Fred Astaire's Dance Partners: A Guide with Photos and Screen Captures
Ranked #5,839 in Entertainment, #72,190 overall | Donates to Save the Children
Who were Fred Astaire's dancing partners?
Fred Astaire was one of the best dancers of the 20th century, known mainly for the dance and vocal performances he gave in various Hollywood musicals from the early 1930s to the late 1950s, though his film career continued beyond that. In addition to his solo work (for example the famous Puttin' on the Ritz song and dance routine from the 1946 film Blue Skies), Astaire also partnered with a number of wonderful performers over the course of his career.
His most famous partner is Ginger Rogers, an Academy-award winning actress with a talent for both comedy and drama, and a great dancer in her own right. Together Fred and Ginger made ten movies. But he had many other partners as well.
What I aim to do here is introduce you to various women and men who danced with Astaire. I'll do so in a rough chronological order that will be based on when Astaire first paired up with each particular performer, and I'll talk a little about each performer's own life and career in addition to the work they did with Astaire. The images I present here are either listed by Wikimedia Commons as public domain content in the US (and linked back to Wikimedia) or they're my own often small screen captures from films, with each film credited.
(Image source)
His most famous partner is Ginger Rogers, an Academy-award winning actress with a talent for both comedy and drama, and a great dancer in her own right. Together Fred and Ginger made ten movies. But he had many other partners as well.
What I aim to do here is introduce you to various women and men who danced with Astaire. I'll do so in a rough chronological order that will be based on when Astaire first paired up with each particular performer, and I'll talk a little about each performer's own life and career in addition to the work they did with Astaire. The images I present here are either listed by Wikimedia Commons as public domain content in the US (and linked back to Wikimedia) or they're my own often small screen captures from films, with each film credited.
(Image source)
Table of Contents
- Adele Astaire
- Claire Luce
- Joan Crawford
- Ginger Rogers
- Harriet Hoctor
- Gracie Allen and George Burns
- Joan Fontaine
- *1930s movie dance partner recap*
- Eleanor Powell
- George Murphy
- Paulette Goddard
- Rita Hayworth
- Bing Crosby
- Virginia Dale
- Marjorie Reynolds
- Joan Leslie
- Lucille Bremer
- Gene Kelly
- Olga San Juan
- Ann Miller
- Judy Garland
- *1940s movie dance partner recap*
- Betty Hutton
- Vera-Ellen
- Jane Powell
- Sarah Churchill
- Cyd Charisse
- Jack Buchanan
- Nanette Fabray
- LeRoy Daniels
- Leslie Caron
- Audrey Hepburn
- Kay Thompson
- Janis Paige
- *1950s movie dance partner recap*
- Barrie Chase
- Petula Clark
- Fred Astaire and the AFI Top 50 Movie Legends
Adele Astaire
Before Fred started his movie career, he was one half of a stage act with his older sister, Adele.Adele was born in 1896 in Omaha, Nebraska, three years before Fred. "Astaire" was their stage name; their family name was Austerlitz. In 1905 they performed their first vaudeville routine, called Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty (try saying that three times in a row really fast).
Together they not only sang but over time learned and performed a variety of different dances including tap. Until 1932, Adele and Fred toured around the US and Great Britain, and starred in Broadway and in the London stage scene, with some of their most notable performances involving the work of the Gershwin brothers. Both of them were very popular and successful on stage, and would introduce a number of classic songs that later appeared in Fred's Hollywood musicals.
In 1932 Adele married Lord Charles Cavendish, one of the sons of the Duke of Devonshire, and retired from performing on the stage. She died of a stroke in 1981, six years before Fred passed away.
Fred's work with Adele taught him a great deal about dance, song and choreography, and laid the groundwork for his Hollywood musical career. There are unfortunately no known film recordings of Adele and Fred dancing, though several of their vocal duets are recorded.
Claire Luce
After Fred's sister and long-time dance partner, Adele, retired from the stage in 1932, and before he started his movie career in 1933, Fred danced with Claire Luce in a Broadway production of "Gay Divorce." Because Fred was so used to platonic dances with his sister, Luce had to nudge him into the mindset and character of more romantic dancing, reportedly telling him, "Come on, Fred, I'm not your sister, you know."Of her stage work with Fred, one critic wrote: "In the refulgent Claire Luce, Fred Astaire has found a partner who can match him step for step and who flies over the furniture in his company without missing a beat." Fred wrote in his autobiography that Luce inspired the play's "Night and Day" dance routine (he also danced it later on with Ginger Rogers in the play's 1934 movie adaptation, The Gay Divorcee).
Although an injury to her hip curtailed her dancing career, Luce (1903-1989) worked as both a theater and movie actress. The screen capture to the right is from the 1938 film Over She Goes.
Joan Crawford
I didn't know this until recently, but before becoming a Hollywood actress, Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur in 1905) worked as a theater dancer. In some of her earliest movies like Dance, Fools, Dance (1931), you can see her dancing solo.She's best known for various dramatic movie roles, especially her work in Mildred Pierce (1945) which won her an Academy award. The American Film Institute ranked her as the 10th greatest female legend in motion pictures.
Crawford had large, compelling eyes and a bold appearance. Her movie career was rich and varied; additionally she worked in radio, stage and on TV. In 1977 she died following a heart attack.
Joan Crawford and Fred Astaire in Dancing Lady (1933)
Fred Astaire appeared in one movie with Joan Crawford, Dancing Lady (1933), in which Crawford and Clark Gable were the main stars. Though Astaire only had a small part playing himself (addressed as "Freddie" by Clark Gable), the movie was a career milestone for him because it was his Hollywood debut.As seen in the little screen capture I made of the two of them here, at one point in the movie Crawford sports blonde braids and Astaire appears in lederhosen as they dance in the midst of Bavarian festivities. They also dance against a backdrop of clouds, with Crawford in an airy and puffy white dress and Fred in formal evening attire. Earlier in the film there's also a short rehearsal dance they do together where Joan's character (Janie Barlow) injures herself; it's during this rehearsal dance that Gable introduces Fred to movie-goers - Fred's first film scene ever.
Ginger Rogers
Charismatic, graceful, impish, and often funny and enchanting, Ginger Rogers could dance, sing, and also act wonderfully in both comic and dramatic roles. She won a Best Actress Academy Award for her work in Kitty Foyle (1940), and though her most famous movies partnered her with Fred Astaire, she also had a great solo career where she played opposite several huge film stars including Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant.The American Film Institute named her as the fourteenth greatest female legend of cinema.
Like Astaire and a number of other Hollywood actors, her pre-Hollywood career involved vaudeville and Broadway performances (and as a young teen she also won the Texas State Charleston Competition). She became famous on the Broadway stage at age 19 with the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy (it tickled me to find out that Astaire helped with the choreography on that show), and she began her Hollywood career a few years before Astaire made his movie debut. Her stage career extended decades beyond the eventual decline of her film career, and she even directed an off-Broadway play in the mid-1980s, when she was in her mid-seventies. She also appeared regularly on T.V.
Rogers was an active sportswoman who loved tennis and various outdoor activities like swimming. She also painted and sculpted. (A Renaissance woman!) Born in 1911 as Virginia Katherine McMath, her surname Rogers came from her mother's second husband. In 1995 Rogers passed away from congestive heart failure.
Why did Fred and Ginger work well together?
Fred and Ginger's first movie was Flying Down to Rio (1933), where they both had secondary roles. Before that, Fred had made only one movie in which he appeared as himself in a small part; he wasn't seen as leading man material or as much of an actor (and he wasn't, though his acting did get better as he got older). Ginger was already making movies at the time and getting noticed for her work as an actress, and she had danced solo (she was a champion at the Charleston, remember); however she hadn't done any partnered dances and didn't really even know tap-dancing, as her focus had been much more on acting roles (contrast her with some of Fred's other partners, who were dancers par excellence).
