Who Was Fred Astaire?

Fred Astaire was an American actor and dancer. He is known to be one of the most famous dancers of all time. He was born on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska in the United States. He passed away on June 22, 1987 from complications he had as a result of a severe case of pneumonia.

His fame as a dancer was during the 1930s and the 1940s.  He was a very charming and very elegant man who could take the lead and get dance like other man could dance.  He often danced with Ginger Rogers in the movies. The movies that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced in include, 'Flying Down to Rio' which was released in 1933, 'Top Hat' which was released in 1935, and 'Swing Time' which was released in 1936.

In 1974, he appeared in a film without dancing that was called 'The Towering Inferno'. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in this film.

To expand just a bit on BullDog's answer:  Fred Astaire set the standard for dance on film.  Astaire epitomized grace and elegance of movement.  He could make any partner (including a hat rack - really!) look good.  Of screen dancers, only Gene Kelly came close to Astaire in terms of popularity.  (Kelly represented a more athletic style of dance, and he was a bit more of an innovator.  Astaire's specialty was ballroom dancing.)

Asatire danced with a LOT of different partners over the years, including Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse and Eleanor Powell (tops in taps).  But, as BullDog noted, his teamings with Ginger Rogers were the benchmark, so much that the names of "Fred and Ginger" were enough to get a movie made.  (In the 1980s, the Italian director Federico Fellini made a movie called FRED AND GINGER, about an aging pair of dancers who had a routine recreating Astaire-and-Rogers numbers.)

A few years before Astaire's death, he was the subject a TV tribute.  One of the speakers was Mikhail Baryshnikov (who seems to know something about dancing), and he attested to the fact that a number of classical ballet dancers were first inspired to dance by Astaire.

Astaire had a relatively limited range as a singer, but within those limits he wasn't a bad vocalist.  Cole Porter's song "Night and Day," for one, was written for Astaire's range.

Among Astaire's non-dancing roles was a movie called ON THE BEACH.  He was also the host of the compilation movies THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!

Funny anecdote about Fred Astaire.  When he started out, his career, he danced with his sister Adele Astaire.  A talent scout checked out one of his performances.  The scout's description of Astaire to the studio has become a classic:  "Balding.  Can't sing.  Can't act.  Can dance a little."