Results 1 to 33 of 33

Thread: Fred Astaire

  1. #1
    ST Moron Guest

    Fred Astaire

    I looked around and, incredibly, there doesn't seem to be an Astaire thread.

    I've been lucky enough to see most of his films. And the performance I liked best was "Bojangles of Harlem" from Swing Time:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6cLbk9k8BI

    I know Astaire gets a lot of sh*t for this because he performed in blackface. Be that as it may, he and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson were friends. And I don't think Astaire would ever have done anything to hurt his friend.

    Anyway: any other Astaire fans out there?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    2,058
    he could sing too.

  3. #3
    dirttrackdemon3 Guest
    yea, but dancing with a vaccum cleaner??? come on, thats like having joe ddimaggio do more mr. coffee commercials! then they got some bum representing ernest p. worrell, selling used cars....

  4. #4
    Catherine of Siena Guest
    it has been said that fred was 'of the persuasia'.....

  5. #5
    Danny62 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by ST Moron View Post
    I looked around and, incredibly, there doesn't seem to be an Astaire thread.

    I've been lucky enough to see most of his films. And the performance I liked best was "Bojangles of Harlem" from Swing Time:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6cLbk9k8BI

    I know Astaire gets a lot of sh*t for this because he performed in blackface. Be that as it may, he and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson were friends. And I don't think Astaire would ever have done anything to hurt his friend.

    Anyway: any other Astaire fans out there?
    Does anyone ever know if he and Ginger ever got ummmmmm...real friendly??

    If he did he was one lucky guy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    2,058
    Quote Originally Posted by dirttrackdemon3 View Post
    yea, but dancing with a vaccum cleaner??? come on, thats like having joe ddimaggio do more mr. coffee commercials! then they got some bum representing ernest p. worrell, selling used cars....

    joltin joe was alive and well,and carefully weighed his options before he signed on with mr. coffee.

  7. #7
    dirttrackdemon3 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by midnitelamp View Post
    joltin joe was alive and well,and carefully weighed his options before he signed on with mr. coffee.

    uh-uh, i mean now. could u see him hocking some brew from the grave?? of course, i wouldnt mind him spilling the beans about marilyn!!

  8. #8
    SuburbanDeathHag Guest
    Fred was the dancin guy of forever and infinity. I go into a trance when I watch him. He was amazing!!!!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    2,058
    dirttrack,sorry i belabored the obvious.

    just got up.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    2,058
    aw.what the hell. scene opens with joe walking around modern new york,sees jeter in bar like the commercial he was in,joe voiceover: if there is any thing i miss more than marilyn,its the refreshing taste of beechwood aged...
    Last edited by midnitelamp; 10-28-2007 at 11:28 PM.

  11. #11
    Noor 7ayaty Guest
    Every time I see "The Green Mile," I tear up .. and again, that doesn't often happen with me. "Heaven .. I'm in heaven .."

  12. #12
    ST Moron Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by dirttrackdemon3 View Post
    yea, but dancing with a vaccum cleaner??? come on, thats like having joe ddimaggio do more mr. coffee commercials!
    That was actually a decision his widow, Robin, made after his death.

    I think I saw read this in his FAD write up, but the nub of the gist was that his widow was approached by the Dirt Devil people for the use of Fred's image. Which she consented to. Needless to say, his fans had much the same reaction you did and were not best pleased to see their idol dancing with a vacuum cleaner.

    It would have been one thing if she was starving and needed the dough, but I understand she was more than adequately provided for.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    1,234
    Quote Originally Posted by ST Moron View Post
    I looked around and, incredibly, there doesn't seem to be an Astaire thread.

    I've been lucky enough to see most of his films. And the performance I liked best was "Bojangles of Harlem" from Swing Time:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6cLbk9k8BI

    I know Astaire gets a lot of sh*t for this because he performed in blackface. Be that as it may, he and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson were friends. And I don't think Astaire would ever have done anything to hurt his friend.

    Anyway: any other Astaire fans out there?

    BOJANGLES OF HARLEM
    From the film "Swing Time" (1936)
    (Jerome Kern / Dorothy Fields)
    Fred Astaire - 1936


    Ask anyone up Harlem way
    Who that guy Bojangles is.
    They may not know who's president,
    But ask 'em who Bojangles is.

