Fred Astaire was an American dancer, actor, singer, choreographer, and television presenter. He is widely considered the greatest dancer in film history.
His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years. He starred in more than 10 Broadway and West End musicals, made 31 musical films, four television specials, and numerous recordings. As a dancer, his outstanding traits were an uncanny sense of rhythm, perfectionism, and innovation. His most memorable dancing partnership was with Ginger Rogers, with whom he co-starred in a series of ten Hollywood musicals during the age of Classical Hollywood cinema, including Top Hat , Swing Time , and Shall We Dance . Among the other notable films in which Astaire gained further popularity and took the genre of tap dancing to a new level were Holiday Inn , Easter Parade , The Band Wagon , Funny Face , and Silk Stockings . The American Film Institute named Astaire the fifth-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema in 100 Years... 100 Stars.
Life and career
1899-1916: Early life and career
Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Johanna "Ann" and Friedrich "Fritz" Emanuel Austerlitz, in the US: Frederic Austerlitz . Astaire's mother was born in the US to Lutheran German immigrants from East Prussia and Alsace. Astaire's father was born in Linz, Austria to Roman Catholic parents who had converted from Judaism.
Astaire's father, Fritz Austerlitz, arrived in New York City at the age of 25 on October 26, 1893 at Ellis Island. 'Fritz was seeking work in the brewing trade and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was employed by the Storz Brewing Company. Astaire's mother dreamed of escaping Omaha by her children's talents. Astaire's older sister, Adele, was an instinctive dancer and singer early in her childhood. Johanna planned a "brother and sister act", common in vaudeville at the time, for her two children. Although Fred refused dance lessons at first, he easily mimicked his older sister's steps and took up piano, accordion, and clarinet.