History Creator / FredAstaire

* ''The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town'' (1977)

* ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1946)

* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: Astaire made his dancing look far easier than it actually is. His routines, as Creator/RogerEbert said in his [[RogerEbertGreatMoviesList Great Movies]] [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-swing-time-1936 review]] of the film, "required unimaginable hours of rehearsal".

* ''A Damsel in Distress'' (1937)

* ''Easter Parade'' (1948)

Frederick Austerlitz, better known as Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), was an American film and stage actor, choreographer, singer, musician, and [[DancingRoyalty the original dancing machine]]. He made 31 [[TheMusical musical]] films and was named [[AFIS100Years100Stars the fifth greatest male star of all time]] by the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute.

** Interestingly, people tend to forgive this because of his tribute to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, in which his admiration for a fellow dancer shines through. Contrast with Creator/AlJolson, who will never live down "[[Film/TheJazzSinger Mammy]]".

Frederick Austerlitz, better known as Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), was an American film and stage actor, choreographer, singer, musician, and [[DancingRoyalty the original dancing machine]]. He made 31 musical films and was named [[AFIS100Years100Stars the fifth greatest male star of all time]] by the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute.

Frederick Austerlitz, better known as Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), was an American film and stage actor, choreographer, singer, musician, and [[TheKingOfDance the original dancing machine]]. He made 31 musical films and was named [[AFIS100Years100Stars the fifth greatest male star of all time]] by the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute.

* ThoseTwoActors: Himself and Creator/GingerRogers.

* ''Film/DaddyLongLegs1955'' (1955)

Frederick Austerlitz, better known as Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), was a film and stage actor, choreographer, singer, musician, and [[TheKingOfDance the original dancing machine]]. He made 31 musical films and was named [[AFIS100Years100Stars the fifth greatest male star of all time]] by the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute.

Eventually, he retired from dancing on film and started a chain of dancing schools, then he returned to dancing musicals and kept going until ''Theatre/FiniansRainbow'' in 1968. After that, the rest of his career was in straight acting with a light comedic tone, often as an amiable con artist type in works as varied as ''Film/TheToweringInferno'' and the ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' episode, "The Man With Nine Lives," as Chameleon.

* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: Astaire made his dancing look far easier than it actually is.

* CoolOldGuy: He took up skateboarding in his seventies and was awarded a life membership in the National Skateboard Society. At the age of 78, he broke his wrist while practicing in his driveway. His comment: "Creator/GeneKelly warned me not to be a damned fool, but I'd seen the things those kids got up to on television doing all sorts of tricks. What a routine I could have worked up for a film sequence if they had existed a few years ago."

Eventually, he retired from dancing on film and started a chain of dancing schools, then he returned to dancing musicals and kept going until ''Literature/FiniansRainbow'' in 1968. After that, the rest of his career was in straight acting with a light comedic tone, often as an amiable con artist type in works as varied as ''Film/TheToweringInferno'' and the ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' episode, "The Man With Nine Lives," as Chameleon.

* ''Literature/DaddyLongLegs'' (1955)

* ThePerfectionist: His flawless technique came at a cost. He often failed to meet his own expectations, and constantly questioned ''whether or not he was a good dancer.''

* TheOner: His dance routines were often these, especially the solos. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxPgplMujzQ Example]].

[[quoteright:342:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/astaire_hat_1082.jpg]]

Frederick Austerlitz, better known as Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 -- June 22, 1987), was a film and stage actor, choreographer, singer, musician, and [[TheKingOfDance the original dancing machine]]. He made 31 musical films and was named [[AFIS100Years100Stars the fifth greatest male star of all time]] by the Creator/AmericanFilmInstitute.

* HeroicDimples: He was mostly the good guy and his dimples added a roguishness to his characters.

* UsefulNotes/AcademyAward: He received an honorary award in 1949/1950 for "for his unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures" which was presented to him by Creator/GingerRogers.

** Interestingly, people tend to forgive this because of his tribute to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, in which his admiration for a fellow dancer shines through. Contrast with Music/AlJolson, who will never live down "[[Film/TheJazzSinger Mammy]]".

Frederick Austerlitz, better known as Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 -- June 22, 1987), was a film and stage actor, choreographer, singer, musician, and the original dancing machine. He made 31 musical films and was named the fifth greatest male star of all time by the American Film Institute.

Also an originator of the GravityScrew, capable of tap-dancing across the ceiling in a signature scene from ''Film/RoyalWedding'' (1951) (as seen [[http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/288068/Royal-Wedding-Movie-Clip-You-re-All-The-World-To-Me.html here]]). The rotating room/fixed camera trick has since been borrowed by everyone from [[{{Series/LoisAndClark}} Superman]] to [[{{Film/Inception}} Christopher Nolan]].

* MomentOfAwesome: Doing a complicated, energetic dance number on stage for the 1970 Academy Awards, just to show he still had it at 70.

* ''SantaClausIsCominToTown'' (1970)

* MayDecemberRomance: He played romantic leads until he was close to sixty, often opposite women thirty or so years younger. In his later films, he's often the "sophisticated older man" type.
** Also, in real life, he married his second wife when he was over eighty and she was in her mid-thirties. Despite the age difference, they were reportedly happy.