The Truth About Fred Astaire And Ginger Rogers Working Together

[@GrungeHQ]

What did you think of their onscreen chemistry?

[@cwilson6990]

I've Always Loved Ginger & Astaire Still watch Thier Movies never get old 🙂

[@gem3506]

I have no opinion if they did or didn't have chemistry off stage. I never thought to read more about it. I just loved watching them dance together. I just can't imagine see 2 young excellent dancers with the passion they had for it, had no chemistry on or off the screen. They left us with such beautiful dancing for a life time 💞

[@NellieKAdaba]

Nice, great chemistry.

[@maryk3458]

@@gem3506 the age differnce seemed too much for real life.

[@ModArtist]

I think you are trying to Grinch Grunge this but that is probably ire of non limerick prose...

[@yolandawooten-mitchell1404]

Absolutely heavenly together!!! Everytime!!! Both of them were like pieces of a puzzle...they just fit together on screen ❤❤❤❤

[@WillN2Go1]

Great video. It's amazing that after 90 years they're still making people happy with their dancing, acting and movies. I can never get enough of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, can't imagine one without the other in their movies together.

[@Cward303]

She is so underrated!! Not only could she dance, her acting was phenomenal and her comedic timing was unmatched and used by Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy and Ginger’s mom, Leele, helped Lucy as much as she did with all the RKO stars! I always say, Ginger and Fred! I can’t take my eyes off her when the two are dancing!! What a woman!! Thank you for this video! And her singing wasn’t the best, but it was full of personality and got better as she practiced!

[@meghanmisaliar]

How is she underrated??? She won an OSCAR!!

[@meghanmisaliar]

You're very confused. She was a HUGE star in her day. Get a clue.

[@Cward303]

@@meghanmisaliar hey stupid, there’s a whole psychology term called, The Ginger Rogers Syndrome” look it up. And slap yourself in the mouth next time you think of commenting to me.

[@anthonyriche552]

Didn't know that about her and Lucille Ball. Pretty cool!!

[@scopex2749]

There will NEVER be a dancing couple like these 2. IMHO Ginger was a SUPERB dancer and actress not to mention those amazing legs and looks! SIZZLING!

[@christophers796]

Ginger Rogers and fred Astaire 🎉 🇬🇧 were such a great pair in the movies 🎥🇬🇧

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

Astaire was a smart man. He didn't want to be recognized as a team he wanted to be recognized as a star himself. Ginger was the same way. Ginger was a very hard worker, in her early days she would film a movie on Long Island during the day, then work on Broadway in a play at night!

[@michaelcasey8730]

Both were very great performers But Ginger Rogers was off the chain beautiful Fred was a great talented dancer But what made him much more eye catching was his beautiful partner she takes a back seat to no one Not even Fred Astaire To find any partner that fits into your life so we'll and builds your reputation Fred Astaire should be so greatful to have found Ginger Rogers

[@cybelemarie7913]

The truth is, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did ... except backwards, and wearing high heels!

[@linchen008]

In high heels: yes Only backwards: no

[@christysatfield8302]

Ginger Rogers said this herself. I hope you aren’t taking credit for the quote.

[@ottoranking]

@@christysatfield8302 Ginger Rodgers in her biography indicated she did not say that. The quote is attributed to cartoonist Bob Thaves in his 'Frank and Ernest’ series. See Oxford Dictionary of Quotations under Misquotations. Regardless, they both were great dancers.

[@meghanmisaliar]

That quote is so old. And she wore flats a lot too.

[@paulryan5150]

Why do people forget the obvious? Fred Astaire could sing. Nobody could have replaced his voice.

[@iloveejbgssnoopy]

Ginger Rogers strong lady and so amazing and proud of her. She really inspired all women. They had magic on screen.

[@carolcaruso6641]

Even as a kid, along time ago, there was something about the way they related in their movies that I noticed. They dated more than once, in New York, Fred says so in his autobiography. I think his wife didnt want him kissing Ginger in particular, because of their past. He did kiss other women in his movies just not her. I can't imagine all the time they spent close in rehearsals without forming some kind of bond, Ginger was so dazzling and full of life. Fred seemed to love his wife and his home life, his family. Ginger was so very devoted to her career but still, when you see him interact with her as opposed to the other women he performed with, it's a whole other thing. They and those they associated with were too classy to tell all. A fun mystery to unravel, I think, and easy to see in their films together! It's what makes us watch again and again

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

They kissed in "Carefree", "Castles" and "Barkley's".

