Today is May 10, 2015 (at least that's the day I'm writing this), the 116th birthday of dancer Fred Astaire, who I've heard of but don't know much about, so I'm going to be doing some research and providing to you all the story of the life of Mr. Astaire.
Fred Astaire (1899-1987)
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| Daddy Long Legs (1955) |
Dancer, actor, choreographer
Childhood and Early Life: Frederick Austerlitz was born on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska to Frederic and Johanna Austerlitz. Johanna wanted to leave Omaha and start a "brother-sister act" after discovering her daughter, Fred's sister, Adele, was talented in dancing and singing. At first, Fred didn't want to be a part of the act, but found himself getting into dance and music (more music) after reluctantly taking up piano, accordion and clarinet. Fred's father lost his job working at the Storz Brewing Company in Omaha, giving Johanna the perfect opportunity to launch the act. The family moved to New York City in 1905 and Fred and Adele started training at the Alviene Master School of the Theater and the Academy of Cultural Arts. As they learned and improved the skills of become stage performers with lessons on dance and singing, Johanna changed the family name to "Astaire," as "Austerlitz" reminded her of the Battle of Austerlitz during the Napoleonic Wars. Their first act Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty consisted of Fred with a top hat in the first half and dressed in a lobster outfit in the second. Obviously this sounds silly and it was but when it debuted at a tryout theater in Keyport, New Jersey, the local paper called it "the greatest child act in vaudeville," a pretty bold statement. Soon the sibling pair signed into the Orpheum Circuit and performed throughout the United States but eventually it weared them out and their act started to get a bit weak. The Astaires took a break from the entertainment business and during their hiatus, started improving their act by learning to tap dance and learned other dances such as the tango and waltz to add within their act. As Fred became a teenager, he wanted to take his skills and talent to new levels and was constantly striving to learn and improve. Pairing with George Gerswhin, a song plugger, the Astaires prepared once more the stage, launching back by performing for U.S. and Allied troops during World War l and stepping into Broadway with the Over the Top in 1917. Fred was 18.
Early Career (Stage): Fred and Adele has now become a Broadway act, performing in several more shows after Over the Top. Fred was starting to get better than his sister but they both had their own coexisting qualities that made the act the newly-praised and popular it has become. Into the 1920's the duo continued to shine in Broadway and even in London in shows including The Bunch and Judy (1922), George Gershwin and his wife's own musical Lady Be Good (1924) and Funny Face (1927), winning them critical acclaim and wide popularity from audience members in the U.S. and England, mainly recognizing Astaire's tap dancing, who critic Robert Benchley described "...is the greatest tap-dancer in the world," yet another bold statement focused on Fred.
The Astaires Split: In 1932, Fred and Adele split when his sister got married (ironically, he married Phyllis Potter a year later; they had 2 kids in their marriage) to which traumatized Fred but it gave him a chance to expand his career and skills. He continued to be a Broadway and London star in Gay Divorce, which was recreated into the 1934 movie The Gay Divorcee, where he met Ginger Rogers.
Astaire and Rogers: The Gay Divorcee was produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, who wanted to turn Fred and co-star Ginger Rogers into a film duo. Because Fred had recently experienced splitting with his sister, he was reluctant at joining into another pair. But people loved the two together in The Gay Divorcee so he was eventually convinced to pair with Rogers. In addition to his partnership with Rogers, he partnered with Hermes Pan to led the choreography in the multiple movie musicals RKO made starring Astaire and Rogers, including Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937) and Carefree (1938). The duo became very popular and many people remarked on the great coexistence of the pair, as they both made each other the entertainers people loved. But Fred wasn't just an entertainer on the big screen, he was also an innovator behind the scenes, credited with having the camera film all the dancers in full-view in if-possible one-shot and having musical numbers/song-dance routines incorporated within the storylines. This revolutinzed movie musicals. He revolutionized movie musicals.
