On This Day In American History – Dancing Actor Fred Astaire Is Born

Fred Astaire was born on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, NE. He began his dancing career as a young man and his dance partner was his sister Adele. In the nineteen thirties his sister retired to a domestic life and Fred began dancing with the actress Ginger Rogers. When Fred was given his first Hollywood screen test one of the screen test producers stated of his audition “Can’t, act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.”  American audiences disagreed they loved the cheerful dancing man and he appeared in more than 40 movies during his career including: Silk Stockings, Easter Parade, The Gay Divorcee, Holiday Inn and Funny Face. Fred Astaire died in Los Angeles, California on June 22, 1987.

You can check out a number of movies starring Fred Astaire at the library. Ask the staff for details!

Here’s a link to a Bio biography of Fred Astaire:

http://www.biography.com/people/fred-astaire-9190991

And here’s a link to a clip of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing in the film Swingtime:

http://www.biography.com/people/fred-astaire-9190991

References

Chase’s Calendar of Events 2013. New York. McGraw-Hill. 2013.

Fred Astaire. Biography. Online. Accessed May 10, 2013.