[@carolcaruso6641]

@@lanecountybigfooters5716 that's true! I own all their movies. But what meant was I wonder if his wife showed up on the set of all his movies and knitted like she did on the fred/ ginger set, like with Rita,, Eleanor Powell, Cyd Charisse, etc.. There is an interview on KZbin thats pretty new in which Ginger is interviewed about their pictures together and said she sat sewing for hours and she and Fred would go to lunch together, and that Ginger didn't feel particularly welcome in their home as a single lady. Very interesting interview for sure. They seemed very comfortable playing married in Barkleys and Castles. I guess she was his "work wife" for a whole there! Ha!

[@AnnaKarkowskaVirtuoso]

wow! thank you for sharing!

[@christineparis5607]

Glamour and sophistication, beautiful.

[@donnagamble5283]

Wow! I’m even more amazed by the fact that she could look as dazzling as Astaire and not be a trained dancer!

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

No training PRIOR to working with Fred Astaire and Hermes Pan, two of the best ever to dance and teach! If you watch the dances in chronological order, you can literally see her improvement. She initially danced, then added tap at an astonishing rate.

[@leesashriber5097]

They were magical together. 🕊️🙏❤️

[@mmm_8318]

Granted, I'm not a dancer, but I could never tell Rogers was not a professionally trained dancer. Every time they danced together it's her I kept looking at, without fail. Yes Astaire is fantastic but Rogers is magnificent and beyond. She does steal the show.

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

Fred (and Hermes Pan) did some of their very best choreography for Ginger. Fred always brought out the best in his dancing partners and in Ginger most of all.

[@donatord]

I know how that is. I retired as a senior design engineer and I worked with this really intelligent lady engineer and I told her I enjoyed working with her and she said she hated working with me and I was so shocked. I said why? She said because I’m endlessly checking everything and reviewing everything And that’s just my style of working. She felt I was questioning her abilities with the constant checking everything over again. I told her that even though she felt that way I was going to work doubly hard because I wanted her to enjoy working with me as much as I enjoyed working with her. And eventually I think I won her over because she was really gifted and smart. I was lucky to have such an intelligent partner for some of the projects we worked on together. She had moved here from South America and had a super nice husband and two really great kids. She was one of the nicest people I ever worked with, I was pretty sad she felt a little different about me. I wonder if she ever worked with someone that respected her as much as I did.

[@rosalindwilliams4431]

I just think they were very great dancers and very great actors. I'm watching the movie Top Hat right now.🙂

[@donaldmonzon1774]

always a joy to watch their movie !!!!💕

[@kerstin.jitschin5861]

It’s time to watch those two’s again ❣️thanks for sharing 👍

[@larasemerad2605]

Thanks for sharing and I love both movies they are together or individual.

[@elidavega294]

El duo mas PERFECTO..FOREVER!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@paulhopkins5051]

I loved their films together. I watched them many times but I watched them for Ginger. I thought she was awesome as a dancer, awesome as an actress and she was so damn sexy. As a young kid I was smitten by her.

[@hestergreen2031]

Ginger Rogers was an excellent partner on stage & screen.

[@meghanmisaliar]

Not as good as Fred.

[@kirstymackenzie2437]

Rita Hayworth was his real favourite dance partner.

[@brAveNewWorld-q3n]

It's curious that nobody anywhere ever said or wrote that until all concerned were dead and gone, and the only person who claims to have heard it, has nothing but hearsay to support it. Fred was always consistent over his entire life, even when he was aged and his career long past , about absolutely refusing to answer that question. Guys like Dick Cavett and Steve Allen and Jack Benny would have said something about it because that's just who they were - and they didn't.

[@daveconleyportfolio5192]

This "only kissed once" business is false. Their last movie, "The Barkleys of Broadway" has quite a lot of kissing. And they look very convincing while doing it.

[@drsunshine1959]

Yes, they do!

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

They kissed (as a joke) in Top Hat, Carefree (if you count the secret kiss in the Hypnotic dance), Castles and Barkleys.

[@lisabelle7553]

Ginger Rogers- what an incredible star!

[@meghanmisaliar]

She was only good because they partnered her w Fred A.

[@Cward303]

@@meghanmisaliar too bad your partner doesn’t make you look any better or vice versa 😅😅😅

[@meghanmisaliar]

@@Cward303 uhm, except they do. They literally said SHE made him sexier, and HE made her "classier". Pay attention hon.