But when they appeared in Flying Down to Rio they became the movie's highlight, stealing the show from the putative stars of the film (Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond) with their one dance, "The Carioca." Audiences loved them. After that they made nine more movies - eight more in the 1930s and one in the late 1940s. Why is it that they worked so well together?
But when they appeared in Flying Down to Rio they became the movie's highlight, stealing the show from the putative stars of the film (Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond) with their one dance, "The Carioca." Audiences loved them. After that they made nine more movies - eight more in the 1930s and one in the late 1940s. Why is it that they worked so well together?
- 1They complemented each other nicely. Fred was first a dancer, with his acting skills coming in a distant second; Ginger was first an actress, then a dancer. Fred wasn't great at conveying romance or other moods in dialogue, but he could do so through dance with the eloquence of his body. Ginger - as others have observed - could act (even subtly) in the middle of dancing, instead of fixing one expression on her face throughout; for some of the key dances they've made, the ones that advance various plot points in the films or stages in the on-screen relationship, it can be great to watch Ginger's face and see the play of emotions. She was also really good at both comedy and drama, so she worked well with the demands of different scenes and with the timing of witty lines.
- 2They were both really hard workers. Ginger, for instance, had a lot to learn about dancing when she and Fred started making films together, and she learned quickly. She worked hard and mastered new forms of dance. Keep in mind that she was also making more movies than Fred, so was tasked with finding time to prepare for and work on those other films while also learning complicated partnered routines with one of the best dancers out there. She managed to do so, and according to Fred and the famous choreographer Hermes Pan (who collaborated closely with Fred), she made her own contributions to the choreography of their dances too. As for Fred, he was a perfectionist, with grueling rehearsal schedules. There are stories of him and Ginger practicing until their feet bled. All that light-footed, joyous and natural-looking dance on-screen arose not only from great talent but also from discipline and demanding work.
- 3They had chemistry. It wasn't a hot-and-heavy vibe, but something playful, flirty, and romantic, full of poignant longing at times. In part this was accomplished through Ginger's acting; through the joy, pleasure, vulnerability, and charming exasperation she evinced in Fred's company on-screen, she made him look like a romantic leading man: a man worth dreaming about and getting frustrated over. When you think about it Fred wasn't hunky or particularly good-looking on his own, not in a conventional way. But when you mixed him with Ginger, something bubbled like champagne.
- 4Their routines were often memorable. Excellent music (composition and lyrics by the likes of the Gershwin Brothers, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin), interesting or beautiful costumes, and well-choreographed dances - primarily the work of Fred and choreographer Hermes Pan, with key input from Ginger as well. Some of the dances built on those that Fred had previously performed in his stage career. Other dances and songs were brand new, and performed for the first time ever by Fred and/or Ginger.
Some of my favorite Fred and Ginger routines
Fred and Ginger left a deep mark on the movie musical genre and recorded some of the best dancing in cinematic history. Here I list some of my favorite routines.- In Swing Time (1936) I find their dancing to be the best overall. The screen capture on the right is from one of their Swing Time dances, "Pick Yourself Up," a playful, energetic dance that ends with them leaping multiple times over a low barrier. Then there's "Never Gonna Dance" which has a sadness and urgency, and a gorgeous floating white dress worn by Ginger. And there's also the "Waltz in Swing Time," graceful and powerful. Some of the best dancing ever committed to film, right in this movie.
- Shall We Dance (1937) has the cute routine, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" where they're on roller-skates (just when you thought they couldn't be more awesome...) It's not even that they're doing any spectacular moves on the roller-skates - I just like the way they weave some dancing into the roller-skating. Both of them sing in that one too.
- "They Can't Take That Away From Me" in their last movie, The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) is poignant and nostalgic. The emotions playing across Ginger's face are riveting.
- From Follow the Fleet (1936), "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket," an Irving Berlin song that Fred and Ginger introduced. Their dance afterwards is good fun - they knock each other over a few times, and Ginger at one point does a 'robot arm' that smacks Fred in the face. I like the fact that not all of their dances were romantic, but some could just be silly or invoke other moods.
Harriet Hoctor
As part of the score for the movie, Shall We Dance (1937), George Gershwin composed an orchestral work, "Hoctor's Ballet," for Harriet Hoctor; it's the last long work he wrote for a symphony orchestra before his death in July 1937.Harriet Hoctor was a dancer and actress who had worked in vaudeville and on Broadway in addition to movies. Born in 1905, her most memorable movie appearances are her solo ballet in The Great Ziegfeld (1936), and her work in Shall We Dance (1937), which includes a balletic duet she danced with Fred Astaire (Fred's other duets in that film are with Ginger Rogers). The screen capture on the right shows Hoctor's grace, strength and flexibility in Shall We Dance.
Hoctor was also well-known for her ability to do different kinds of toe-dancing, including toe-tapping, or tap-dancing on one's toes; apparently one of Hoctor's feats was toe-tapping to the meter of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.
From the early 1940s to the mid-1970s, Hoctor also worked as a dance teacher in her own school for dance. She passed away in 1977.
Harriet Hoctor and Fred Astaire in Shall We Dance (1937)
Astaire and Hoctor's dance is to the theme of "They Can't Take That Away from Me." It begins and ends with Hoctor herself, bending over backwards (literally) and floating around on her toes. Astaire and some chorus dancers (also ballerinas) join her. Astaire doesn't dance en pointe, but does some other nimble, graceful balletic moves. One moment I like, when Hoctor and Astaire are on-screen together, is when she sort of backs away from him with her body and arms undulating - shimmering away almost. Astaire didn't often do balletic dancing, so this number is unusual in that respect as well. Gracie Allen and George Burns
Gracie and George were partners in comedy and in marriage (married from 1926 to Gracie's death in 1964). In their sketches, George was the straight man to Gracie's funny silly chatterbox persona.They worked on stage, in radio and television, and in some films. After Gracie's death, George never remarried. He kept being active in comedy well into old age, and passed away in 1996 when he was 100.
Dancing was among Gracie and George's talents, and this becomes apparent in the one movie they made with Fred Astaire, A Damsel in Distress (1937), where Gracie also sings in an adorable warbling voice. Both Gracie and George had dance experience from their years in vaudeville before they met each other.
A Damsel in Distress (1937) with Allen, Burns and Astaire
What you see on the right is a screen capture from the very end of Fred, Gracie and George's fun house dance routine, "Stiff Upper Lip," where they go down slides, skip around on rotating floors, jump across conveyor belts, and tap dance in front of a series of distorting mirrors. It's so much fun watching them.Another trio dance routine they do is "Put Me to the Test", a comic tap dance number with whisk brooms and some amusing suits of armor.
The music in A Damsel in Distress was composed by George Gershwin (who sadly did not live to see the film's premiere), and if you look at the writing credits for the film you'll find P.G. Wodehouse, the English author best known for Wooster and Jeeves.
Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine is best-known for starring in dramatic film adaptations like Rebecca (1940), Othello (1952), and Jane Eyre (1944). She's also the younger sister of another classic movie star, Olivia de Havilland. As of this point, the two are alive and in their nineties.Some interesting lesser-known facts about Fontaine are her childhood IQ test score of 160, her expertise in fishing and golf, her culinary studies at the Cordon Bleu School, and her membership in a champion hot-air balloon team (she also has a pilot's license). Fontaine co-founded a film production company and worked in theater as well as movies before retiring from acting.
Born in 1917, Fontaine made one film with Fred Astaire, A Damsel in Distress (1937), where she plays the daughter of an aristocrat who is about to enter into an arranged marriage, which Fred's character saves her from. She and Fred share one dance together outdoors among the trees ("Things Are Looking Up"); however, dancing wasn't a part of her skill set, so she just carries on through the dance as best she can and contributes to the movie through her acting and screen presence. The more memorable dancing in the movie is Fred's solo work and his fun energetic dances with the comedic duo, Gracie Allen and George Burns (see above).
