 |
Fred Astaire
Age: 88 (passed away Jun. 22nd, 1987)
Height: 5' 9"
Birth Place: Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Born: Dec. 31st, 1969
+ Add to My Celebs
|
Fred Astaire's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
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 RKO's 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.
TRIVIA:
- Made a cameo appearance in 'John Lennon (I)' (qv) and 'Yoko Ono (I)' (qv)'s _Imagine (1972)_ (qv) film, escorting Yoko through a doorway; after one successful take, he asked to try again, believing he could do a better job.
- Appears on the sleeve of 'The Beatles' (qv)' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.
- Astaire disguised his very large hands by curling his middle two fingers while dancing.
- Named the #5 greatest actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends by the American Film Institute
- (October 1997) Ranked #73 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
- He was voted the 19th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
- Aside from starring in the film _Funny Face (1957)_ (qv), he also starred in the original 1927 Broadway version of the 'George Gershwin' (qv) & 'Ira Gershwin' (qv) 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' (qv). His character in the film is based on photographer 'Richard Avedon' (qv), 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' (qv) were continually slipping in the muddy and slippery grass.
- 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' (qv).
Fred Astaire Photos | powered by  |
Previous |
Next (1)
Fred Astaire Fans [0]
Page created in 0.1026 seconds
Facebook
Twitter