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Photo/Video Gallery Fun Time
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Photo/Video Gallery Fun Time
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| Astaire and Rogers |
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| Astaire and Gene Kelly |
Astaire and Rogers from Swing Time (1936)
Astaire and Rita Hayworth from You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Astaire in Royal Wedding (1951)
Leaving Rogers and RKO: Even though Astaire and Rogers were a great pair, Astaire wanted to go solo and insisted doing so after going solo in A Damsel in Distress (1937). It was an unsuccessful film so Astaire agreed to pair back up with Rogers for two more films, one of which (Carefree), I already mentioned and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), which made decent profits but lost money with increased production costs and flopped for the critics, who especially criticized Fred. He left Rogers and RKO.
Post-RKO/Rogers: After Fred left Rogers and RKO, he continued to be in movies and choreograph, collaborating with various people, none of which were Hermes Pan, his choreographic partner during his time with RKO. In 1940, he partnered with talented tap dancer Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), then with actress Paulette Goddard in Second Chorus (1940), onto a partnership with actress Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942) and then partnered once more with singer and actor Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn (1942) and Blue Skies (1946), to name a few of the collaborations. Unfortunately, his last few films were box office bombs, and he felt that his career was gradually withering away so he announced his retirement in 1946, during the making of Blue Skies. He retired but still founded the Fred Astaire Dance Studios in 1947.
Back to the Big Screen: In 1948, Fred replaced Gene Kelly, who broke his ankle, and starred alongside actress and singer Judy Garland in Easter Parade. Ironically, he replaced Garland in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), reuniting with Ginger Rogers. He continued making films, every other one a box office bomb, between MGM and Paramount (but because he had a contract with MGM it was mostly MGM). The Band Wagon (1953) was a big success but it failed to make an opening-day profit so he let go his contract with MGM. Fred was about to start working on Daddy Long Legs (1955) with 20th Century Fox, partnered with actress Leslie Carson but his wife Phyllis suddenly died of lung cancer. He was devastated and wanted to leave the project and pay for the production costs himself but 20th Century Fox convinced him that work would distract him from the tragic event. When it was released in 1955, it only did okay in the box office. Other films he took part didn't do so well and they lost money. Fred eventually decided to take a break from the movies, at least musicals. He announced his retirement from dancing and singing in movies and wanted to be a dramatic actor, landing a part in the nuclear war drama On the Beach (1959), in which his acting and the movie itself were praised, even nominating him for a Golden Globe.
Still Dancing, Just Not in Movies: Fred still danced, just not in movies. At this point, he was almost 60 years old but still made four televised musical specials in 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1968, the first of which, An Evening with Fred Astaire (1958) won nine Emmys, including a controversial decision in awarding him with the Best Single Performance by an Actor. Throughout the rest of the 1950's and 1960's, Fred continued acting as a non-dancer in films and television shows.
Actor: Fred continued to act into the 1970's, landing in roles in the TV series It Takes a Thief (1968-1970), The Towering Inferno (1974), in which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and landing in the role of the narrator of animated TV specials Santa Claus Is Comin' and The Easter Bunny Is Comin' [both] To Town, to name a few roles. He reunited with Bing Crosby to record the album A Couple of Song and Dance Men in 1975. In 1978, Fred, now nearly 80 years old, won an Emmy for his performance in the television film A Family Upside Down. The final time he danced on screen was on an episode of Battlestar Galatica in "The Man with Nine Lives" in 1979 at the age of 80.
Later Life: In 1980, Fred remarried to Robyn Smith and they remain together until his death. His last film was the horror movie Ghost Story (1981) which he starred in. He retired from the spotlight and died on June 22, 1987 from pneumonia at 88 years old. In 1989, he posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
A critically-acclaimed legend, Fred Astaire has been tapping his feet to the beat and moving his body to the rhythm since his childhood up to Broadway up to the silver screen into the television screen and into our hearts. He's inspired artists like Michael Jackson and will continue inspiring people for years to come. He is a true entertainer and forever will be.
Freddy lights it up at the 1970 Academy Awards. In this video, he's 71 years old.
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