*1930s movie dance partner recap*
Including 9 of the 10 Fred and Ginger movies
The 10th Fred and Ginger movie, The Barkleys of Broadway, was made in the 1940s and appears in that recap list further below on the page. Their other nine films however are here (this was a very Ginger-dominated decade for Fred). His two non-Ginger movies were his Hollywood debut in Dancing Lady (1933), and another musical, A Damsel in Distress (1937), which was written by P.G. Wodehouse.
1
Flying Down to Rio (1933)
Fred and Ginger's first film. This was also Fred's second ever movie (and his first role that wasn't a cameo), so you can see that the start of his Hollywood career was really defined by his partnership with Ginger.0 points
2
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
Notable for "Night and Day," and the "The Continental" (a song introduced by Ginger, with an accompanying "Table Dance" with her and Fred). Cole Porter's music is beautiful.0 points
3
Roberta (1935)
Along with Fred and Ginger's performances, you get to hear Irene Dunne sing. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a classic.0 points
4
Top Hat (1935)
"Cheek to Cheek" - its first ever performance, sung by Fred and danced by him and Ginger in her ostrich-feather dress. Also a dance outdoors in a gazebo, "Isn't This a Lovely Day to Be Caught in the Rain." The music is Irving Berlin's, some of his finest.0 points
5
Follow the Fleet (1936)
Features a dance-off where they compete against other dancing couples (guess who wins) and do a fun song and comedic dance, "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket."0 points
6
Swing Time (1936)
Consistently great dancing and often considered Fred and Ginger's best film.0 points
7
Shall We Dance (1937)
Fred and Ginger roller-skate and dance; Fred also dances with multiple Gingers in one routine. His balletic duet with Harriet Hoctor is also worth noting.0 points
8
Carefree (1938)
Fred and Ginger do The Yam! And Ginger gets hypnotized and goes after Fred with a shotgun. Good times.0 points
9
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
Unusual plot for Fred and Ginger - a musical biography of dancer Irene Foote and vaudeville comedian Vernon Castle.0 points
10
Dancing Lady (1933)
Fred in lederhosen! It's his Hollywood debut, where he has a small but memorable role dancing with Joan Crawford. Along with Crawford there's Clark Gable, the Three Stooges, and pre-Hayes-Code raciness.0 points
11
A Damsel In Distress (1937)
Fred joins Gracie Allen and George Burns in a fun house. They also dance with whisk brooms. Joan Fontaine is in the movie too and does her best to dance.0 points
Eleanor Powell
Born in 1912, Powell studied ballet and acrobatics before taking up tap dance, often bringing her balletic and acrobatic background into tap routines in ground-breaking ways. She was soon considered the "Queen of Tap Dancing" and recognized as one of the best tap dancers in the world by a number of fellow dancers and entertainers and by organizations like Dance Masters of America. As Fred Astaire put it in his autobiography, "She really knocked out a tap dance in a class by herself."
Eleanor Powell became famous in the 1930s with Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935), in which she had some incredible tap dance numbers including a finale danced in shimmering top hat and tails; she also danced ballet in that movie.
Her amazing dancing can also be seen in a number of other movies like Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937) with another incredible finale, Rosalie (1937) where my favorite part is her tap routine while dressed as a West Point cadet, Honolulu (1939) where her routines include jump-roping and tap along with a hula and tap number, Born to Dance (1936) which included an ethereal dance in the park (conducted by Jimmy Stewart) and another unbelievable finale, and her work in Lady be Good (1941), where she tapdances with a trained dog and also does a complex unparalled tap dance to 'Fascinatin' Rhythm.' Plus in Ship Ahoy (1942) she collaborates with drummer Buddy Rich and works Morse Code into another tap routine. Then there's her work both solo and with Fred Astaire in Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) - the two I describe below are a jukebox tap dance duet and "Begin the Beguine," though there's also another one, "I Concentrate on You," which is a balletic routine.
Powell's film career pretty much ended in the early 1940s, though she still appeared in some film cameos. Later she had a successful nightclub career and was a guest on various T.V shows, also hosting an award-winning T.V. show for children in the 1950s. She was married to actor Glenn Ford, and they had one son, Peter. In 1982 she passed away from cancer.
Powell and Astaire performing the Jukebox Dance
I think my favorite part of this dance are the two occasions when they're in each other's arms doing a turn, and Eleanor is tap-dancing quickly while Fred just stands on one foot, letting himself be turned, and occasionally striking the floor with his other foot.The dance starts off with Eleanor showing Fred that tap steps are simple, and Fred is skeptical (really? You mean I can do it too?) and then they're off doing an amazing jazzy tap-dance duet like the pros they are.
Powell and Astaire dancing the Begin the Beguine number
Frank Sinatra said of this number (and of the movie in general): "You know, you can wait around and hope, but I'll tell you, you'll never see the likes of this again."
George Murphy
Born in 1902, George Murphy danced and sang in film in the 1930s and 1940s alongside the likes of Eleanor Powell, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, and Buddy Ebsen. In the mid-1940s he became president of the Screen Actors Guild, and from 1964-1971 was a California State Senator. He passed away in 1992 from leukemia.Murphy was in Broadway Melody of 1936, Broadway Melody of 1938, and Broadway Melody of 1940 with Eleanor Powell, and in that last film the two were joined by Fred Astaire. Although Eleanor and Fred's "Begin the Beguine" and "Jukebox Dance" numbers are the most memorable in the film, Fred and George do a fun fast tap duet in top hat and coattails called "Please Don't Monkey With Broadway." George also joins Eleanor and Fred on stage at the conclusion of "Begin the Beguine" for a brief trio dance to wrap up the movie.
Paulette Goddard
I first saw Paulette Goddard in Modern Times, where she gave a striking performance as a street urchin befriended by Charlie Chaplin's character, a laid-off factory worker (see my little review here).Born in 1910, Goddard is best known for her work in cinema from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s; apparently she was one of the actresses seriously considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. She and Charlie Chaplin were an item in the 1930s, and later on she was married to Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front. Goddard passed away in 1990.
She made one movie with Fred Astaire, Second Chorus (1941), in which they dance together in one number: "I Ain't Hep To That Step But I'll Dig It" - not one of the best songs Astaire has sung on-screen, though the dancing he does with Goddard is kind of cute. Goddard's dancing experience probably comes from her work as a Ziegfeld Girl (a chorus girl in the Ziegfeld revues) in the 1920s.
Rita Hayworth
Most people now associate Rita Hayworth with sultry screen roles and her status as a 1940s pin-up girl, while relatively fewer people know that she was also a wonderful and versatile dancer.Born in Brooklyn as Margarita Carmen Cansino in 1918, Rita Hayworth grew up in a family of immigrant Spanish dancers (at one point performing with her father in a stage act called "The Dancing Cansinos"). In her film career she often mixed acting with dance scenes. Her dancing was fun, free, skilled, and intense, with her hair often worn loose throughout.
She is listed as the American Film Institute's nineteenth greatest female legend. Her most famous movie is probably Gilda (1946), and some other notable ones include Cover Girl (1944) where she dances solo and with Gene Kelly, and two successful movies with Fred Astaire, You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942), which features some of her wonderful tap dancing (yes, she could tap dance beautifully).
Rita passed away in 1987 after years of coping with undiagnosed Alzheimer's disease and concurrent drinking problems. Her younger daughter, Yasmin, who took care of her mother as Rita's illness worsened, became an advocate for research and awareness of Alzheimer's.
Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire in You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
The screen capture shows a rehearsal dance in You'll Never Get Rich in which Fred calls Rita out of a group of chorus dancers to work on her steps next to him. You'll Never Get Rich is the film that made Rita Hayworth a real star in the 1940s. This rehearsal dance is brief, but still a memorable sequence.Another dance duet in this film is the "Wedding Cake Walk" which starts with Rita gliding gracefully in a wedding dress among various chorus dancers. Later she's joined by Fred, and they tap dance some more and wind up on top of a model of a giant tank.
