A dancer of sophistication and unequalled technical excellence Fred Astaire may have been the greatest that ever lived. His incredible talent and career as a dancer has however tended to obscure his other talents which were no less impressive. Astaire was also a fine singer, good enough to be trusted by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin among others to introduce some of their finest songs. Fred in fact probably introduced more standards from the American popular songbook than any of the big singers. His voice wasn't impressive in its range but his phrasing was perfect, ideal to put a song across effectively. His acting too wasn't flashy but perfectly natural, as
effortless at times as his dancing,Fred had a flair for light comedy.

Born Frederick Austerlitz his father was an Austrian immigrant. Astaire was a name taken by him and his sister Adele
for their vaudeville act in 1905. 

Fred danced with his sister Adele for many years in vaudeville and on Broadway. They starred in the Broadway shows : Lady Be Good (1924), Funny Face (1928) and The Band Wagon (1931) soon attracting the interest of Hollywood.

Adele who had always been considered the most talented of the family passed a screen test with flying colours, the comments on Fred's test have now become legendary : "Can't act, can't sing, balding,can dance a little" or similar.

When Adele retired from showbusiness to marry into the British aristocracy Fred who always hated the way he looked on film had to continue on his own. A driven perfectionist he would subject his dancing partners and himself to countless retakes so one step was just right.



Fred Astaire set the standards for capturing individual dancers on film. Astaire insisted the dancer's full figure from head to toe should be shown. He made his screen debut with Joan Crawford as his partner in Dancing Lady (1933) but when he was paired with Ginger Rogers in RKO's production of Flying Down To Rio (1933) a legend  was born.

Astaire and Rogers became the greatest dance team in movies. To me their greatest work can be found in three films : The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936). In the first Fred wooed Ginger to Cole Porter's Night and Day, in Top Hat the pair glided through Irving Berlin's Cheek To Cheek and in Swing Time, Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields' Never Gonna Dance was given a lavish, lengthy production number and there was also the wonderful Pick Yourself Up.

Fred's solo routines are also great from his signature Top Hat, White Tie and Tails, his tribute to great black dancer Bill Bojangles Robinson : Bojangles of Harlem and later after Ginger such great numbers as Sunday Jumps (Royal Wedding) in which he dances with a hatrack and You're All the World To Me in which he appears to dance upside down from the ceiling (this was achieved by having the room as a revolving box and moving the camera with it).

After Swing Time Fred and Ginger made some more entertaining musicals but the public tired of the formula and their last two RKO movies lost money. Fred was also uncomfortable being part of a team, he only agreed to do the last few movies if he could star in a film without Ginger Rogers as his partner, this was A Damsel In Distress (1937) which had a great score by the Gershwins but Joan Fontaine was a poor substitute for Ginger.

Fred's first partner after Ginger was MGM's queen of tap Eleanor Powell with whom he did a memorable routine to Cole Porter's Begin the Beguine. Favourite later partners included Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942) and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953) and Silk Stockings (1957). Astaire meant to retire in 1946 after Blue Skies but returned to replace an injured Gene Kelly opposite Judy Garland in Easter Parade (1948). The movie was a big success and Astaire and Garland were set to co-star again in The Barkleys of Broadway but Judy was fired from the movie and Fred was reunited with Ginger Rogers,
 though somehow the magic of their RKO movies was missing.

Fred Astaire was still dancing on Television in the 60s in a series of specials with Barrie Chase. His popularity was revived by the That's Entertainment films in the 70s, they revealed that he was one of the brightest stars of the film musical. He never won any Awards for his acting but as pure entertainment Astaire's musicals are hard to beat they will continue to be enjoyed by film fans for generations to come.         
1933    DANCING LADY    performer
1933    FLYING DOWN TO RIO    performer
1934    THE GAY DIVORCEE    performer
1935    ROBERTA    performer, choreography
1935    TOP HAT    performer, co-choreographer
1936    FOLLOW THE FLEET    performer, co-choreographer
1936    SWING TIME    performer
1937    A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS    performer
1937    SHALL WE DANCE    performer
1938    CAREFREE    performer
1939    THE STORY OF VERNON & IRENE CASTLE    performer
1940    BROADWAY MELODY OF 1940    performer
1940    SECOND CHORUS    performer
1941    YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH    performer
1942    HOLIDAY INN    performer
1942    YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER    performer
1943    THE SKY'S THE LIMIT    performer, choreography
1945    YOLANDA AND THE THIEF    performer
1946    BLUE SKIES    performer
1946    ZIEGFELD FOLLIES    performer
1948    EASTER PARADE    performer
1949    THE BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY    performer
1950    LET'S DANCE    performer
1950    THREE LITTLE WORDS    performer
1951    ROYAL WEDDING    performer
1952    THE BELLE OF NEW YORK    performer
1953    THE BAND WAGON    performer
1955    DADDY LONG LEGS    performer, choreography
1957    FUNNY FACE    performer, choreography
1957    SILK STOCKINGS    performer
1959    ON THE BEACH    performer
1961    THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY    performer
1962    THE NOTORIOUS LANDLADY    performer
1968    FINIAN'S RAINBOW    performer
1969    A RUN ON GOLD    performer
1974    THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!    performer
1974    THE TOWERING INFERNO    performer
1976    THE AMAZING DOBERMANS    performer
1976    THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT, PART 2    performer
1977    THE PURPLE TAXI/ UN TAXI MAUVE    performer
1981    GHOST STORY    performer