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  • FRED ASTAIRE



    Information from IMDb


    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)


    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) magazine's "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.


    Had a son, Fred Astaire Jr. (born on Tuesday, January 21st, 1936) and a daughter, Ava Astaire-McKenzie (born on Saturday, March 28th, 1942) with his first wife, Phyllis Livingston Potter. Fred Astaire Junior was born 2,258 days (322 weeks and 4 days), before Ava Astaire-McKenzie.


    The evaluation of Astaire's first screen test: "Can't act. Can't 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 York's Paramount Theater generated a petition of 10,000 names to persuade him to come out of retirement.


    Born at 9:16pm-CST


    The only time he and Gene Kelly ever danced together on screen (other than the linking-segments in the 1976 compilation movie, That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)) was in one routine, titled "The Babbitt and the Bromide" in the 1946 movie Ziegfeld Follies (1945).


    Appears on the sleeve of The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.


    One of the first Kennedy Center Honorees in 1978.


    Don McLean's 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 Ono's 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 Institute


    Born only 18 months after his sister Adele Astaire.


    Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's 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 Divorce (1934), Roberta (1935), Shall We Dance (1937), The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Swing Time (1936) and Top Hat (1935)


    Although he spent 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 Scribner's 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 Astaire's 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.


    Tony Martin the husband of MGM star/dancer Cyd Charisse said he could tell who she had been dancing with that day on an MGM set. If she came home covered with bruises on her, it was the very physically-demanding Gene Kelly, if not it was the smooth and agile Fred Astaire.


    Owned Blue Valley Ranch, a Thoroughbred horse breeding farm in the San Fernando Valley. He maintained a racing stable of four or five horses which competed at racetracks in California. His most famous racehorse was Triplicate, winner of the 1946 Hollywood Gold Cup.


    Profiled in "American Classic Screen Interviews" (Scarecrow Press). [2010]


    When Ginger Rogers received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1992, Robyn Smith, widow of Fred Astaire, withheld all rights to clips of Rogers' scenes with Astaire, demanding payment. The Kennedy Center refused and Rogers received her honor without the retrospective show.


    Founder of Ava Records. Joining ASCAP in 1942, he collaborated with Johnny Mercer and Gladys Shelly. His popular song compositions include "I'm Building Up to an Awful Let-Down"; "Blue Without You"; "If Swing Goes, I Go Too"; "Just Like Taking Candy from a Baby"; "Just One More Dance, Madame"; "I'll Never Let You Go"; "Oh, My Achin' Back"; and "Sweet Sorrow".


    Founder of Ava Records, named for his daughter, Ava Astaire-McKenzie.


    Joining ASCAP in 1942, he collaborated with Johnny Mercer and Gladys Shelly. His popular song compositions include "I'm Building Up to an Awful Let-Down"; "Blue Without You"; "If Swing Goes, I Go Too"; "Just Like Taking Candy from a Baby"; "Just One More Dance, Madame"; "I'll Never Let You Go"; "Oh, My Achin' Back"; and "Sweet Sorrow".


    Was the very first name entered on IMDB (nm0000001).


    Politically, Astaire was a conservative and a lifelong Republican Party supporter, though he never made his political views publicly known. Along with Bing Crosby, George Murphy, Ginger Rogers, and others, he was a charter (founding) member of the Hollywood Republican Committee.


    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 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.
    IMDb Mini Biography By: Diana Hamilton


    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 didn't enjoy. I didn't like some of the small-time vaudeville, because we weren't going on and getting better. Aside from that, I didn't dislike anything.


    [on modern movies] They tend to overdo the vulgarity. I'm not embarrassed by the language itself, but it's 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 didn't 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.


    It's 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 collector's 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] You're at a level where you can only afford one mistake. The higher up you go, the more mistakes you're allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it's considered to be your style.


    I don't want to be the oldest performer in captivity . . . I don't 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)] He's 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 that's fine and suddenly she's 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, he's just terrific. That's 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.


