing on the stage with his sister Adèle, as a child, in 1905. Their Broadway career lasted from 1917 to 1932. They became world-famous after WWI, and regularly performed on both sides of the Atlantic.

When she married he started a movie partnership with Ginger Rogers. After that, he danced with a succession of talented American dancers on movie and on television. He appeared in 32 movies. His movie partners included Eleanor Powell, Ann Miller, Vera-Ellen, Cyd Charisse: all high-class dancers, and on TV with Barrie Chase. Their An evening with Fred Astaire won nine Emmy Awards in 1958.

Many male dancers of the 20th century were influenced by him, and said so. He owed a lot to the choreography of Hermes Pan, but even more to his own perfectionism and relentless practice.

Astaire was also an excellent actor, and a successful, though personally modest, singer. He introduced some of the most celebrated songs from the Great American Songbook. He married Phyllis Potter in 1933; they had two children. After her death, he remarried in 1980 to Robyn Smith, a female jockey 45 years his junior.

References

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  1. Billman, Larry (1997). Fred Astaire: A Bio-bibliography. Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-29010-5.
  2. Fred Astaire at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  3. "1981 Fred Astaire Tribute" afi.com
  4. "AFI'S 100 Years...100 Stars" Archived October 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine afi.com. Retrieved October 11, 2017
  5. Oxford illustrated encyclopedia. Judge, Harry George., Toyne, Anthony. Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press. 1985–1993. p. 25. ISBN 0-19-869129-7. OCLC 11814265.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

Sources

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Other websites

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