Fred Astaire made dancing look like breathing. In top hat and tails, with a lightness that seemed to defy gravity, he turned song and dance into the most elegant storytelling Hollywood ever filmed.
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Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1899, Astaire began performing as a child in vaudeville with his sister Adele, and the pair became Broadway stars in the 1920s. When Adele retired, Fred went to Hollywood, where his first film success came in Flying Down to Rio (1933), dancing with Ginger Rogers, who became his most famous partner.
At RKO in the 1930s Astaire and Rogers made a series of beloved musicals, including The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935), and Swing Time (1936), in which Astaire’s choreography and his singing of songs by Irving Berlin and George Gershwin set a new standard. Later films included Holiday Inn (1942), Easter Parade (1948), Royal Wedding (1951), The Band Wagon (1953), and Funny Face (1957).
Astaire received an honorary Academy Award in 1950 for his contributions to film musicals, and he continued to work in film and television into later life. He died in 1987, leaving a legacy of grace, precision, and joy that dancers still measure themselves against.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, public domain — File:Fred_Astaire_in_Royal_Wedding_(2).jpg.