    I'm just a hoofer with a spare set of tails.


    Filmography


    Actor
    1981 Ghost Story...Ricky Hawthorne
    1979 The Man in the Santa Claus Suit (TV movie)...Costume Shop Proprietor / Chauffeur / Policeman /
    1979 Battlestar Galactica (TV series)
    Captain Dimitri / Chameleon
    – The Man with Nine Lives (1979) … Chameleon / Captain Dimitri
    1978 A Family Upside Down (TV movie)...Ted Long
    1977 A Purple Taxi...Dr. Seamus Scully
    1977 The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town (TV movie)...S.D. Kluger (narrator) (voice)
    1976 The Amazing Dobermans...Daniel Hughes
    1974 The Towering Inferno...Harlee Claiborne
    1970 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (TV movie)...S.D. Kluger - Narrator (voice)
    1970 The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again (TV movie)...The Baltimore Kid
    1969-1970 It Takes a Thief (TV series)
    Alistair Mundy / The Panther
    – Beyond a Treasonable Doubt (1970) … Alistair Mundy (voice) (uncredited)
    – An Evening with Alistair Mundy (1970) … Alistair Mundy
    – The Second Time Around (1969) … Alistair Mundy
    – The Three Virgins of Rome (1969) … Alistair Mundy / The Panther
    – The Great Casino Caper (1969) … Alistair Mundy
    1969 A Run on Gold...John Pedley
    1968 Finian's Rainbow...Finian McLonergan
    1965 Dr. Kildare (TV series)
    – Going Home (1965) … Joe Quinlen
    – The Tent Dwellers (1965) … Joe Quinlen
    – A Gift of Love (1965) … Joe Quinlen
    – Fathers and Daughters (1965) … Joe Quinlen
    1964 Theatre of Stars (TV series)– Think Pretty (1964) … Fred Addams
    1962 Alcoa Premiere (TV series)
    Andrew E. Whitbeck / Ivor St. George / Mr. Lucifer / …
    – Blues for a Hanging (1962) … Ted Miller
    – Mr. Lucifer (1962) … Mr. Lucifer
    – Guest in the House (1962) … Ivor St. George
    – Mr. Easy (1962) … Andrew E. Whitbeck
    1962 The Notorious Landlady...Franklyn Ambruster
    1961 The Pleasure of His Company...Biddeford 'Pogo' Poole
    1959 On the Beach...Julian Osborne
    1957-1959 General Electric Theater (TV series)
    J. Willingham Bardley / Paul Ashcroft
    – Man on a Bicycle (1959) … Paul Ashcroft
    – Imp on a Cobweb Leash (1957) … J. Willingham Bardley
    1957 Silk Stockings...Steve Canfield
    1957 Funny Face...Dick Avery
    1955 Daddy Long Legs...Jervis Pendleton III
    1953 The Band Wagon...Tony Hunter
    1952 The Belle of New York...Charlie Hill
    1951 Wedding Bells...Tom Bowen
    1950 Let's Dance...Donald Elwood
    1950 Three Little Words...Bert Kalmar
    1949 The Barkleys of Broadway...Josh Barkley
    1948 Easter Parade...Don Hewes
    1946 Blue Skies...Jed Potter
    1945 Yolanda and the Thief...Johnny Parkson Riggs
    1945 Ziegfeld Follies
    Fred Astaire ('Here's to the Ladies')/Raffles ('This Heart of Mine')/Tai Long ('Limehouse Blues')/Gentleman ('The Babbit and the Bromide')
    1943 The Sky's the Limit...Fred Atwell (Fred Burton)
    1942 You Were Never Lovelier...Robert Davis
    1942 Holiday Inn...Ted Hanover
    1941 You'll Never Get Rich...Robert Curtis
    1940 Second Chorus...Danny O'Neill
    1940 Broadway Melody of 1940...Johnny Brett
    1939 The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle...Vernon Castle
    1938 Carefree...Tony Flagg
    1937 A Damsel in Distress...Jerry Halliday
    1937 Shall We Dance...Petrov
    1936 Swing Time...Lucky Garnett
    1936 Follow the Fleet...Bake Baker
    1935 Top Hat...Jerry Travers
    1935 Roberta...Huck
    1934 The Gay Divorce...Guy Holden
    1933 Flying Down to Rio...Fred Ayres


