Fred Astaire (orig. Austerlitz) (1899- 1987), was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He was an American dancer, choreographer, singer, musician and actor, and is regarded by many as the greatest popular-music dancer of all time.
His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films, several award-winning television specials, and issued numerous recordings. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of Old Hollywood by the American Film Institute. He is best known as the dancing partner and on-screen romantic interest of Ginger Rogers, with whom he co-starred in a series of ten Hollywood musicals which transformed the genre.
Astaire studied dancing from the age of four. In 1906 he formed an act, with his sister Adele, that became a popular vaudeville attraction.
Fred and his sister Adele in 1906.
The two appeared briefly in the Mary Pickford film Fanchon the Cricket (1915) and made their Broadway debut in Over the Top (1917). They achieved international fame with stage hits that included For Goodness Sake (1922), Funny Face (1927), and The Band Wagon (1931).
Fred and Adele Astaire in 1921.
