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History of Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was born in Omaha, NE in 1899. He began studying dance at the age of 4 when his mother decided to take Fred and his older sister, Adele, to New York, NY. The siblings studied for 1 year. They then had their first professional debut in Keyport, NJ. The brother sister act was successful for 5 years. In 1932 Fred was left to dance alone when his sister married. Mr. Astaire decided to return to New York City. While there, he met Phyllis Potter. Fred married her and had 3 children: his step-son, Peter; his son, Fred Jr.; and daughter, Ava.
After he married, Fred tried his hand at acting in Hollywood. He did not get such a rave review his first time around. The person Fred auditioned for said, “He can't act. Can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little”. His second trip to Hollywood in 1933 had much better results. Fred Astaire was hired to perform in the movie Flying Down to Rio . His co-star was Ginger Rogers who he previously knew from New York. That was the beginning of a great partnership. The two of them did 11 films together.
In 1946, Mr. Astaire retired from the movie world. In his retirement, Fred spent time with his family, worked with race horses, and began working on the idea of opening a dance studio. The dance studio was built on Park Ave. in New York City with the help of a friend named Charles Casanave. The studio was named after Fred Astaire himself. The dance studio originally taught Ballet, Tap, and Jazz. Later, they expanded to teach Ballroom dancing. Now all the Fred Astaire studios are Ballroom dancing. Charles and Fred created a perpetual franchise agreement for the studio. After Charles died, his 2 sons bought out Fred Astaire's portion of the studio franchise. Fred Astaire Studios currently has 122 studios in the United States as of recently.
Performing in musicals was a great love of Fred's. He decided in 1948, he could no longer be away from his love of performing and came out of retirement. His first project was a movie called Easter Parade . This movie formed new friendships with his co-stars: Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, and his new dance partner Cyd Charisse. Fred was in over 41 movie musicals in his life.
Among many of Mr. Astaire great achievements was the nomination for Best Supporting Actor in “Towering Inferno”, a Kennedy Center Honors, and a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. After Fred's wife died, he met a jockey named Robyn Smith. Despite the whopping 45 age year difference he married Robyn. Seven years later he died of Pneumonia. Mr. Astaire has made a colossal impact on both the dancing and movie world. Fred's talent and charisma will be difficult to surpass. His originality, creativeness, and imagination are truly missed.
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