    Soundtrack
    2010 Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood (TV mini-series documentary)
    – Brother, Can You Spare a Dream?: 1929-1941 (2010) (performer: "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" - uncredited, "Pick Yourself Up" - uncredited)


    2010 Step Up 3D (performer: "I Won't Dance")


    2010 Doctors (TV series)
    – Mother's Help (2010) (performer: "Puttin' on the Ritz" - uncredited)


    2009 Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me (TV documentary) (music: "I'm Building Up to an Awful Let-Down" / performer: "One for My Baby and One More for the Road", "That's Entertainment", "Dearly Beloved", "Something's Gotta Give")


    2009 Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing (video documentary) (performer: "Dig It" - uncredited, "Poor Mr. Chisholm" - uncredited)


    2009 Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression (video documentary) (performer: "Carioca" - uncredited, "Poor Mr. Chisholm" - uncredited, "Night and Day" - uncredited, "I Won't Dance" - uncredited)


    2008 Banda sonora (TV series)
    – Episode #3.12 (2008) (performer: "Cheek to Cheek")


    2008 A Trip to Swadades (performer: "This Heart of Mine")


    2008 Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical Treasure (TV documentary) (performer: "Carioca" - uncredited, "Waltz in Swing Time" - uncredited, "You're All the World to Me" - uncredited)


    2007 Secret Diary of a Call Girl (TV series)
    – Episode #1.7 (2007) (performer: "Cheek to Cheek")


    1999-2007 American Masters (TV series documentary)
    – Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends (2007) (performer: "They Can't Take That Away from Me", "Steppin' Out with My Baby")
    – Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley (1999) (performer: "The Way You Look Tonight" - uncredited, "Pick Yourself Up" - uncredited)


    2007 To Each His Own Cinema (performer: "Cheek to Cheek")


    2007 ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway (documentary) (performer: "Puttin' on the Ritz")


    2006 Gilmore Girls (TV series)
    – 'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous (2006) (performer: "'S Wonderful" - uncredited)


    2003 Angels in America (TV mini-series)
    – Part 1 Millennium Approaches (2003) (performer: "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails")


    2003 The Dreamers (performer: "No Strings I'm Fancy Free" 1935)


    2003 The Human Stain (performer: "Cheek to Cheek" 1936)


    2003 Chocolate com Pimenta (TV series)


    2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence (performer: "Cheek To Cheek")


    2000 Billy Elliot (performer: "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails")


    2000 The Next Best Thing (performer: "Steppin' Out With My Baby")


    1999 The Green Mile (performer: "Cheek to Cheek")


    1998 The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (documentary) (performer: "Night and Day")


    1997 Déjà Vu (performer: "Dearly Beloved")


    1996 The English Patient (performer: "Cheek to Cheek" 1935)


    1994 That's Entertainment! III (documentary) (performer: "Here's to the Girls" 1945 - uncredited, "It Only Happens When I Dance with You" 1947 - uncredited, "Heigh-Ho, the Gang's All Here" 1933 - uncredited, "Jukebox Dance" 1940 - uncredited, "Coffee Time" 1945 - uncredited, "Drum Crazy" 1948 - uncredited, "The Girl Hunt" 1952 - uncredited, "Swing Trot" 1948 - uncredited, "I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man" 1951 - uncredited, "Stereophonic Sound" 1955 - uncredited)


    1993 Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (performer: "TOP HAT, WHITE TIE AND TAILS")


