Fred Astaire (1900–1987)
Autor de Steps in Time: An Autobiography
Sobre El Autor
Fred Astaire is considered the greatest popular dancer of his time. He made his debut at the age of seven accompanied by his older sister Adele on the vaudeville Keith-Orpheum circuit. The brother-sister team made their Broadway debut in Over the Top (1916). For more than a decade, they performed mostrar más in musicals on Broadway and in London, including George Gershwin's Lady Be Good (1925). An extraordinary tap, theater, and ballroom dancer, Astaire soon turned his attention to film, in which he became accessible to millions. His first picture was with Joan Crawford in Dancing Lady in 1933. That same year, Astaire teamed up with Ginger Rogers in Flying Down to Rio. As the most successful dance team in films, Astaire and Rogers made numerous pictures, including Top Hat (1935), Swing Time (1936), and Shall We Dance (1937). During his successful film career, Astaire also danced with Rita Hayworth, Eleanor Powell, and Cyd Charisse. Astaire's dancing displayed technical skill and sophistication. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Créditos de la imagen: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Obras de Fred Astaire
The Essential Fred Astaire 4 copias
Fred Astaire at MGM 3 copias
Irving Berlin Songbook 3 copias
Fred Astaire Song & Dance Man DVD 3 copias
Three Little Words 3 copias
Daddy Long Legs (1955) [Blu-ray] 2 copias
The Pleasure of His Company 2 copias
Hollywood Musicals 2 copias
Song and Dance Man 2 copias
Top Hat: Hits From Hollywood 2 copias
the fred astaire story LP 1 copia
mr. top hat LP 1 copia
Crazy Feet 1 copia
American Legend Sampler 1 copia
L'amour vient en dansant 1 copia
Daddy Long Legs [DVD] [1955] 1 copia
Fred Astaire. Steps in Time 1 copia
Steps In Time 1 copia
Top hat hits from Hollywood 1 copia
Let's Face the Music 1 copia
Musicals 20 Movie Pack 1 copia
El momento 1 copia
I Won't Dance - 1952 1 copia
CEL Music Presents Fred Astaire 1 copia
Obras relacionadas
TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Astaire & Rogers (The Gay Divorcee / Top Hat / Swing Time / Shall We Dance) (2010) — Actor — 51 copias
Astaire & Rogers Collection: Volume 1: Top Hat / Swing Time / Follow the Fleet / Shall We Dance / The Barkleys of… (2005) 11 copias
Audrey Hepburn Collection: Breakfast at Tiffany's / Funny Face / Sabrina (Triple Feature Video) (2014) — Actor — 10 copias
Astaire & Rogers Collection: Volume 2: Flying Down to Rio / The Gay Divorcee / Roberta / Carefree / The Story of Vernon… — Actor — 9 copias
Royal Wedding [and] Second Chorus (Double Feature Video) — Actor — 9 copias
20th Century Fox Studio Classics Collection: Volume 1 (Anna and the King of Siam, Can-Can, Daddy Long Legs, Star) (2010) — Actor — 8 copias
All Time Classic Films — Actor — 7 copias
Astaire & Rogers Ultimate Collector's Edition (11-Pack) — Actor — 6 copias
The Classic Musicals Collection: Broadway to Hollywood (Easter Parade Two Disc Special Edition / The Band Wagon Two… (2005) — Actor — 5 copias
Fred & Ginger: The Collection Vol. 1: Top Hat / Follow The Fleet / Shall We Dance / Carefree — Actor — 5 copias
Fred Astaire: Signature Collection: Royal Wedding / Second Chorus / Over the Hill Gang Rides Again (2002) 5 copias
Broadway Melody of 1940: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack — Performer — 2 copias
Icons: 4 Film Collection: Fred Astaire — Actor — 2 copias
3 Full Length Features: Something to Sing About / Royal Wedding / Penny Serenade — Primary Contributor — 2 copias
Let's Dance [1950 film] 2 copias
1940: A Time to Remember: 20 Original Recordings from 1940 — Contribuidor — 1 copia
Etiquetado
Conocimiento común
- Nombre canónico
- Astaire, Fred
- Otros nombres
- Austerlitz, Frederick (birth name)
- Fecha de nacimiento
- 1900-05-10
- Fecha de fallecimiento
- 1987-06-22
- Lugar de sepultura
- Oakwood Memorial Park, Chatsworth, California, USA
- Género
- male
- Nacionalidad
- USA
- Lugar de nacimiento
- Omaha, Nebraska, USA
- Lugar de fallecimiento
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Lugares de residencia
- Omaha, Nebraska, USA
New York, New York, USA - Educación
- Alvienne School of the Dance (New York)
- Ocupaciones