There's also a beautiful ballroom number (peppered with some ballroom tap dancing) called "So Near and So Far," where Fred sings to Rita, before they swirl around together on the dance floor, Rita wearing a lovely black gown.
Rita and Fred in You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
The screen capture is from "The Shorty George" routine, which at this point is my favorite dance of Fred and Rita's. It's a ballroom tap duet with high kicks and high energy, and I love how Rita looks relaxed here even in the midst of complicated moves, her feet gliding and tapping, her arms swaying. I also like the cute bow in her hair.Another routine, "I'm Old-Fashioned," is one of those elegant sweeping terrace dances in evening clothes - in Rita's case a long black gown.
Bing Crosby
Born in 1903 as Harry Lillis Crosby, Bing Crosby became an enormously successful singer and actor who changed the way radio shows and music were recorded and influenced other crooners like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Like other entertainers of the time, during World War II he gave morale-boosting live performances to American troops. He was also involved in television, both producing and appearing in shows. He remained an active singer and performer to the end of his life, giving his last concert in 1977, four days before he died of a heart attack. Crosby and Astaire in Holiday Inn (1942)
In Holiday Inn they do a number called "I'll Capture Your Heart", seen in the screen capture here with Crosby on the left and Astaire on the right competing for the affections of Virginia Dale. Crosby claims he'll win her love with his sweet crooning voice, while Astaire says that it's his dancing that will make him the superior suitor. At one point they start to imitate each other a little to prove to Dale that they're multi-talented (Crosby doesn't dance much here though, especially compared to his work with Astaire in Blue Skies). In any case, it's a pretty funny number, and what's also nice is that Virginia Dale both sings and dances in this one too. Crosby and Astaire in Blue Skies (1946)
Their number in Blue Skies is "A Couple of Song and Dance Men," with Crosby declaring himself 'the song' and Astaire declaring himself 'the dance,' but both of them singing and dancing nicely. The cutest part of the routine is when they start imitating people, Crosby pretending to be a young lady crossing the street, and Astaire as a man going into and staggering out of a saloon.In general Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire made a good comedic duo.
Virginia Dale
Virginia Dale was born in 1917 as Frances Paxton, and made several films as an actress, singer and dancer. Probably her best-known work is Holiday Inn (1942) with Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, and Marjorie Reynolds. Dale passed away in 1994.Scrolling up a little you can see her in "I'll Capture Your Heart" with Astaire and Crosby. She also dances with Astaire in a number called "You're Easy to Dance With," where Astaire sings to her as they dance together on a gleaming white stage. It's a sprightly number, and Virginia Dale's black knee-length dress glimmers.
Marjorie Reynolds
Marjorie Reynolds was born in 1917 as Marjorie Goodspeed, and made her debut in silent films as a young child. She appeared in dozens of movies and on television. Her best-known work is probably Holiday Inn (1942), where she starred with Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Virginia Dale. In 1997 Reynolds passed away from congestive heart failure. Marjorie Reynolds and Fred Astaire in Holiday Inn (1942)
The screen capture shows the "Be Careful, It's My Heart" number, sung by Bing Crosby at the piano as Marjorie Reynolds and Fred Astaire glide across an otherwise empty dance floor with winter outside and Valentine hearts dangling from the ceiling within. Romance with a capital R, especially when they burst through a giant paper heart decoration.Another dance they do together is less romantic. It's New Year's Eve and Fred is drunk. In the course of the dance, he loses sight of Marjorie, and she teasingly remains right behind him as he cranes his head around looking for her. He does some pretty convincing drunken dancing, with his feet slipping around like a newborn fawn's and his face charmingly bewildered.
Then there's "I Can't Tell a Lie," set on Washington's Birthday. Fred and Marjorie are in period costume (Fred looks good in a white wig), and Bing Crosby, as the bandleader, keeps changing the tempo and style from elegant classical dance music to jazz or conga so Fred can't move in to kiss Marjorie. It's a pretty funny scene.
Joan Leslie
Joan Leslie made a spate of movies in the 1940s when she was in her teens and early twenties.Born in 1925, Leslie was still quite young when she played Gracie Williams, the sweetheart of Gary Cooper's character, Alvin York, in Sergeant York (1941); a year later she appeared in Yankee Doodle Dandy as Mary Cohan, the wife of James Cagney's character, George Cohan. As part of a childhood vaudeville act with her sisters, Leslie had gained song and dance experience, and in 1943 appeared in her only movie with Fred Astaire, The Sky's the Limit.
Leslie retired from her film career in the 1950s to be with her family - her husband and identical twin daughters. She has appeared in T.V. shows and commercials since then, and is still alive and in her late eighties now.
Joan Leslie and Fred Astaire in The Sky's the Limit (1943)
The screen capture here is from Fred and Joan's fast-paced number, "A Lot in Common with You" which starts with some funny lyrics and asides, with Fred pestering Joan (and the two of them alluding to recent co-stars in other movies, Cagney and Hayworth). Then there's energetic tap-dancing, jazz hands and Joan and Fred jumping over each other. Great dancing I expect from Astaire, but Joan Leslie is amazing here too, and though she was only a teenager when making this film, she has a forceful mature screen persona.
Their second dance in the movie is "My Shining Hour", where they're out on a terrace and Joan is wearing a glimmering black dress. It ends on a soft kiss.
Lucille Bremer
Lucille Bremer appeared in several films in the mid to late 1940s as an actress and dancer.Born in 1917, she started working as a Radio City Music Hall Rockette when she was a teenager and also appeared on Broadway. After leaving Hollywood she developed resort hotels in Baja California with her husband and later on also ran a boutique selling children's clothes. She died of a heart attack in 1979.
The most famous films she's in are Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), and Ziegfeld Follies (1946), where she dances with Fred Astaire. She also dances with Astaire in their movie, Yolanda and the Thief (1945), where Astaire is a con man and Bremer is the rich young woman he falls in love with.
Astaire and Bremer in Yolanda and the Thief (1945)
Yolanda and the Thief isn't considered one of Astaire's best films, to put it gently, but as a positive there are the beautiful colors and interesting, over-the-top visuals in the dance scenes. His duets with Bremer in that film are the bizarre "Dream Ballet" (with Bremer in a floaty dress), and "Coffee Time", where he and Bremer dance on a wavy zebra-striped floor, accompanied by chorus dancers who build tension and excitement with syncopated claps. Astaire and Bremer in Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
Bremer and Astaire's "Limehouse Blues" number has them dancing in Oriental-style red costumes complete with large fans. I'd never seen Fred dance with fans before, flicking them open and closed, and he and Bremer are nimble.In their other dance in the film, "This Heart of Mine," Bremer at first reminds me of Glinda the Good Witch - glittering all over, a crown in her red hair, something in her expression evoking fairy tales and enchantment. But then Fred offers her a cigarette and a predatory smile (and is he wearing a monocle? He is!), and the Glinda-impression falters a little (but you can see what I mean if you look at the screen capture, right? It's Glinda!) The magic returns when Fred removes the monocle so his cheeks can move when he sings... and they then do some beautiful ballroom dancing, including on conveyor belt floors and rotating floors, and by the end your faith in Fred's good character wavers but he's ultimately redeemed.
So Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer tended to dance on lavish colorful sets, and in unusual dance styles, and Fred had a tendency in both his movies with Bremer to steal things from her but then lose his heart to her.
Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly was a dancer, choreographer, producer, director, singer and movie star best known for An American in Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952).Born in 1912, Kelly debuted in Hollywood in the movie For Me and My Gal (1942) with Judy Garland (the first of a few films with her), and he performed with some of the finest and most famous Hollywood dancers: Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse, Vera-Ellen, Ann Miller, Leslie Caron, and Jerry the Mouse (see Anchors Aweigh). The American Film Institute ranked him as the fifteenth greatest male cinema legend, and his career also included stage work and television. He died following a stroke in 1996.
