Virtually all the polls at the end of the 20th century placed Fred Astaire at the top or near the top of professional dancers.

Astaire made some 30 memorable movie musicals, including 10 highly-acclaimed films with co-star Ginger Rogers. The Astaire-Rogers collaboration included "The Gay Divorce," "Roberta," "Top Hat," "Follow the Fleet," "Swing Time," "Shall We Dance?," "Carefree," "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" and "The Barkleys of Broadway."

Astaire's success in the movies seemed improbable. In his first attempt at a movie career a Paramount executive wrote of Astaire: "Can't act. Can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little."
Astaire succeeded nonetheless. He sweated his way to the top. "He was a dictator who made me work harder and longer than anyone," said Nanette Fabray, one of his female co-stars.

Astaire introduced 36 hit songs in his movies from 1929 through 1951. Eight Astaire recordings topped the pop charts: "Night and Day", "Cheek to Cheek," "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket," "The Way You Look Tonight," "A Fine Romance," "They Can't Take that Away from Me," "Nice Work If You Can Get It" and "Change Partners."

Astaire's solo dance scene in Holiday Inn took 38 takes during which Fred lost 14 pounds. The large number of takes were at Fred's insistance. According to co-star Bing Crosby: "Fred's a perfectionist ..... I thought the first take he did was great. They all looked alike to me, but there was a little something he didn't like in each one.

In 1947 Fred set up his first studio in New York.

"Some people seem to feel that good dancers are born, but all the good dancers I know have been taught or trained. To me dancing has always been fun and I enjoy every minute of it. I am glad that I can now put my knowledge to use in bringing personal confidence and a feeling of achievement to so many people."

At Norwood studio we are proud to continue Fred Astaire's work into the 21st century.

Looking for more about Fred Astaire? Why not download some inspirational pictures of Fred Astaire from the image vaults of The Motion Picture and Television Archive? Visit mptv.net - free downloads for personal use only.