1899–1916: Early life and career Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz on May 10, 1899, in
Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Johanna "Ann" (; 1878–1975) and Friedrich "Fritz" Emanuel Austerlitz (1868–1923), known in the U.S. as Frederic Austerlitz. Astaire's mother was born in the U.S. to
Lutheran German immigrants from
East Prussia and
Alsace. Astaire's father was born in
Linz in
Upper Austria, then part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, to
Catholic parents who had converted from
Judaism. Astaire's father Fritz Austerlitz arrived in New York City at the age of 25 on October 26, 1893, at
Ellis Island. Fritz was seeking work in the brewing trade and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was employed by the
Storz Brewing Company. Astaire's mother dreamed of escaping Omaha by means of her children's talents. Astaire's older sister
Adele was an instinctive dancer and singer early in her childhood. Johanna planned a brother-and-sister act, common in
vaudeville at the time, for her two children. Although Fred refused dance lessons at first, he imitated his older sister at the Chambers Dance Academy in Omaha, and also studied
piano,
accordion and
clarinet. When their father lost his job, the family moved to New York City in January 1905 to launch the show business careers of the children. They began formal training at the Alvieni Master School of the Theatre and Academy of Cultural Arts. Fred and Adele's mother suggested that they change their name to Astaire, as she felt that Austerlitz was reminiscent of the
Battle of Austerlitz. Family legend attributes the name to an uncle surnamed L'Astaire. The children were taught dance, speaking and singing in preparation for developing an act. Their first act was called
Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty. Astaire wore a top hat and tails in the first half and a lobster outfit in the second. In an interview, Astaire's daughter Ava Astaire McKenzie, observed that he was often given a top hat to make him look taller. In November 1905, the comedic act debuted in
Keyport, New Jersey at a "tryout theater." The local paper wrote that "the Astaires are the greatest child act in vaudeville." As a result of their father's salesmanship, Fred and Adele Astaire landed a major contract and played the
Orpheum Circuit in the Midwest, West and some Southern cities in the U.S. Soon Adele grew to at least three inches taller than Fred, and the pair began to look incongruous. The family decided to take a two-year break from show business to let time take its course and to avoid trouble from the
Gerry Society and the child-labor laws of the time. In 1912, Astaire became an
Episcopalian. The career of the Astaire siblings resumed with mixed fortunes, but with increasing skill and polish, as they began to incorporate
tap dancing into their act. From vaudeville dancer Aurelio Coccia they learned the tango, waltz and other ballroom dances popularized by
Vernon and Irene Castle. Some sources state that the Astaire siblings appeared in a 1915 film titled
Fanchon, the Cricket, starring
Mary Pickford, but the Astaires have consistently denied this. By age 14, Astaire had assumed the musical responsibilities for their act. Astaire had already been hunting for new music and dance ideas. Their chance meeting was to affect the careers of both artists profoundly. Astaire was always on the lookout for new steps on the circuit and was starting to demonstrate his quest for novelty and perfection.
1917–1933: Stage career on Broadway and in London The Astaires broke into Broadway in 1917 with
Over the Top, a patriotic revue, and performed for U.S. and Allied troops at this time as well. They followed up with several more shows. Of their work in
The Passing Show of 1918,
Heywood Broun wrote: "In an evening in which there was an abundance of good dancing, Fred Astaire stood out ... He and his partner, Adele Astaire, made the show pause early in the evening with a beautiful loose-limbed dance." Adele contributed intuitive talent, whereas Fred's perfectionism provided support, as he took care of the planning behind the choreography and the logistics of the shows. He considered his skills were shadowed by his sister's talent, so he focused on boosting her performance. By the late 1920s he would begin to develop a dancing style of his own, gaining a greater psychological independence from his sister. During the 1920s, Fred and Adele appeared on
Broadway and the
London stage. They won popular acclaim with the theater crowd on both sides of the Atlantic in shows such as
Jerome Kern's
The Bunch and Judy (1922), George and
Ira Gershwin's
Lady, Be Good (1924), and
Funny Face (1927) and later in
The Band Wagon (1931). Astaire's tap dancing was recognized by then as among the best. For example,
Robert Benchley wrote in 1930, "I don't think that I will plunge the nation into war by stating that Fred is the greatest tap-dancer in the world." and in 1926, was one of the judges at the '