[@meghanmisaliar]

@@Cward303 she admitted that she had no dancing style. She copied him. SHE said that.

[@Cward303]

@@meghanmisaliar where’s the receipts though?? Because she never said that! They asked her if she had formal dance training. She said she didn’t and didn’t have formal walking training either. Fred said he was lucky to have her and despite his many partners, no one ever looked as right as ginger with him. And that all fact. Now, run that! She won a Charleston dance contest at 13 and went to vaudeville then the stage in Girl Crazy. So, shut up! And take several seats son

[@albertdehn8381]

Thanks for sharing 👍😀

[@vickilindberg6336]

I doubt EPowell cried. Ginger was an amazing trooper.

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

Eleanor Powell was easily Fred's equal in talent!

[@ctruth6185]

@@lanecountybigfooters5716 Fred was far more visionary with regards to dance, he choreographed numbers, directed his dance number and even had input on filming dance numbers with, detail as to, camera angles, set design and camera shots. Fred was a musician too. Astaire did more for marrying the art of dance to film than Eleanor Powell. The result, great art. He created timeless artistry, beautiful, unique, innovative performances captured on film. Eleanor Powell was a strong dancer but not a pioneer or an artistic innovator. In fact, all of her numbers kind of look the same to me. For me Powell is a good performer. But Astaire is great art, that takes me to another place. Thank you. I'm not even from that generation but I know what I like.

[@nancycurtis488]

And she died because she would not take insulin for her diabetes because of her Christian Science religion. Such a huge shame…a truly talented dancer and actress. I miss her total class!

[@patricemoran7469]

Despite their more formal relationship off screen probably somewhat oweing to Phyllis Astaire's jealous nature...they had tons of chemistry on screen and I believe Fred came to really appreciate working with Ginger. According to Hermes Pan when Ginger told RKO executives in 1939 that she was done with musicals and wanted to broaden her horizons careerwise...Fred was very upset and distressed and would fret over his future prospects. As we all now know...today he is overwhelmingly regarded today as the greatest film dancer of the 20th century...danced on the ceiling...danced with coat racks...and lots of beautiful females...Rita Hayworth...Cyd Charrise...Judy Garland...Jane Powell...Leslie Caron...Audrey Hepburn, etc.etc.etc.

[@lenhummel5766]

Yes. and even Paulette Goddard and Audrey Hepburn❗

[@laraegodwin6008]

I feel sad that Fred Astaire gets too much praise and recognition for his dancing, and i love him , too , but he gets too much. I wish that Eleanor POWELL and Ginger Rogers would get as much. Astaire even said that Powell was superior to him , but he refused anymore films with her !! And Hollywood started not appreciating her less because she was a woman !! They stopped putting her in films and i wish that she had fought them but sadly she did not.

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

They had an 8-movie contract after "Rio"; it was always going to end after that, whenever they completed that number of films. And Fred was probably shaking in his boots, since his career really hadn't taken off yet. Fred fretted over everything.

[@esmeephillips5888]

​@@laraegodwin6008 Eleanor quit voluntarily in 1943 bc she wanted to be a full-time wife and mother. Since 1939 she had said she would not renew her MGM contract. She was engaged to an art director there, but after a serious illness she became Glenn Ford's fiancee. She made one independent film while he was on war service with the USMC. In the late 1940s MGM offered her a comeback but she refused.

[@annettepora8091]

Fred's best partner was Rita Hayworth. Rita was a dancer since her youth and was extraordinary in her technique.

[@contardi]

He said that once.

[@ctruth6185]

Speak for yourself. Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire partnership captures the joy & majesty of ethereal romance. Cyd Charisse & Vera Ellen had a magic & style of their own. I love the performing art of dance! It enraptures the soul!

[@eileenhetherington3704]

No. Rita was trained in dance from a young age, true, but she didn't enjoy it. She was made to do it by her overbearing father. Any professional dancer can spot whether a performer is really passionate about what they are doing. Fred told friends his favorite partner was Cyd Charisse, who was a prima ballerina and a joy to dance with. Their "Dancing in the Dark" is breathtaking.

[@juanmonge7418]

In an interview on “Dick Cavett” Fred said that when people ask him who his favorite partner was he always answered : Bing Crosby.

[@skyavalanche]

Your videos are the Gold Standard. So well researched, educational, and always entertaining. I appreciate and enjoy every one. Thank you ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@belkyhernandez8281]

How do you knit loudly? WTH!?

