Fred Astaire - Biography,Height

Biography for Fred Astaire



Date of Birth
10 May 1899, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Date of Death
22 June 1987, Los Angeles, California, USA (pneumonia)

Birth Name
Frederic Austerlitz Jr.

Height
5 9" (1.75 m)

Mini Biography
The son of an Austrian immigrant, Fred Astaire entered show business at age 5. He was successful both in vaudeville and on Broadway in partnership with his sister, Adele Astaire. After Adele retired to marry in 1932, Astaire headed to Hollywood. Signed to RKO, he was loaned to MGM to appear in Dancing Lady (1933) before starting work on RKOs Flying Down to Rio (1933). In the latter film, he began his highly successful partnership with Ginger Rogers, with whom he danced in 9 RKO pictures. During these years, he was also active in recording and radio. On film, Astaire later appeared opposite a number of partners through various studios. After a temporary retirement in 1945-7, during which he opened Fred Astaire Dance Studios, Astaire returned to film to star in more musicals through 1957. He subsequently performed a number of straight dramatic roles in film and TV. Mini Biography By:
Diana Hamilton

Spouse
Robyn Smith (27 June 1980 - 22 June 1987) (his death) Phyllis Livingston Potter (12 July 1933 - 13 September 1954) (her death) 2 children
Trade Mark
Top Hat and Tails.His dancing
Trivia
Ranked #73 in Empire (UK) magazines "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]Interred at Oakwood Memorial Park, Chatsworth, California, USA, the same cemetery where long-time dancing partner, Ginger Rogers, is located.Children: son Fred Jr. (born 1936), daughter Ava (born 1942).The evaluation of Astaires first screen test: "Cant act. Cant sing. Balding. Can dance a little."Astaire disguised his very large hands by curling his middle two fingers while dancing.First met lifelong best friend Irving Berlin on the set of Top Hat (1935).After Blue Skies (1946), New Yorks Paramount Theater generated a petition of 10,000 names to persuade him to come out of retirement.Born at 9:16pm-CSTThe only time he and Gene Kelly ever danced together on screen (other than the compilation 1974 movie, _Thats Entertainment (1974)_) was in one routine, titled "The Babbitt and the Bromide" in the 1946 movie Ziegfeld Follies (1946).Appears on the sleeve of The Beatles "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.One of the first Kennedy Center Honorees in 1978.Don McLeans song "Wonderful Baby" was written with Astaire in mind; Astaire reportedly loved the song, and recorded it for an album.Made a cameo appearance in John Lennon and Yoko Onos Imagine (1972) film, escorting Yoko through a doorway; after one successful take, he asked to try again, believing he could do a better job.In the year 2000 the following album was released as a tribute to him: "Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire". All songs were performed by Stacey Kent.He was voted the 19th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.His legs were insured for one million dollars.Famously wore a necktie around his waist instead of a belt, an affectation he picked up from his friendship with actor Douglas Fairbanks but often mistakenly attributed to Astaire alone.He was voted the 23rd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine.Named the #5 greatest actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends by the American Film InstituteBorn only 18 months after his sister Adele Astaire.Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonnas song "Vogue"He and Ginger Rogers acted in 10 movies together: The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), Carefree (1938), Flying Down to Rio (1933), Follow the Fleet (1936), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Shall We Dance (1937), The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Swing Time (1936) and Top Hat (1935)Although he spend most of his childhood touring on the vaudeville circuit, he would occasionally settle down with his family and their neighbors and friends, who were almost all families of Austrian immigrants.Aside from starring in the film Funny Face (1957), he also starred in the original 1927 Broadway version of the George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin musical "Funny Face". Although he was the male lead in the show, he did not play the same character he does in the film, and the storyline of the original stage musical was entirely different from the one in the film. Both play and film used many of the same songs. The studio may have felt that the original plot of "Funny Face" could not be properly adapted into a movie as it was an "ensemble" musical with people dropping out and parts changing all the time. Apparently the studio bought the rights to the title just so they could use the song. The plot of this movie is actually that of the unsuccessful Broadway musical "Wedding Bells" by Leonard Gershe. His character in the film is based on photographer Richard Avedon, who in fact, set up most of the photography shown in the film. The soggy Paris weather played havoc with the shooting of the wedding dress dance scene. Both Astaire and Audrey Hepburn were continually slipping in the muddy and slippery grass.While all music and songs were known to be dubbed (recorded before filming), his tap dancing was dubbed also. He "over-dubbed" his taps - recording them live as he danced to the previously recorded taps.Wore his trademark top hat and tails in his very first movie appearance, Dancing Lady (1933).Good friend of actress Carol Lynley.His father was Austrian and his mother was of German ancestry.Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 36-38. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1999.Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2002 (inaugural class).For Daddy Long Legs (1955), Leslie Caron told Fred that she wanted to create her own costumes for the film. Fred Astaire told her: "OK, but no feathers, please", recalling the troubles he had with one of Ginger Rogers elaborate ostrich feathered gowns in a dance from Top Hat (1935). A feather broke loose from Ginger Rogers dress and stubbornly floated in mid air around Astaires face. The episode was recreated to hilarious effect in a scene from Easter Parade (1948) in which Fred Astaire danced with a clumsy, comical dancer portrayed by Judy Garland.

Personal Quotes
I have never had anything that I can remember in the business - and that includes all the movies and the stage shows and everything - that I didnt enjoy. I didnt like some of the small-time vaudeville, because we werent going on and getting better. Aside from that, I didnt dislike anything.[on modern movies] They tend to overdo the vulgarity. Im not embarrassed by the language itself, but its embarrassing to be listening to it, sitting next to perfect strangers.Of course, [Ginger Rogers] was able to accomplish sex through dance. We told more through our movements instead of the big clinch. We did it all in the dance.I had some ballet training but didnt like it. It was like a game to me.People think I was born in top hat and tails.The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.Its nice that all the composers have said that nobody interprets a lyric like Fred Astaire. But when it comes to selling records I was never worth anything particularly except as a collectors item.[on his screen partnership with Ginger Rogers] Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually, she made things very fine for the both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success.I suppose I made it look easy, but gee whiz, did I work and worry.Dancing is a sweat job.[to Jack Lemmon] Youre at a level where you can only afford one mistake. The higher up you go, the more mistakes youre allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, its considered to be your style.I dont want to be the oldest performer in captivity . . . I dont want to look like a little old man dancing out there.I have no desire to prove anything by it [dancing]. I never used it as an outlet or as a means of expressing myself. I just dance.[on John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977)] Hes not a dancer. What he did in those dance scenes was very attractive but he is basically not a dancer. I was dancing like that years ago, you know. Disco is just jitterbug.[on Ginger Rogers] She may have faked a little, but we knew we had a good thing going.[on tap dancer Eleanor Powell] Eleanor was an out-and-out dancer. She danced like a man. She slammed the floor and did it great and thats fine and suddenly shes on her toes in the ballet sequence -- it did look kinda funny.[on Rita Hayworth] A great dancer but a different style to me.[on Judy Garland] She was just simply wonderful. She danced beautifully, learned beautifully. She was very adept at whatever she did. Really in fine form. We were all set to do another picture together, but she got sick and that was the end of that.[on actress/dancer Leslie Caron] A ballet dancer really, but technically good. I called her the sergeant major.[on Gene Kelly] You know, that Kelly, hes just terrific. Thats all there is to it. He dances like crazy, he directs like crazy. I adore this guy. I really am crazy about his work.(Of dancing partner Cyd Charisse) When you dance with her you stay danced.
Where Are They Now
(1959) Release of his memoir, "Steps in Time".