    1991 Great Performances (TV series)
    – The Fred Astaire Songbook (1991) (music: "I'm Building Up to an Awful Letdown" / performer: "They Can't Take That Away from Me", "Flying Down to Rio", "Night and Day", "Isn't It a Lovely Day", "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails", "This Is A Fine Romance", "Lovely to Look At", "Slap That Bass", "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", "The Babbitt and the Bromide", "A Foggy Day", "He Loves and She Loves", "Steppin' Out with My Baby", "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket", "Cheek to Cheek", "Let's Face the Music and Dance", "A Couple of Swells", "I've Got My Eyes on You", "Drum Crazy", "I'm Building Up to an Awful Letdown", "I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man", "One for My Baby", "A Shine on Your Shoes", "By Myself", "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan", "I Love Louisa", "The Half of It, Dearie, Blues", "Oh, Lady Be Good", "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life", "You're All the World to Me", "'s Wonderful")


    1989 Loverboy (performer: "They Can't Take That Away From Me")


    1988 Rain Man (performer: "Bouncin' the Blues" 1948 - uncredited, "They Can't Take That Away from Me" 1937 - uncredited, "Shoes with Wings On" 1948 - uncredited)


    1985 The Purple Rose of Cairo ("Cheek to Cheek" 1935)


    1985 That's Dancing! (documentary) (performer: "I Won't Dance", "Night and Day", "Pick Yourself Up", "I Left My Hat in Haiti", "Thinking of You", "A Shine on Your Shoes")


    1984 Blame It on Rio (performer: "Flying Down To Rio")


    1981 Pennies from Heaven (performer: "Let's Face the Music and Dance" 1936)


    1981 The American Film Institute Salute to Fred Astaire (TV documentary) (performer: "Putting All my Eggs in One Basket", "All Aboard for Alabam", "Begin the Beguine", "S'Wonderful", "Something's Gotta Give", "Chang Partners and Dance", "Cheek to Cheek", "Hold That Tiger", "Puttin' on the Ritz", "Top Hat" / "A Foggy Day", "A Fine Romance")


    1979 The Man in the Santa Claus Suit (TV movie) (performer: "Once a Year Night")


    1979 Better Late Than Never (TV movie) (performer: "You're Never Too Young")


    1977 The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town (TV movie) (performer: "The Easter Bunny Is Comin' To Town Today", "All You Have To Do Is Think 'Can Do'")


    1976 Dinah! (TV series)
    – Episode dated 16 July 1976 (1976) (writer: "Life is Beautiful" - uncredited, "City of the Angels" - uncredited / performer: "Life is Beautiful" - uncredited, "City of the Angels" - uncredited)


    1976 That's Entertainment, Part II (documentary) (performer: "That's Entertainment" 1953 - uncredited, "I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man" 1951 - uncredited, "Be a Clown" 1948 - uncredited, "All of You" 1955 - uncredited, "Easter Parade" 1933 - uncredited, "Three Little Words" 1930 - uncredited, "Shubert Alley" 1976 - uncredited, "Triplets" 1937 - uncredited, "Steppin' Out with My Baby" 1948 - uncredited, "Cartoon Sequence" 1976 - uncredited, "A Couple of Swells" 1948 - uncredited, "Bouncin' the Blues" 1948 - uncredited, "Finale" 1976 - uncredited)


    1975-1976 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (TV series)
    – Episode dated 4 May 1976 (1976) (writer: "Life is Beautiful" - uncredited, "City of the Angels" - uncredited / performer: "Life is Beautiful" - uncredited, "City of the Angels" - uncredited)
    – Episode dated 27 October 1975 (1975) (writer: "Life is Beautiful" - uncredited)


    1974 That's Entertainment! (documentary) (performer: "Begin the Beguine" 1935 - uncredited, "The Babbitt and the Bromide" 1927 - uncredited, "They Can't Take That Away from Me" 1937 - uncredited, "Heigh-Ho, the Gang's All Here" 1933 - uncredited, "Let's Go Bavarian" 1933 - uncredited, "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" 1929 - uncredited, "Sunday Jumps" 1951 - uncredited, "Shoes with Wings On" 1948 - uncredited, "You're All the World to Me" 1950 - uncredited, "Dancing in the Dark" 1931 - uncredited, "By Myself" 1937 - uncredited)