- dancer
vaudevillian
actor
choreographer - Relaciones
- McKenzie, Ava Astaire (daughter)
- Organizaciones
- RKO Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Fred Astaire Dance Studios Corporation (chairman of the board) - Premios y honores
- Kennedy Center Honors (1978)
Honorary Academy Award (1949)
Lifetime Achievement Award, American Film Institute (1981)
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Miembros
Reseñas
Premios
También Puede Gustarte
Autores relacionados
Estadísticas
- Obras
- 57
- También por
- 82
- Miembros
- 280
- Popularidad
- #83,034
- Valoración
- 3.8
- Reseñas
- 3
- ISBNs
- 13
In the book, Astaire describes his career with sister Adele onstage in New York City and London. The pair appeared in many musicals, including Apple Blossoms; For Goodness Sake; Lady, Be Good!; and Funny Face. After her retirement in 1932 to marry a British royal, Charles Cavendish, she moved to Lismore Castle in Ireland. Astaire went on to become a motion picture star in Hollywood.
The Astaires came from humble beginnings in Omaha, Neb. Their father started out in the leather industry. Their mother loved the theatre. She took Adele and Fred to New York to pursue a vaudeville career. They left their father at home to run a brewing business later.
The Astaires trained at several dance academies. Adele took lessons at Chambers Dancing Academy in Omaha. The Astaires found an ad in the New York Clipper for Claude's Dancing School in New York. In one of their early shows, the Astaires appeared in a vaudeville act featuring a wedding cake prop with bells and lights. They became a successful child act in New York and took the show to venues across the country.
The Astaires made excellent money from the beginning. Their salaries grew from $350 to $5,000 a week. This would be about $5,000 to $80,000 weekly in today's wages. Keep in mind that this was around 1910-1920.
Astaire shares many interesting stories about his career. Here are some of the best.
* He notes in the book that he and his sister disliked being the opening act to no applause, or the #2 billing to people trickling in and slamming down seats. He did well at #5 in big shows.
* Fred relates that he used a "rosin sock" to sprinkle the stage to make it safer for dancing. Otherwise, he said, he'd fall.
* Fred states that he liked songwriting best. He enjoyed composing music to the lyrics of songwriters.
* He also loved golf. It was his favorite pastime, other than training horses for races later in his career.
* Fred cites Aurelia Coccia as influential in his vaudeville career.
* Fred credits Eduardo Cansino, father of Rita Hayworth, for jumpstarting his movie career.
* He had an unrequited crush on an actress named Jessie Reed, who went on to appear in the Ziegfeld Follies.
* He met and married Phyllis Potter after pursuing her for 2 years.
* Fred hung up his shoes in old theatres so that mice wouldn't get into them.
* Fred got his best dancing ideas at 4 a.m.
* Fred liked the "early-to-bed, early-to-rise feeling" of Hollywood.
* From Ginger Rogers, he learned how to deliver dialogue on camera.
* In some films, he filmed dances first, solos last, and dubbed tap dance sounds "matched back to picture."
* Fred helped pick dresses for Ginger Rogers because their style and materials affected the dance choreography.
* Fred interspersed doing radio shows with films.
* There was a break between Astaire and Rogers after Adele showed Fred an article from the Cork Examiner stating that it was time for them to switch it up a bit.
* In the Holiday Inn movie, Fred really drank bourbon between takes to be inebriated for the New Year's Eve nightclub sequence.
* During a War Bond luncheon in Cleveland, his old tap shoes sold for $100,000 and his laces $16,000. This would be about $2 million and $350,000 today.
* During a USO tour of France and England, Fred danced up and down the aisles at hospitals.
* Fred brought back souvenirs from the tour, like German false teeth, an Italian pistol, and parachute silk for his kids.
* Fred loved working with Ann Miller in Easter Parade.
Overall, this is a quick, easy read filled with everything you ever wanted to know about America's dancing man, Fred Astaire.… (más)