As two great male cinema dancers, Kelly and Astaire are often compared. The funniest comparison was made by Cyd Charisse, who explained how her husband would know who she was working with: "If I was black and blue, it was Gene. If I didn't have a scratch it was Fred." As for Kelly and Astaire themselves, by all accounts it seems they had a great deal of admiration for each other, but like others who observed them at work (including Charisse, who also made more technical remarks about their differences as dancers and choreographers) they were well aware of how dissimilar they were in their approach to dance. They danced together only once at the height of their careers, in Ziegfeld Follies (1946), and one more time later on in the 1976 documentary, That's Entertainment Part II.
Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
"The Babbitt and the Bromide" is the name of their routine, set to lyrics and music by the Gershwin brothers.It opens with these lines of dialogue -
Gene: "Say, you're uh, umm... Fred Astaire! Hello!"
Fred: "Hello!" [Pause. Awkward smile.] "I'm sorry, I can't quite place you."
Some stilted but endearing comedic banter follows, and then mercifully they stop talking and just dance. Well, they sing a little too, but it's the dancing I enjoy watching. They work some antagonism into the dance (kicks to the seat of the pants, that sort of thing) but what's really great is the fleet-footedness, the taps, and the bit of ballroom dancing threaded into the third part.
Olga San Juan
Olga San Juan was a singer and dancer whose career encompassed film, radio, stage musicals, night clubs, and some television. Born in 1927, she spent part of her childhood in Puerto Rico and the rest in New York City. San Juan was best known for her music performances and comic flair. In 2009 she passed away.In Blue Skies she sings and dances in the "Heat Wave" number ("We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave; the temperature's rising, it isn't surprising...") and entices Fred to dance with her. Fred tap dances a little, and there are syncopated drum beats in the background. It's a fun and alluring number.
Ann Miller
Ann Miller is best known for her amazingly rapid-fire tap-dancing routines like "Shakin' the Blues Away" from the movie, Easter Parade (1948), "Prehistoric Man" from On the Town (1949), "I Gotta Hear That Beat" from Small Town Girl (1953), and "Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me Kate (1953). She also had a strong brassy voice, and usually combined song and dance in her routines. On screen Miller often conveyed playfulness, sensuality and confidence.One of her first roles however was as a gawky but talented young dancer in Stage Door (1937), a small part alongside Ginger Rogers (the two work well together in that film). And she also played a faltering ballet devotee in You Can't Take It With You (1938), alongside Jean Arthur, Jimmy Stewart, and Lionel Barrymore (I review the movie here). She was given her first movie contract at age 13 (she told the studios she was 18), after being discovered by Lucille Ball and Benny Rubin.
Born in 1923, Miller took up dance as a child to strengthen herself after coming down with rickets, a bone-softening disease caused by a deficiency in Vitamin D. As a child she helped support herself and her mother with her dancing (Eleanor Powell was a dance inspiration for her) and also took lessons in piano and violin. In addition to her film career she starred on Broadway (notably in Mame and Sugar Babies), performed in nightclubs, and also appeared on TV. She passed away from cancer in 2004.
Miller and Astaire in Easter Parade (1948)
Ann Miller and Fred Astaire share an elegant ballroom dance in Easter Parade seen in the screen capture here; they move nicely together. To me however, their dance doesn't have the vitality and charm of his song and dance duets with Judy Garland. This makes sense though, considering that Judy plays his love interest (and they have so much fun together, and make lively interesting music!), while Ann plays the old flame who stirs up feelings of jealousy and insecurity in Judy.An interesting point to note about Ann and Fred's duet is that she's wearing flat shoes (switching into them right before drawing him into the dance). Ann was a relatively tall young woman, and in heels would have topped Fred's height; Ann's height in general made it difficult to pair her with some of the leading male dancers in Hollywood. Besides, Ann also worked wonderfully as a solo dancer, and the sheer speed of her tap-dancing also made it difficult to partner her with people, at least for tap numbers. For her best work in Easter Parade watch her in the "Shakin' the Blues Away" solo song and dance number.
Judy Garland
There are number of times when watching (and listening to) Judy Garland sing, dance and act has lifted my spirits. It could be her singing the dreamy and powerful "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" or giving a raw performance of "By Myself" on her 1960s TV show.Garland holds the record of being the youngest person to ever win a Cecil B. DeMille Award (given for achievements in film), and the American Film Institute has ranked her as the eighth greatest female legend in cinema. She starred in timeless movies, including The Wizard of Oz (1939), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and A Star Is Born (1954), and though she primarily worked in musicals she was also noted for purely dramatic work later in her life too (watch her in the 1961 movie Judgment at Nuremberg). Her T.V. show, The Judy Garland Show, did not become a commercial success when it debuted in the 1960s but it features some incredible performances both from Judy and from her very talented guests, including Peggy Lee, Donald O'Connor, Martha Raye, Lena Horne, Barbara Streisand, and Liza Minnelli (Judy's daughter). She was still giving performances until her death in 1969 from what was ruled as an accidental overdose of barbiturates.
Born in 1922 as Frances Gumm, she was an entertainer from a very young age, part of a childhood vaudeville act with her sisters; they were known as The Gumm Sisters at first, but changed their name to the Garland Sisters. Judy's singing voice was unmatched, but she also had other talents, not only in acting, but also in dancing in spite of no lengthy formal dance training. In her movie career she would be paired with Gene Kelly in several films (including his 1942 film debut, For Me and My Gal) and with Fred Astaire in Easter Parade (1948).
Judy Garland and Fred Astaire in Easter Parade (1948)
Making Easter Parade with Judy brought Fred out of semi-retirement and revived his career. Fred plays a well-known stage performer, Don Hewes, who tries to turn the ingenue, Hannah Brown (played by Judy), into a copy of his former stage partner, Nadine (Ann Miller). But then he finds it best to let Hannah be herself.Fred and Judy have delightful often joyous numbers in this movie:
- "I Love a Piano/Snooky Ookums/Ragtime Violin": This is a sequence of vaudeville acts. The screen capture here is from the "Ragtime Violin" segment where they're tossing a violin back and forth between them and dancing (and Fred unusually is the only one singing). "I Love a Piano" is Judy singing, and then the two dancing on a white bearskin rug followed by them on stage, with Judy sitting on a piano in a cute purple dress. "Snooky Ookums" doesn't have any dancing, but is a song duet; Fred stands with his arms around Judy and they sing about how a married couple they know is sickeningly cutesy and address each other with embarrassing nicknames.
- "A Couple of Swells": Both of them are dressed up as bums with blacked out teeth and tattered clothes, and in addition to dancing, they sing about how they're men about town with rarefied standards, invited to tea parties and sensitive to city smells. It's difficult to look away from Judy here (and throughout the movie, truth be told). She was a fine comedienne and had such a strong screen presence.
- "Midnight Choo-Choo": Judy's the better singer, and Fred's the better dancer, but they both sing and dance so well together. Here's another number that shows Judy light on her feet in sky blue heels (and Fred's dancing is great of course).
- "Beautiful Faces": A dance they do early on when Fred's character, Don Hewes, still thinks that Judy's character, Hannah Brown, should be made over into an elegant refined dancer with the stage name 'Juanita.' Judy wears an evening gown and sheds feathers everywhere on the stage (a teasing allusion to Ginger Rogers' ostrich feather dress from Top Hat), and the dance itself is a parody of elegant dancing, with Judy twirling aimlessly and almost strangling Fred at one point with her arm. Great physical humor.
- "It Only Happens When I Dance with You": This isn't a dance, and you really only see the back of Fred's head for most of it, but it's beautiful because Judy is sitting at a piano serenading Fred.