    1971 A Safe Place (performer: "I'm Old-Fashioned")


    1970 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (TV movie) (performer: "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town", "What Better Way to Tell You")


    1968 Finian's Rainbow (performer: "Look To The Rainbow" 1946 - uncredited, "If This Isn't Love" 1946 - uncredited, "When The Idle Poor Become The Idle Rich" 1946 - uncredited)


    1964 Theatre of Stars (TV series)
    – Think Pretty (1964) (performer: "Think Pretty")


    1964 Paris When It Sizzles (performer: "That Face")


    1963 Hollywood and the Stars (TV series)
    – The Fabulous Musicals (1963) (performer: "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" - uncredited, "Carioca" - uncredited)


    1961 The Pleasure of His Company (performer: "Lover" - uncredited)


    1958 An Evening with Fred Astaire (TV movie) ("Isn't This A Lovely Day To be Caught in the Rain")


    1957 Silk Stockings (performer: "Too Bad We Can't Go Back to Moscow" - uncredited, "Paris Loves Lovers" - uncredited, "Stereophonic Sound" - uncredited, "All of You" - uncredited, "Fated to Be Mated" - uncredited, "The Ritz Roll and Rock" - uncredited)


    1957 Funny Face (performer: "Funny Face", "Bonjour, Paris!", "Let's Kiss and Make Up", "He Loves and She Loves", "Clap Yo' Hands", "'S Wonderful", "Overture: Funny Face/'S Wonderful/Think Pink!")


    1956 MGM Parade (TV series)
    – Episode #1.19 (1956) (performer: "The Babbitt and the Bromide")


    1955 Daddy Long Legs (performer: "Something's Gotta Give", "Dream", "Sluefoot", "Texas Millionaire", "International Playboy", "Guardian Angel", "Nightmare Ballet Paris, Hong Kong, Rio" / "History of the Beat")


    1953 The Band Wagon (performer: "By Myself" 1937 - uncredited, "A Shine on Your Shoes" 1932 - uncredited, "That's Entertainment" 1953 - uncredited, "Dancing in the Dark" 1931 - uncredited, "You and the Night and the Music" 1934 - uncredited, "I Love Louisa" 1931 - uncredited, "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" 1929 - uncredited, "Triplets" 1937 - uncredited, "The Girl Hunt" 1953 - uncredited / "That's Entertainment" 1953 - uncredited)


    1952 The Belle of New York (performer: "Who Wants to Kiss the Bridegroom?" - uncredited, "Seeing's Believing" - uncredited, "Baby Doll" - uncredited, "Oops" - uncredited, "A Bride's Wedding Day Song Currier and Ives" - uncredited, "I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man" - uncredited)


    1951 Wedding Bells (performer: "EV'RY NIGHT AT SEVEN", "SUNDAY JUMPS", "OPEN YOUR EYES", "YOU'RE ALL THE WORLD TO ME", "I LEFT MY HAT IN HAITI", "HOW COULD YOU BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAID I LOVED YOU WHEN YOU KNOW I'VE BEEN A LIAR ALL MY LIFE")


    1950 Let's Dance (music: "Piano Dance" - uncredited / performer: "Can't Stop Talking About Him" - uncredited, "Piano Dance" - uncredited, "Jack and the Beanstalk" - uncredited, "Oh Them Dudes" - uncredited, "The Hyacinth" - uncredited, "Tunnel of Love" - uncredited)


    1950 Three Little Words (performer: "Where Did You Get That Girl?", "Mr. and Mrs. Hoofer at Home" - uncredited, "My Sunny Tennessee", "So Long! Oo-Long How Long You Gonna Be Gone?", "Test Dance" - uncredited, "Nevertheless", "Thinking of You", "Three Little Words")


