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Fred Astaire
American dancer and actor (1899–1987)
Fred Astaire was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "greatest popular-music dancer of all time".
His accolades include an Honorary Academy Award, as well as three Golden Globe Awards, three Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award.
genres: traditional pop, jazz, swing, big band music, pop music
awards: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Academy Honorary Award, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Kennedy Center Honors, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
plays: voice
member of: American Theatre Hall of Fame, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Facts from Wikidata and Discogs, free to use.
adult standardsbig bandcast recordingsjazzmusicalsnight and day
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1899–1916: Early life and career
Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz on May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Johanna "Ann" (née Geilus; 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.
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."
Astaire left RKO in 1939 to freelance and pursue new film opportunities, with mixed though generally successful outcomes. Throughout this period, Astaire continued to value the input of choreographic collaborators. Unlike the 1930s when he worked almost exclusively with Hermes Pan, he tapped the talents of other choreographers to innovate continually. His first post-Ginger dance partner was the redoubtable Eleanor Powell, considered the most exceptional female tap-dancer of her generation. They starred in Broadway Melody of 1940, in which they performed a celebrated extended dance routine to Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine". In his autobiography Steps in Time, Astaire remarked, "She 'put 'em down' like a man, no ricky-ticky-sissy stuff...
Astaire was a virtuoso dancer, able when called for to convey light-hearted venturesomeness or deep emotion. His technical control and sense of rhythm were astonishing. Long after the photography for the solo dance number "I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man" was completed for the 1952 feature The Belle of New York, it was decided that Astaire's humble costume and the threadbare stage set were inadequate and the entire sequence was reshot. The 1994 documentary That's Entertainment! III shows the two performances side by side in split-screen. Frame for frame, the two performances are identical, down to the subtlest gesture.
American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer, musician and actor, born 10 May 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA, died 22 June 1987 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Father of Ava Astaire, brother of Adele Astaire.
Astaire was the American movie dancer of the 1930s and 1940s. Famed for his mixture of elegance and nice-guy charm, he was a popular romantic lead despite his lack of typical movie star good looks. His dance routines are a staple of movie highlight reels. He was often paired with dancing actress Ginger Rogers; their movies together included Flying Down to Rio (1933), Top Hat (1935), and Swing Time (1936).
Astaire was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his non-dancing appearance in the 1974 disaster film The Towering Inferno.
Also known as: A. Fred, Astair, Astaire, Astaire Fred, F Astaire
From Discogs (free to use). Their entry
Liner notes
Fred Astaire, the records, oldest first
The Astaire Story
1953 album
Mr. Top Hat
1956 album
Attitude Dancing
1976 album
The Astaire Story Vol.2
1978 album
Cheek To Cheek
1988 album
A Fine Romance
1991 album
Together
2006 album
The Irving Berlin Songbook
year unknown album
Jazz Time
year unknown album
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
"The Way You Look To-night" is a song from the film Swing Time that was performed by Fred Astaire and composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Dorothy Fields. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936.
Fields remarked, "The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me.
Composition and publication
The song was sung by Fred Astaire in the 1936 film Swing Time in the key of D major, but it is typically performed in E-flat major with a modulation to G-flat major.
Contemporary recordings
Fred Astaire recorded "The Way You Look To-night" in Los Angeles on July 26, 1936. Bing Crosby and his wife Dixie Lee recorded the song as a duet on August 19.
Cover versions
Six years passed before the song appeared on the charts again, this time in a version by Benny Goodman with Peggy Lee on vocals and Mel Powell on celeste.