*1940s movie dance partner recap*
1
Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
Best known for the amazing tap duets with Eleanor Powell and Fred.0 points
2
Second Chorus (1941)
Fred dances once with Paulette Goddard. Apparently there's also a deleted dance routine with Fred and choreographer Hermes Pan.0 points
3
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
The movie that made Rita Hayworth a star. She really was a great dancer.0 points
4
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
"The Shorty George" is a highlight in this film of lovers getting off on the wrong foot and interfering fathers who inadvertently bring them together.0 points
5
Holiday Inn (1942)
Fred dances with Bing Crosby, Marjorie Reynolds, and Virginia Dale in this musical that spans a year of holidays (including national holidays like Washington's Birthday). Features great music by Irving Berlin.0 points
6
![The Sky's the Limit (1943) [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SYS292P7L._SL75_.jpg)
The Sky's the Limit (1943) [VHS]
Joan Leslie was a teenager when she filmed this, but she's more than a match for Astaire here. Two notable numbers: Astaire's solo "One for My Baby" and his first duet with Leslie, "A Lot in Common with You."0 points
7
Yolanda and The Thief (1945)
Fred as a con man in a fictional South American country? Stranger things have happened.0 points
8
Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
Various musical numbers and comedy acts cobbled together. Fred dances with Gene Kelly and Lucille Bremer. Other stars include Judy Garland, Lucille Ball, Esther Williams, Lena Horne, and Cyd Charisse.0 points
9
![Blue Skies (1946) [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5148W6K2QWL._SL75_.jpg)
Blue Skies (1946) [VHS]
Fred and Bing Crosby dance in this one, and Olga San Juan dances in sultry circles around Fred. But the movie is best-known for Fred's amazing solo tap routine, "Puttin' on the Ritz."0 points
10
Easter Parade (1948)
Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Ann Miller, and Irving Berlin's music; lots of song and dance. Judy serenades Fred, Fred dances with her and with Ann. There's laughter, poignancy, ballroom elegance and blacked-out teeth.0 points
11
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
The last Fred and Ginger movie, made a decade after their ninth one. The song "They Can't Take That Away from Me" is achingly beautiful here.0 points
Betty Hutton
From what I've seen of Betty Hutton's work, I like her exuberance and energy, her powerful voice, and the fact that she can let herself be silly (while sometimes surprising you with quiet moments of tenderness). In films she's probably best-known for her role as Annie Oakley in Annie, Get Your Gun (1950), but she also starred in movies that weren't musicals, like The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944).She was born in 1921 (her birth name was Elizabeth June Thornburg), and got her first singing job at a Michigan resort at age thirteen. Her career included films, radio, Broadway, clubs and the vaudeville stage, along with top-selling records of her vocal performances. Later in her life she taught theater arts in Emerson College. In 2007, she passed away.
Betty Hutton and Fred Astaire in Let's Dance (1950)
Maybe I should have made a screen capture from Betty and Fred's dance-and-swagger routine in blue jeans called "Oh Them Dudes," where they're both sporting cowboy hats and facial hair, but instead I decided on my favorite routine from Let's Dance, "Can't Stop Talking About Him," in which Hutton starts off singing at high speed and volume (as a woman who can't stop talking about the man she's in love with, or at least infatuated with). Fred joins in for a short bit, and then they dance.Their third partnered dance is "Tunnel of Love," where the two of them emerge from a carnival love boat ride (on a stage, not a real carnival, alas) and it's not the greatest song admittedly (and not the greatest dance routine for either of them) but Betty does sing one of the lines in a horse's neighing voice, which is interesting.
Vera-Ellen
Sprightly, athletic, flexible and lovely, Vera-Ellen could dance ballet beautifully and tap dance with speed and precision (one of her best tap routines, from the movie, Wonder Man, has her tap-dancing on her toes for a short part of it); working primarily in movie musicals from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s, she could adapt herself to different dance styles and in addition to performing solo was also partnered with some of Hollywood's best entertainers of the time, including Fred Astaire.Born Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe in 1921, Vera-Ellen made her movie debut in the musical, Wonder Man (1945), with Danny Kaye, and also made her last musical, White Christmas (1954), with Kaye (and Bing Crosby too). She also worked with Gene Kelly, most famously in On the Town (1949), which also starred Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, and fellow actress-dancer, Ann Miller. And she paired up with dancer Donald O'Connor in Call Me Madam (1953). As for Fred Astaire, she made two films with him: Three Little Words (1950) and The Belle of New York (1952). The screen capture here is from her 1951 film, Happy Go Lovely, from an enchanting routine called "Would You - Could You?", which shows off her grace and balletic talents.
After the 1950s, Vera-Ellen stopped making movies or performing on stage, and in 1981 passed away from cancer.
Vera-Ellen and Fred Astaire
The screen capture is from "Mr. and Mrs. Hoofer," a dance routine from their first movie, Three Little Words (1950). A hoofer is just a slang word for 'dancer,' and here they show what the married life of two dancers must be like (apparently it involves dancing on the dining room table and using your baby as a football); it's a fun number that has them tap-dancing side by side at some points, and it shows off Vera-Ellen's flexibility and the versatility of both dancers.Another routine from Three Little Words that I like is "Thinking of You," with Vera-Ellen wearing a filmy pink dress as she and Fred dance around a room (or rather, float around a room) incorporating the furniture into the routine. The music shifts into a rumba at one point, in an upwelling of passion. But the dancers remain light and floating. Sometimes it feels as if they're each lost in their own dreamy thoughts even as they dance together - this is towards the end, when Vera-Ellen's back is to Fred for a while, as she goes into a series of lifts and kicks.
At this point I'm less familiar with their second movie, The Belle of New York (1952); apparently it has Fred and Vera-Ellen walking on air because they're so in love with one another. In one routine they do together, "Baby Doll," Vera-Ellen is coaxed into the dance by Fred, and seems to not warm up to him even as they dance side by side. This might be due to the plot, with Fred as a playboy who's never worked for his money, and Vera-Ellen playing a woman who devotes her life to helping the poor.
Jane Powell
Petite, with a clear, sweet soprano voice, Jane Powell starred in various movie musicals including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).Powell was born in 1929 and took dance lessons from a very young age; these were later supplemented with singing lessons. In 1949 she sang at President Harry Truman's inauguration ball. Her career has extended beyond film to television work and a number of stage productions, including classics like Carousel, My Fair Lady, and Peter Pan. She has also appeared in non-musical theater work and shown a talent for comedy. Powell is still an active entertainer today.
Jane Powell and Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding (1951)
My favorite dance from Royal Wedding is the one that takes place on a cruise ship. Jane and Fred play a sibling stage duo, Ellen and Tom Bowen (echoing Adele and Fred Astaire) who are about to perform in the UK. On board the cruise ship they also dance, and it's elegant and lovely until the ship hits some rough water and begins to tilt back and forth. The choreography is pretty funny as the two skid around on the floor, land on guests (or on their backsides), and watch in bewilderment as pieces of fruit and even a loose drum from the orchestra roll by them.Another funny routine is "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life" (a mouthful, isn't it?) where Fred wears just about the stupidest looking costume I've ever seen him in and gets to sing repeatedly about what a low down dirty lying dog he is - so not a typical Fred Astaire number. There's a good use of physical humor here, and both he and Jane demonstrate that they can dance and chew gum at the same time. But seriously she dances really well here, and of course so does he, and he takes it in good stride when she beats him up for being, as he himself put it, a heel.
Sarah Churchill
Sarah Millicent Hermione Churchill was Sir Winston Churchill's middle child (of five children), and worked as an actress in films, television, and theater. Born in 1917, she served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) during World War II. She passed away in 1982.On the right is a screen capture from her role as Anne Ashmond in Royal Wedding (1951) with Fred Astaire and Jane Powell (where Astaire and Powell play a brother-sister song and dance duo). Her dancing with Fred is light and comfortable, more a way for Fred's character to flirt and ask her out to dinner than a real show-stopping number; before that she does some winsome solo dancing on the audition stage.