    1949 The Barkleys of Broadway (performer: "They Can't Take That Away from Me" 1937, "Swing Trot" 1949 - uncredited, "You'd Be Hard to Replace" 1949 - uncredited, "Bouncin' the Blues" 1949 - uncredited, "My One and Only Highland Fling" 1949 - uncredited, "Week-End in the Country" 1949 - uncredited, "Shoes with Wings On" 1949 - uncredited, "Manhattan Downbeat" 1949 - uncredited)


    1948 Easter Parade (performer: "Happy Easter" - uncredited, "Drum Crazy" - uncredited, "It Only Happens When I Dance with You" - uncredited, "Beautiful Faces Need Beautiful Clothes" - uncredited, "I Love a Piano" - uncredited, "Snooky Ookums" - uncredited, "Ragtime Violin" - uncredited, "When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam'" - uncredited, "Steppin' Out with My Baby" - uncredited, "A Couple of Swells" - uncredited, "Easter Parade" - uncredited)


    1946 Blue Skies (music: "Heat Wave" / performer: "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody", "Puttin' on the Ritz", "A Couple of Song and Dance Men", "Heat Wave")


    1945 Yolanda and the Thief (performer: "Coffee Time" - uncredited, "Yolanda" - uncredited)


    1945 Ziegfeld Follies (performer: "Here's to the Girls", "This Heart of Mine", "Limehouse Blues", "The Babbitt and the Bromide")


    1943 The Sky's the Limit (performer: "My Shining Hour" - uncredited, "A Lot in Common with You" - uncredited, "Cuban Sugar Mill" - uncredited, "One for My Baby and One More for the Road" - uncredited)


    1942 You Were Never Lovelier (performer: "You Were Never Lovelier" 1942 - uncredited, "Dearly Beloved" 1942 - uncredited, "Audition Dance" - uncredited, "Los Hijos de Buda" - uncredited, "Bim Bam Bum" - uncredited, "Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 in C Sharp Minor" 1847 - uncredited, "Eco" - uncredited, "I'm Old Fashioned" 1942 - uncredited, "The Shorty George" 1942 - uncredited)


    1942 Holiday Inn (performer: "I'll Capture Your Heart Singing" 1942, "You're Easy to Dance With" 1942, "Be Careful, It's My Heart" 1942, "I Can't Tell a Lie" 1942, "Let's Say It with Firecrackers" 1942)


    1941 You'll Never Get Rich (performer: "Boogie Barcarolle" 1941, "Shootin' the Works for Uncle Sam" 1941, "Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye" 1941, "March Milastaire A-Stairable Rag" 1941, "So Near and Yet So Far" 1941, "The Wedding Cake Walk" 1941)


    1940 Second Chorus (performer: "Sugar" - uncredited, "Sweet Sue Just You" - uncredited, "Would You Like to Be the Love of My Life", "I'm Yours" - uncredited, "The New Moon Is Shining" - uncredited, "Would You Like to Be the Love of My Life" reprise, "Poor Mr. Chisholm", "Poor Mr. Chisholm" reprise, "Dig It")


    1940 Broadway Melody of 1940 (performer: "Please Don't Monkey with Broadway" 1939 - uncredited, "I've Got My Eye on You" 1939 - uncredited, "Jukebox Dance" 1939 - uncredited, "I Concentrate on You" 1939 - uncredited, "Begin the Beguine" 1935 - uncredited)


    1939 The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (performer: "Only When You're in My Arms" 1939, "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" - uncredited, "King Chanticleer" - uncredited, "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" - uncredited, "The Syncopated Walk" - uncredited, "Too Much Mustard Tres Moutarde" - uncredited, "Rose Room" - uncredited, "Tres Jolie" - uncredited, "Little Brown Jug" - uncredited, "Dengozo" - uncredited, "You're Here and I'm Here" - uncredited, "Chicago" - uncredited, "Hello, Frisco, Hello" - uncredited, "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans" - uncredited, "Take Me Back to New York Town" - uncredited, "Hello! Hello! Who's Your Lady Friend" - uncredited, "La Marseillaise" - uncredited / "Cecile Waltz" - uncredited, "Nights of Gladness" - uncredited, "Missouri Waltz" - uncredited)