Charleston Championship of the World ' competition at the
Royal Albert Hall, where
Lew Grade was declared the winner. After the close of
Funny Face, the Astaires went to Hollywood for a screen test at
Paramount Pictures, but the siblings were unhappy with the results and, although they were close to signing a deal to make a movie adaptation of
Funny Face, the project was abandoned. They split in 1932 when Adele married her first husband,
Lord Charles Cavendish, the second son of the
9th Duke of Devonshire. Fred went on to achieve success on his own on Broadway and in London with
Gay Divorce (later made into the film
The Gay Divorcee) while considering offers from Hollywood. The end of the partnership was traumatic for Astaire but stimulated him to expand his range. Free of the brother-sister constraints of the former pairing and working with new partner
Claire Luce, Fred created a romantic partnered dance to
Cole Porter's "
Night and Day", which had been written for
Gay Divorce. Luce stated that she had to encourage him to take a more romantic approach: "Come on, Fred, I'm not your sister, you know." In any case, the test was clearly disappointing, and
David O. Selznick, who had signed Astaire to RKO and commissioned the test, stated in a memo, "I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test." Astaire and Rogers made nine films together at RKO:
Flying Down to Rio (1933),
The Gay Divorcee (1934),
Roberta (1935, in which Astaire also demonstrates his oft-overlooked piano skills with a spirited solo on "I Won't Dance"),
Top Hat (1935),
Follow the Fleet (1936),
Swing Time (1936),
Shall We Dance (1937),
Carefree (1938), and
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939). Six out of the nine Astaire–Rogers musicals became the biggest moneymakers for RKO; all of the films brought a certain prestige and artistry that all studios coveted at the time. Their partnership elevated them both to stardom; as
Katharine Hepburn reportedly said, "He gives her class and she gives him sex."
Innovations Astaire revolutionized dance on film by having complete autonomy over its presentation. He is credited with two important innovations in early film musicals. Astaire's style of dance sequences allowed the viewer to follow the dancers and choreography in their entirety. This style differed strikingly from those in the
Busby Berkeley musicals. Those musicals' sequences were filled with extravagant aerial shots, dozens of cuts for quick takes, and zooms on areas of the body such as a chorus row of arms or legs. Astaire's second innovation involved the context of the dance; he was adamant that all song and dance routines be integral to the plotlines of the film. Instead of using dance as a spectacle as Busby Berkeley did, Astaire used it to move the plot along. Typically, an Astaire picture would include at least three standard dances. One would be a solo performance by Astaire, which he termed his "sock solo". Another would be a partnered comedy dance routine. Finally, he would include a partnered romantic dance routine.
Assessment of the Rogers partnership " in
Roberta (1935) Dance commentators
Arlene Croce, and
John Mueller by Hermes Pan and
Stanley Donen. while
Time magazine film critic
Richard Schickel writes "The nostalgia surrounding Rogers–Astaire tends to bleach out other partners." Mueller sums up Rogers's abilities as follows: Rogers was outstanding among Astaire's partners not because she was superior to others as a dancer, but because, as a skilled, intuitive actress, she was cagey enough to realize that acting did not stop when dancing began ... the reason so many women have fantasized about dancing with Fred Astaire is that Ginger Rogers conveyed the impression that dancing with him is the most thrilling experience imaginable. On p. 162 of his book
Ginger: Salute to a Star, author Dick Richards quotes Astaire saying to Raymond Rohauer, curator of the New York Gallery of Modern Art, "Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually, she made things very fine for both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success." In 1976, British talk-show host
Michael Parkinson asked Astaire who his favorite dancing partner was, on
Parkinson. At first, Astaire refused to answer but ultimately he said "Excuse me, I must say Ginger was certainly, the one. You know, the most effective partner I ever had. Everyone knows." Rogers described Astaire's uncompromising standards extending to the whole production: "Sometimes he'll think of a new line of dialogue or a new angle for the story ... they never know what time of night he'll call up and start ranting enthusiastically about a fresh idea ... No loafing on the job on an Astaire picture, and no cutting corners." He was hired by independent producer
Boris Morros to star in a musical comedy,
Second Chorus (1940). Morros had released a previous production through RKO, but with RKO no longer interested in Astaire, Morros had to find another distributor.
