Fred Astaire

(October 1997) Ranked #73 in Empire magazines "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

Following his death, he was interred at Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth, California, where longtime dancing partner, Ginger Rogers , is located.

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 , New Yorks 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, Thats Entertainment, Part II ) was in one routine, titled "The Babbitt and the Bromide" in the 1946 movie Ziegfeld Follies .

Appears on the cover of The Beatles "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.

He was 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 film Imagine , escorting Yoko through a doorway; after one successful take, he asked to try again, believing he could do a better job.

In 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 appeared in 10 movies together: Flying Down to Rio , The Gay Divorcee , Roberta (1935) , Top Hat (1935) , Follow the Fleet , Swing Time , Shall We Dance , Carefree , The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle and The Barkleys of Broadway .

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 , he also starred in the original 1927 Broadway version of the George Gershwin and 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 .

Good friends with actress Carol Lynley.

Freds father was born in Austria. Freds paternal grandparents, Salomon Stefan Austerlitz and Lucie Hellerov, were Czech Jews who had converted to Catholicism. Freds mother was born in Nebraska, to David Geilus and Wilhelmine Klaatke, Lutheran immigrants from Germany.

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 , Leslie Caron told Fred that she wanted to create her own costumes for the film. Fred Astaire told her: "Okay, 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 in which Fred Astaire danced with a clumsy, comical dancer portrayed by Judy Garland.

Tony Martin , the husband of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer star/dancer Cyd Charisse , said he could tell who she had been dancing with that day on the 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) .

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, named for his daughter, Ava Astaire-McKenzie.

Joining ASCAP in 1942, he collaborated with Johnny Mercer and Gladys Shelly. His popular song compositions include "Im 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", "Ill Never Let You Go", "Oh, My Achin Back" and "Sweet Sorrow".

He 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.

Universal Pictures offered Astaire the chance to direct the musical comedy Up in Central Park , but he declined. William A. Seiter directed instead.

(December 2013) He was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6756 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Became a father for the first time at age 36 when his first wife Phyllis Potter gave birth to their son Fred Astaire Jr. on January 21, 1936.

Became a father for the second time at age 42 when his first wife Phyllis Potter gave birth to their daughter Ava Astaire-McKenzie on March 28, 1942.

Died 18 years to the day after his Easter Parade co-star, Judy Garland. Garland on June 22, 1969 and Astaire on June 22, 1987.

First wife Phyllis Potter (ne Phyllis Livingston Baker) passed away from lung cancer at age 46 while Astaire was filming Daddy Long Legs .

He was stepfather to Eliphalet IV (known as Peter), the son of his first wife, Phyllis, and her first husband, Eliphalet Nott Potter III.

He wrote in his autobiography, Steps in Time, that he met Ginger Rogers in New York, before they went to Hollywood. They were both stage performers then, he was partnered with his sister, Adele. He wrote that he and Rogers went to a nightclub in New York where they danced together. He met her mother, Lela Rogers, and he, Lela, and Ginger would "chat about theater business".

He first saw Robyn Smith, who would become his second wife, when she was a jockey in a horserace.

He wrote in his autobiography, Steps in Time, that he met Ginger Rogers in New York, possibly in 1930, before they went to to Hollywood. They were both stage performers then, he was partnered with his sister, Adele. He wrote that he and Rogers went to a nightclub in New York where they danced together. He met her mother, Lela Rogers, and he, Lela, and Ginger would "chat about theater business".

He had high praise for Michael Jackson and his dancing skills, describing him as his descendant.

People think I was born in top hat and tails.

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing,any.

I suppose I made it look easy, but gee whiz, did I work and worry.

Dancing is a sweat job.

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.

I adore this guy. I really am crazy about his work.

Excuse me, I must say Ginger was certainly the one. You know, the most,effective partner I had. Everyone knows. That was a whole other thing,that we did. . . I just want to pay a tribute to Ginger because we did so,many pictures together and believe me it was a value to have that,girl. . . she had it. She was just great!,Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her.

Actually she made everything work very fine for both of us and she,deserves most of the credit for our success.

Old age is like everything else to make a success of it you got to start young.

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.

I am not sending messages with my feet. All I ever wanted was not to come up empty. I did it for the dough and the old applause.

I am not sending messages with my feet. All I ever wanted was not to come up empty. I did it for the dough and the old applause.

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any. .