Cyd Charisse
At age six, Cyd Charisse started taking dance lessons to strengthen herself after surviving polio. At age fourteen she was accepted into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (dancers and choreographers associated with this ballet company included George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova).The screen capture here is from Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) where Cyd dances some classical ballet (the dancer kissing her on the cheek is Marc Wilder). But in addition to ballet, she also learned and beautifully danced in other styles, from jazz to modern. Her most famous movies are The Band Wagon (1953) with Fred Astaire and Singin' in the Rain (1952), where she dances in the short but memorable "Broadway Ballet" sequence. She debuted in Hollywood in Ziegfeld Follies (1946), where Fred Astaire spins her onto the stage and into a solo ballet dance. In her dancing Cyd was graceful and powerful, and the expressive range of her dancing was great - she could be incredibly sultry when called for, or energetic and playful, or dance with intense romantic elegance.
Born in 1921 as Tula Ellice Finklea, Cyd kept appearing in movies even after the decline of the movie musical genre in the late 1950s, and in 1992 she made her Broadway debut in Grand Hotel. She was married to singer Tony Martin for sixty years until her death in 2008 from a heart attack.
Cyd and Fred in The Band Wagon (1953)
One thing I noticed about this movie is that when Fred and Cyd are dancing I'm watching Cyd mostly. She was an amazing dancer, and not only beautiful but captivating. The screen capture shows her and Fred in my favorite dance from the film, "Dancing in the Dark," where Fred and Cyd walk in the park past a bunch of other couples out for a fun night on the town, and finally find a private place where Cyd initiates the dance, which is quietly breath-taking - a meeting of souls, a man and woman making love through dance. A little detail to notice are Cyd's hands, which throughout the dance reflect her years of classical ballet training.Another dance sequence (part of a bigger stage show) is called "The Girl Hunt Ballet," a funny and bizarre parody of lurid detective novels of the time, with Fred as a hard-bitten detective and Cyd as two different femme fatales: a seemingly helpless blonde in blue ballet shoes, and a sexy dangerous brunette in a red dress and heels. I love this part of the movie mostly because of Cyd, and how she plays her two characters with different styles of dance. The jazz dance she does with Fred in a cafe (where Fred also gets to beat people up) is legendary.
Cyd and Fred in Silk Stockings (1957)
Silk Stockings was one of Fred's last movie musicals, and it was fitting that he pair up again with Cyd Charisse, as the two are lovely together. In the screen capture they're dancing around on the set of a movie, incorporating some jazz dance moves into their routine and using some of the platforms and props on the set.In an earlier dance, "All of You," Fred's singing is probably at its most seductive, as he coaxes Cyd into dancing with him. In that routine I love how their arms and hands slide together - it's a small but surprisingly sensual detail.
Jack Buchanan
In this screen capture from The Band Wagon (1953), Jack Buchanan is the taller guy on the left and beside him is Astaire, just before they're about to turn around and start their affable, gentlemanly song and dance routine in coattails and top hats. Another screen capture that you'll find if you scroll down a little shows the two of them dancing with Nanette Fabray in the costume of infant triplets.But before that, a bit more about Jack Buchanan. Buchanan was born in Scotland in 1891, made his film debut in a silent movie, showed talent in both music and comedy, and had a productive career (on both sides of the pond) in theater, movies, and radio. He cultivated a gentlemanly "man about town" image and worked as a performer, producer and director. His life ended with spinal cancer in 1957, just a few years after he appeared in his most famous American movie, The Band Wagon (1953) with Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Nanette Fabray, and Oscar Levant.
Nanette Fabray
Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse (see above) may have been the main stars of The Band Wagon (1953), but Nanette Fabray supplied a bright and colorful supporting presence (in the screen capture here she's performing the "Louisiana Hayride" number).Fabray, who was born in 1920 and worked in vaudeville as a child, was primarily an actress and singer in musical theater (winning a Tony Award in 1949) and also became famous for her television work, notably her comedy routines with Sid Caesar in the 1950s, which won her Emmy Awards multiple times. Growing up, Fabray struggled with an undiagnosed hearing problem and later on became an advocate for people with hearing impairments. She currently lives in California.
Fabray, Astaire and Buchanan in The Band Wagon (1953)
This number - called "Triplets" - cracks me up whenever I watch it. That's Fred Astaire there on the left (seriously), Nanette Fabray in the middle, and Jack Buchanan on the right, playing infant triplets who utterly despise each other. The lyrics are very funny.There are no special effects in use during this dance, so you might be wondering how they contrived to look this way. Basically they're dressed in black clothes and over that they're wearing the baby get-up. The feet from the baby get-up are right at the actors' knees. So what they're doing during this number is dancing on their knees (well, first they're sitting in highchairs and then they get on their knees). Nanette Fabray does the most complicated dance move here, by "kicking her heels" at one point, or rather making her baby feet look like they're jumping and clicking together. She had to raise herself up off her knees to do that.
If you're thinking that it's painful to dance on one's knees, you're right. Plus they kept losing their balance and falling over, especially poor Jack Buchanan.
LeRoy Daniels
I couldn't find anything about LeRoy Daniels on Wikipedia, only that he's listed as doing an upbeat shoe shining dance with Fred Astaire in The Band Wagon (the number is aptly called "A Shine on My Shoes").Then I found out more about him in Roger Ebert's review of The Band Wagon, which he's added to his list of great movies. It turns out that Daniels (1928-1993) was a shoe shiner in real life who often danced as he worked. He also appeared in several other movies and on television.
Leslie Caron
The screen capture here shows Leslie Caron in her debut movie, An American in Paris, which was released in 1951 when Caron was twenty years old. Born in France, she was working as a ballet dancer when Gene Kelly recruited her for the movie.Among other films she's acted in are Lili (1953), Gigi (1958), The Glass Slipper (1955), which is a musical version of Cinderella (and shows Caron dancing in a chef's hat in her dream of what the royal kitchens look like), Daddy Long Legs (1955) and The L-Shaped Room (1962); her work in Lili and The L-Shaped Room garnered her Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. Her career, which is still active, has also included European films and theater.
Leslie Caron and Fred Astaire in Daddy Long Legs (1955)
In Daddy Long Legs Astaire plays a middle-aged man who anonymously sponsors the college education of a young orphaned woman (played by Leslie Caron), and over time falls in love with her. We'll call it a May-November or October romance rather than May-December, because he's still more spry than most men half his age. The screen capture here comes from a romantic scene at the end of the movie.The most popular song in the movie is "Something's Gotta Give," danced out on a terrace in a hotel, with Caron in a lovely cream colored dress and Astaire in a dark evening suit. It's a graceful dance - coy and speculative and a bit seductive too.
Another partnered routine takes place in a college gymnasium during a formal dance. Called "The Sluefoot," apparently Astaire hoped that it would take on as a national craze, but even though it never did it's still a fun dance to watch, as Astaire shows that he can be even more fleet-footed than all the younger guys around him. The best part is when the two of them start to lead a bunch of the other dancers, with Caron stading out in her beautiful red dress. Astaire has several moments of solo dancing as well.
Audrey Hepburn
Relatively few people know this about Audrey Hepburn - that when she was a teenager living in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, she danced ballet to raise money for the Dutch resistance. And like many others at the time she was afflicted with malnutrition and various illnesses.Born in 1929, Hepburn is best known for her beauty and style and her memorable roles in movies including Roman Holiday (1953), for which she won an Academy Award, Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Wait Until Dark (1967), Sabrina (1954), and A Nun's Story (1959). Her most famous musical is My Fair Lady (1964); she also made another musical, Funny Face (1957), with Fred Astaire.
The American Film Institute ranked her as the third greatest female cinematic legend. Outside of her work in movies, Hepburn also dedicated herself to UNICEF, especially later in her life. In 1993 she passed away from appendiceal cancer.
Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire in Funny Face (1957)
My favorite dance in the movie is one that Audrey does solo, as Fred looks on. It's the famous Beatnik/Bohemian Dance (recently incorporated into a Gap commercial), where Audrey, dressed in a black turtleneck, black pants, black shoes, and white socks, starts out by saying, "I rather feel like expressing myself right now... and I could certainly use the relief!" Then she goes off into this wild, bizarre performance that's both funny and pretty spectacular, in a smoky bohemian club. At one point she's joined by two male back-up dancers. And she launches herself onto a piano and smashes down random keys.As for Fred and Audrey's partnered performances, the screen capture here shows the musical number, "S'Wonderful," which was first introduced in 1927 by Adele Astaire (Fred's sister) and Allen Kearns in the musical Funny Face (on which the movie is based); the music and lyrics are by the Gershwin Brothers. Fred and Audrey dance around on grass dotted with wildflowers before stepping onto a raft and drifting down a river. A pair of swans follows them. The only thing that's missing are heart-shaped clouds.
During another routine, "Funny Face," (which was also introduced on Broadway decades earlier, this time by Adele and Fred), Fred serenades Audrey in a dark room, and they dance together afterwards, with Fred spinning Audrey around on a stool, then around on the floor, and at the same time manages to develop a huge photo of her; he's a multi-tasker.
Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson is a true gem in Funny Face (1957), and when people say that she outshines even Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn in that movie they're not exaggerating. But Thompson didn't make many movies. Born in 1909, she's best know as the author of the Eloise books, about a young girl who lives on the top floor of the Plaza Hotel in New York City and gets into various misadventures. She was also a vocal coach for famous singers and movie stars including Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, and Lucille Ball. Additionally she worked as a comedienne, performed in cabaret, sang, played piano, composed music, designed clothes, contributed to radio, stage and television both in performances and behind the scenes... a truly multi-talented woman. Plus she was Liza Minnelli's godmother. In 1988, Thompson passed away.In Funny Face her one dance with Fred Astaire, "Clap Yo' Hands," is another film highlight along with Audrey Hepburn's solo dance in the bohemian cafe. Thompson is full of energy both in voice and body, and you also get the treat of seeing Fred dance with a guitar and wear a goatee.
Janis Paige
The second Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse movie, Silk Stockings (1957), also has a song and dance duet with Fred and Janis Paige, "Stereophonic Sound," where they crawl under a table and swing from a chandelier, finally landing on their knees (as seen in the screen capture here).Janis Paige is a singer and actress with comedic talent who has worked in movies, Broadway, cabaret, and television. Born in 1922, Paige still has an active career touring around the US in live shows.
*1950s movie dance partner recap*
1
![Let's Dance (1950) [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Bv-R8lUtL._SL75_.jpg)
Let's Dance (1950) [VHS]
"Can't Stop Talking About Him" and "Oh Them Dudes" probably shouldn't be missed. Betty Hutton was one of a kind.0 points
2
Three Little Words (1950)
A musical biography rooted in vaudeville, with some wonderful dancing from Fred Astaire and Vera-Ellen.0 points
3
Royal Wedding (1951)
Fred and Jane Powell play a sibling stage duo performing in England. Contains the tilting cruise ship dance duet, and Fred dancing on the ceiling and while working out at the gym.0 points
5
The Band Wagon (1953)
One of Fred's best musicals, where he dances with several people including his co-star, Cyd Charisse. Shows different dance styles including jazz dance, comic dancing, a romantic dance in the park, and Cyd's classical ballet. Also features the song, "That's Entertainment."0 points
6
Daddy Long Legs (1955)
Romance with an age gap featuring Leslie Caron and Fred. Notable numbers are "Something's Gotta Give" and "The Sluefoot."0 points
7
Funny Face (1957)
Fred, who plays a fashion photographer here, dances with the wonderfully entertaining Kay Thompson and with the lovely Audrey Hepburn (also watching Audrey as she does her famous beatnik dance).0 points
8
Silk Stockings (1957)
Cyd Charisse has a Russian accent in this musical remake of Ninotchka. Unsurprisingly, Cyd and Fred dance wonderfully together.0 points
Barrie Chase
Barrie Chase didn't do a partnered dance with Fred Astaire in any movies (though she did have a part as a chorus girl in Daddy Long Legs and Silk Stockings), but she danced with him several times from 1958 to 1968 on television, including on the Emmy Award winning special, An Evening with Fred Astaire, The Hollywood Palace, which was a variety show, and later on in The Fred Astaire Show).Born in 1933, Chase was trained in ballet, but gave up pursuing a career as a ballerina in order to stay with and help support her mother. In addition to working as a chorus dancer in movies, she also had some non-dancing roles, both in movies and television. Since 1972 she has been retired from dancing and acting.
Petula Clark
Petula Clark is an internationally famous singer, composer and actress who found herself playing Fred Astaire's daughter in Finian's Rainbow (1969); the two are shown here in this screen capture.Born in 1932 in England, Clark's first radio performance took place on the BBC during a London air raid in 1942. Clark, who was known as "Britain's Shirley Temple" also toured with Julie Andrews (herself a child at the time).
Clark's most famous song is probably Downtown; it was the first of a string of Top 40 hits in the U.S. Clark has also composed the soundtrack to various films (particularly French films), and has worked as an actress. Her career has included radio, film, television, international live tours, and hit singles on both sides of the pond. She is still an active entertainer today, putting on live shows.
In Finian's Rainbow she shares one dance with Fred Astaire, in a number called "Look to the Rainbow." You get to hear Fred with an Irish accent too. It's also the last non-documentary film in which he danced (he turned 70 the year it was released).
(Incidentally a great sequence in that film has Barbara Hancock - who plays "Susan the Silent" - dancing in the rain.)
Fred Astaire and the AFI Top 50 Movie Legends
The American Film Institute (AFI) made a list of the top 50 legends of American movies. Fred is among them, and so are six of the people he danced with on-screen.
Loading poll. Please Wait...
Fred Astaire's Autobiography
Steps in Time
In Steps in Time Fred Astaire discusses various highlights and milestones of his career and the people he collaborated with - fellow dancers, singers, actors, choreographers, and composers.
Feedback on Fred Astaire's Dance Partners
I'm still tweaking parts of this page and adding to it, but I welcome your thoughts.
-
-
Emmy
May 21, 2012 @ 4:04 pm | delete
- This was fascinating - thank-you for putting it all together!!! I wanted to suggest another Fred Astaire film that I didn't see (although might have overlooked) that came out in 1961 called "The Pleasure of His Company" where Fred danced with Debbie Reynolds (who played his daughter) and Lilli Palmer (who plays as his ex-wife).
-
-
-
Saralyn
Mar 15, 2012 @ 6:52 pm | delete
- Great reference site for one of the best dancers of all time!
-
-
-
greenspirit
Feb 13, 2012 @ 4:33 pm | delete
- Extra ordinary amount of dedicated work here...if only we had more lenses with this much detail.
-
-
-
silloftheworld
Feb 13, 2012 @ 10:04 pm | delete
- Thank you; I'm glad you enjoyed looking through it.
-
-
-
RomanticMe
Feb 13, 2012 @ 2:53 pm | delete
- This must have been a load of work! Absolutely great lens
-
- Load More
by silloftheworld
A writer who loves books, movies, music, science and traveling. I write mainly short fiction and maintain a blog: The Sill of the World. more »
- 10 featured lenses
- Winner of 13 trophies!
- Top lens » How to Be a Slytherin
Feeling creative?
Create a Lens!
Explore related pages
- Julie Andrews' Collection Of Poems, Songs And Lullabies Julie Andrews' Collection Of Poems, Songs And Lullabies
- Precious Bryant - Blues Musician Precious Bryant - Blues Musician
- Poems About Music Poems About Music
- Interactive Books for iPad Interactive Books for iPad
- How to Be a Ravenclaw How to Be a Ravenclaw
- Where to Find Free Old Movies and TV Shows Where to Find Free Old Movies and TV Shows