Paramount accepted the film for release. Astaire received strong support from new dancing partner
Paulette Goddard, popular bandleader
Artie Shaw, and character actors
Burgess Meredith and
Charles Butterworth, but the lightweight film was only mildly successful and did not lead to further independent productions.
Second Chorus was re-released in 1946 and was an early arrival on broadcast television. It soon became the most frequently revived Fred Astaire picture (to Astaire's bemusement) and has since lapsed into the public domain. Since 1980, with the advent of home video,
Second Chorus has become even more ubiquitous and is probably Fred Astaire's most widely available film. in
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Harry Cohn, president of
Columbia Pictures, made a practice of hiring talent that rival studios had dropped from their rosters. He engaged Fred Astaire for two pictures, in an effort to promote Cohn's own prospective musical star
Rita Hayworth: ''
You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier'' (1942). These films re-established Astaire as a major-studio attraction and launched Hayworth's starring career. Astaire played alongside
Bing Crosby in the enormously successful
Holiday Inn (1942), memorable for his virtuoso solo dance to "Let's Say it with Firecrackers". He returned to RKO for the wartime comedy ''
The Sky's the Limit'' (1943), with 17-year-old
Joan Leslie as his co-star. In the film, he introduced
Arlen and
Mercer's "
One for My Baby" while dancing on a bar counter in a dark and troubled routine. Astaire choreographed this film alone and achieved modest box office success. It represented a notable departure for Astaire from his usual charming, happy-go-lucky screen persona, and confused contemporary critics. His next partner,
Lucille Bremer, was featured in two lavish vehicles, both directed by
Vincente Minnelli. In the musical revue
Ziegfeld Follies (filmed in 1944; previewed in November 1944 but held back from release until April 1946), Astaire danced with
Gene Kelly to the Gershwin song "The Babbit and the Bromide", a song Astaire had introduced with his sister Adele back in 1927. The next film,
Yolanda and the Thief (1945), was a fantasy featuring an avant-garde, surrealistic ballet.
Follies, according to MGM records, earned $3,569,000 in the United States and Canada, and $1,775,000 elsewhere, but because of its high cost, it incurred a loss to the studio of $269,000.
Yolanda fared even worse, bombing at the box office. Always insecure and believing his career was beginning to falter, Astaire surprised his audiences by announcing his retirement during the production of his next film,
Blue Skies (1946), which reunited him with Bing Crosby. Although reportedly dissatisfied with roles where he lost the girl to Crosby, he carefully planned "
Puttin' On the Ritz", an innovative song-and-dance routine indelibly associated with him, as his farewell dance. He then concentrated on his horse-racing interests and in 1947 founded the
Fred Astaire Dance Studios, which he subsequently sold in 1966.
1948–1957: MGM films and second retirement Astaire's retirement did not last long. He returned to the big screen to replace an injured
Gene Kelly in
Easter Parade (1948) opposite
Judy Garland,
Ann Miller, and
Peter Lawford. He followed up with a final reunion with Rogers (replacing Judy Garland) in
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949). Both of these films revived Astaire's popularity and in 1950 he starred in two musicals.
Three Little Words with
Vera-Ellen and
Red Skelton was for MGM. ''
Let's Dance with Betty Hutton was on loan-out to Paramount. While Three Little Words
did quite well at the box office, Let's Dance
was a financial disappointment. Royal Wedding (1951) with Jane Powell and Peter Lawford proved to be very successful, but The Belle of New York (1952) with Vera-Ellen was a critical and box-office disaster. The Band Wagon'' (1953) received rave reviews from critics and drew huge crowds. However, because of its high cost, it failed to make a profit on its first release. Soon after, Astaire, along with most of the other remaining stars at MGM, was dismissed by the studio due to the advent of television and the streamlining of film production. In 1954, Astaire was about to start work on a new musical,
Daddy Long Legs (1955) with
Leslie Caron at
20th Century-Fox. Then, his wife Phyllis became ill and died of lung cancer. Astaire was so desolate that he wanted to shut down the picture and offered to pay the production costs out of his own pocket. However,
Johnny Mercer, the film's composer, and Fox studio executives convinced him that continuing to work would be the best thing for him.