[@alisonm2257]

Lol!

[@juanmonge7418]

She made her presence be known.

[@feliciajenkins5041]

Blood in the shoes 😱

[@thetruthhasconsequences58]

Uh, extremely common for ballerinas,🤔 as well for tap dancers.Not shocking 😭

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

47 takes

[@juanmonge7418]

Women who worked with Gene Kelly often complained about that.

[@brAveNewWorld-q3n]

Ginger danced in lots of movies without Astaire. Just a few of those.... Sitting Pretty, Upperworld, In Person, Stage Door, Roxie Hart, Lady in the Dark Astaire didn't dance because of his sister. He danced because he had one of the biggest stage mothers in the history of stage mothers.

[@TheodoraWimsey]

I highly doubt that Eleanor Powell cried. Astaire didn't like dancing with Powell because he said she danced "like a man" i.e. she as good or better than he could. Powell was also a trained gymnast.

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

Eleanor Powell was easily Fred's equal. Could have been some sour grapes!

[@harryodum5598]

I have always heard Fred’s breath was so bad that people would put Vicks in there nose. And for some reason they started hiding the truth…

[@beforeourveryeyes]

What a strange choice of packground music. Thanks, anyway.

[@audreydaleski1067]

I heard they did spend time toether.

[@eckesg2]

Katherine Hepburn famously said of them "He gave her class. She gave him sex"

[@ellendolber2765]

That's just nasty......she got some nerve seeing she lived with a married man

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

I THINK it was more in terms of "sex appeal" but with Kate, she might have just said it to spite Ginger, with whom she competed. Fred refused to give her dance lessons.

[@vickiebunch3072]

I think Kate meant that Ginger gave Fred sex appeal.

[@skykingimagery899]

No one was ever better even including Gene Kelly.

[@aahz42]

this is a horrible video "sometimes more cheerful, sometimes more thoughtful." Gershwin loved Astaire for a reason that was good in the period - his voice was better suited for those kind of songs before better recordings made Sinatra or Elvis better. You also discount his contributions as a great vaudeville actor like buster keaton.

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

George Gershwin and Fred had been friends since they were 15 and 14 and dreaming of becoming the best in their fields. George knew exactly how to write for Fred's voice. The other composers loved him, too - Berlin, Kerns etc.

[@peterlee6745]

Fred Without Ginger NO WAY./ They Made Each Other

[@Sojourning_]

I been watching the pare for 70 years, dancing. Recently I concluded the women Astaire danced with were even better then Astaire at dance, For the most part, many times the women had to do the dance moving backwards while Fred moved forward. they would need to do all the steps going in all directions. They made Fred look good,

[@asielnorton345]

this is hardly the truth about fred and ginger.

[@heartofpuregold]

Prefer Gene Kelly..

[@emeraldkimble7602]

Fred couldn’t sing

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields and Cole Porter would disagree.

[@drsunshine1959]

Astaire was a wonderful singer. I had a cabaret act in which I sang the classic songs written by some of the greatest songwriters in history just for him.

[@eileenhetherington3704]

He sang better than Gene Kelly.

[@bejingmao]

@@eileenhetherington3704 neither were particulary good singers. they weren't bad, just not really good. Astaire "a wonderful singer" ??? ok, in your own mind.

[@juanmonge7418]

Mel Torme did a wonderful tribute to Fred on one of his live albums. He introduced many famous songs. Song writers specifically wanted Fred to sing his songs.

[@meghanmisaliar]

Every story you guys make you try to make the man look like the bad guy and the woman look like the "poor victim". I'm unsubbing.

[@Cward303]

You’re a weird hater

[@meghanmisaliar]

@@Cward303 and what am I "hating" on??? 🤣🤣

[@Cward303]

@@meghanmisaliar women, I guess, bruh?! Tf? Where’s that unsub?? 😅🤡

[@meghanmisaliar]

@@Cward303 and why would you assume Im a man?? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@meghanmisaliar]

@@Cward303 Im a WOMAN dunderhead. And guess what else?? I'm BLK!! Not everyone is Awhte man. You sound very sexist.

[@AliBaba-ke5jn]

Don't like GR. He had better partners.

[@jasonpaul5]

He seemed closeted. Dude is gay and she kept it to herself. Good job.

[@djm1228]

“Dude” was not gay. He was a true gentlemen with a lot of class.

[@belkyhernandez8281]

I don't get gay from him. Haven't heard anyone else say it.