    1938 Carefree (performer: "Since They Turned Loch Lomand into Swing" 1938 - uncredited, "Carefree" 1938 - uncredited, "I Used To Be Color Blind" 1938 - uncredited, "The Yam" 1938 - uncredited, "Change Partners" 1938 - uncredited, "Jingle Bells" 1857 - uncredited)


    1937 Shall We Dance (performer: "Slap That Bass" 1937 - uncredited, "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" 1937 - uncredited, "They Can't Take That Away from Me" 1937 - uncredited, "Shall We Dance" 1937 - uncredited, "They All Laughed" 1937 - uncredited, "Beginner's Luck" 1937 - uncredited)


    1937 A Damsel in Distress (performer: "I Can't Be Bothered Now" 1937 - uncredited, "The Jolly Tar and the Milkmaid" 1937 - uncredited, "Put Me to the Test" I've Just Begun to Live / 1937 - uncredited, "Stiff Upper Lip" 1937 - uncredited, "Things Are Looking Up" 1937 - uncredited, "A Foggy Day" 1937 - uncredited, "Nice Work If You Can Get It" 1937 - uncredited)


    1936 Swing Time (performer: "Pick Yourself Up" 1936 - uncredited, "The Way You Look Tonight" 1936 - uncredited, "Waltz in Swing Time" 1936 - uncredited, "A Fine Romance" 1936 - uncredited, "Bojangles of Harlem" 1936 - uncredited, "Never Gonna Dance" 1936 - uncredited / "The Way You Look Tonight" 1936 - uncredited, "A Fine Romance" 1936 - uncredited)


    1936 Follow the Fleet (performer: "We Saw the Sea" 1936 - uncredited, "Let Yourself Go" 1936 - uncredited, "I'd Rather Lead a Band" 1936 - uncredited, "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" 1936 - uncredited, "Let's Face the Music and Dance" 1932 - uncredited)


    1935 Top Hat (performer: "No Strings I'm Fancy Free" 1935 - uncredited, "Isn't This a Lovely Day to Be Caught in the Rain?" 1935 - uncredited, "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" 1935 - uncredited, "Cheek to Cheek" 1935 - uncredited, "The Piccolino" 1935 - uncredited)


    1935 Roberta (performer: "Let's Begin" 1933 - uncredited, "I'll Be Hard to Handle" 1933 - uncredited, "I Won't Dance" 1934 - uncredited, "Lovely to Look At" 1935 - uncredited, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" 1933 - uncredited)


    1934 The Gay Divorce (performer: "Don't Let It Bother You" 1934, "A Needle In a Haystack" 1934, "Night and Day" 1932, "The Continental" 1934, "The Continental" 1934 - uncredited)


    1933 Flying Down to Rio (performer: "Carioca" 1933 - uncredited, "Orchids in the Moonlight" 1933 - uncredited, "Music Makes Me" 1933 - uncredited, "Flying Down to Rio" 1933 - uncredited)


    1933 Dancing Lady (performer: "Heigh-Ho, the Gang's All Here" 1933, "Let's Go Bavarian" 1933)

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz) was an American film and Broadway stage dancer,
    choreographer, singer, musician and actor.
    His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years,
    during which he made 31 musical films.
    He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.
    He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films.


    Gene Kelly, another major innovator in filmed dance,
    said that "the history of dance on film begins with Astaire".


    Beyond film and television, many classical dancers and choreographers,
    Rudolf Nureyev, Sammy Davis, Jr., Michael Jackson, Gregory Hines
    Mikhail Baryshnikov, George Balanchine
    and Jerome Robbins among them,
    also acknowledged his importance and influence.

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • Astaire was a great dancer, but I always liked Kelly better. Maybe because Kelly was more physical in his routines with his more gymnastic prowess. Astaire danced gracefully, Kelly was a physical force. But the two had to be the two best male dancers ever on film.