Daddy Long Legs was only moderately successful at the box office. His next film for Paramount,
Funny Face (1957), teamed him with
Audrey Hepburn and
Kay Thompson. Despite the sumptuousness of the production and the good reviews from critics, the movie failed to recover its cost. Astaire's next film,
Silk Stockings (1957), in which he co-starred with
Cyd Charisse and his final musical for MGM, also lost money at the box office. Afterward, Astaire announced that he was retiring from dancing in films. His legacy at this point was 30 musical films in 25 years.
1957–1981: Television specials, serious roles Astaire did not retire from dancing altogether. He made a series of four highly rated
Emmy Award-winning musical specials for television in 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1968. Each featured
Barrie Chase, with whom Astaire enjoyed a renewed period of dance creativity. The first of these programs, 1958's
An Evening with Fred Astaire, won nine Emmy Awards, including "Best Single Performance by an Actor" and "Most Outstanding Single Program of the Year". It was also noteworthy for being the first major broadcast to be prerecorded on color videotape. Astaire won the Emmy for Best Single Performance by an Actor. The choice had a controversial backlash because many believed his dancing in the special was not the type of "acting" for which the award was designed. At one point, Astaire offered to return the award, but the Television Academy refused to consider it. A restoration of the program won a technical Emmy in 1988 for Ed Reitan, Don Kent, and Dan Einstein. They restored the original videotape, transferring its contents to a modern format and filling in gaps where the tape had deteriorated with
kinescope footage. Astaire played Julian Osborne, a non-dancing character, in the nuclear war drama
On the Beach (1959). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor award for his performance, losing to
Stephen Boyd in
Ben-Hur. Astaire appeared in non-dancing roles in three other films and several television series from 1957 to 1969. Astaire also wrote his own autobiography, titled
Steps in Time, which he published in 1959. Astaire's last major musical film was ''
Finian's Rainbow'' (1968), directed by
Francis Ford Coppola. Astaire shed his white tie and tails to play an Irish rogue who believes that if he buries a crock of gold in the shadows of
Fort Knox the gold will multiply. Astaire's dance partner was
Petula Clark, who played his character's skeptical daughter. He described himself as nervous about singing with her, while she said she was worried about dancing with him. The film was a modest success both at the box office and among critics. Astaire continued to act in the 1970s. He appeared on television as the father of
Robert Wagner's character, Alexander Mundy, in
It Takes a Thief. He appeared as "The Baltimore Kid" in the 1970 TV movie
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again. In the movie
The Towering Inferno (1974), he danced with
Jennifer Jones and received his only
Academy Award nomination, in the category of
Best Supporting Actor. He voiced the mailman narrator S.D Kluger in the 1970s Rankin/Bass animated television specials ''
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town. Astaire also appeared in the first two That's Entertainment! documentaries, in the mid-1970s. In the second compilation, aged seventy-six, he performed brief dance linking sequences with Kelly, his last dance performances in a musical film. In the summer of 1975, he made three albums in London, Attitude Dancing
, They Can't Take These Away from Me, and A Couple of Song and Dance Men, the last an album of duets with Bing Crosby. In 1976, Astaire played a supporting role, as a dog owner, in the cult movie The Amazing Dobermans, co-starring Barbara Eden and James Franciscus, and played Dr. Seamus Scully in the French film The Purple Taxi'' (1977). In 1978, he co-starred with
Helen Hayes in a well received television film
A Family Upside Down in which they played an elderly couple coping with failing health. Astaire won an Emmy Award for his performance. He made a well publicized guest appearance on the
science-fiction television series
Battlestar Galactica in 1979, as Chameleon, the possible father of
Starbuck, in "The Man with Nine Lives", a role written for him by
Donald P. Bellisario. Astaire asked his agent to obtain a role for him on
Galactica because of his grandchildren's interest in the series and the producers were delighted at the opportunity to create an entire episode to feature him. This episode marked the final time that he danced on screen, in this case with
Anne Jeffreys. He acted in nine different roles in
The Man in the Santa Claus Suit in 1979. His final film was
the 1981 adaptation of
Peter Straub's novel
Ghost Story. This horror film was also the last for two of his most prominent castmates,
Melvyn Douglas and
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. == Style and influence ==