    He's in the most entrancin' business,
    It's what they call the "dancin' business",
    When there's a beat
    Up on the street,
    Brother, you go and bet all your dough!
    Sister, you know!
    That ain't no one but Bo!

    Oh! Bojangles of Harlem,
    You dance such hot stuff!
    Young folks love you in Harlem,
    They say you've got stuff!
    Tough guys rumba out of poolrooms
    And kids start "truckin'" out of schoolrooms!

    Oh! Bojangles of Harlem!
    The whole town's at your heels!
    Leaving their flats,
    Missing their meals!
    Running like rats,
    Going astray,
    Throw those long legs away!
    Last edited by Serendipity09; 11-04-2007 at 12:54 AM.


  14. #14
    Kathyf Guest
    I loved him in daddy Long Legs. Such a great movie!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Central Jersey
    Posts
    519

    Fred Astaire

    I am surprised that there isn't a thread on him. Anyone here ever hear anything bad about him?




    -K.

  16. #16
    leevancleef Guest

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Central Jersey
    Posts
    519

    Whoops!

    I looked, and I didn't find one. My apologies for the redundancy.



    K.

  18. #18
    Harry in Connecticut Guest
    There are DVDs of old Dick Cavett shows to be had. The one with Fred as the only guest is a treat.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Middle Earth
    Posts
    13,009
    Whats wrinkled and smells of ginger.......................Fred Astarie's face.
    Stay in Drugs. Eat your School. Don't do Vegetables.

  20. #20
    MarionRavenwood Guest
    New here and this is my first ever post...

    I'm a big Fred Astaire fan but not as much as my kids...

    My dad has managed to get my kids (ages 13, 12, 9 and 7) completely hooked on all the great old musicals and they ADORE Fred Astaire. They know all the Fred and Ginger movies inside out and backwards and watch probably at least one a week. Timeless, classic, eternally watchable - that's Fred.

    On a death hag related note, it was slightly bittersweet as they chose favorite stars from their beloved musicals to have to tell them that they're all dead.

  21. #21
    Reecy Guest
    I had heard that Fred Astaire had fallen head over heels for one of his female dancers. It was not Ginger Rodgers it was someone else.

    Fred was a married man at the time and I wish I knew who he was setting his sites upon. He was so in love.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    new zealand
    Posts
    2,524
    pull the string!

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    2,058
    Quote Originally Posted by Reecy View Post
    I had heard that Fred Astaire had fallen head over heels for one of his female dancers. It was not Ginger Rodgers it was someone else.

    Fred was a married man at the time and I wish I knew who he was setting his sites upon. He was so in love.
    i don't have a real clue,but i will start the guessing with Joan Leslie,but she was probaly too young,but,quite lovable.

  24. #24
    Gruesome Guest
    Fred Astaire revolutionized how dance would be done in movies. He said that the focus ought to be on the dancer and remain there no matter what else was going on in the shot. To see him with Ginger Rogers is to know that it just never has been that good since. A reacl class act!

  25. #25
    More Cheese Please Guest
    Fred is pure genius...

    Here's a link to a radio interview from 1968
    http://www.kaneprod.com/astaire/astaire.htm

    Here's Fred and Gene Kelly together....
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asI_U4CL1lg

    Fred and Ginger from Top Hat.... LOVE IT!!!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hok8qdoFijM


  26. #26
    More Cheese Please Guest
    Here's Fred "Puttin' on the Ritz"...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFabj...eature=related


  27. #27
    vespasia Guest
    Fred and Eleanor Powell dancing Begin the Beguine IMO the finest piece of dancing by anyone,anytime,anywhere.

  28. #28
    Rudy's Girl Guest
    Though I am absolutely addicted to Gene Kelly, I love to watch Fred's gracefulness on the screen. RIP Fred....

  29. #29
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Central Jersey
    Posts
    519

    Remember him in Ghost Story?

    I think that was the beginning of the end. Didn't he catch pneumonia making that movie?









    YIKES!!!!

  30. 12-16-2009, 01:01 PM

  31. #30
    Bessolo Guest
    Always felt that Fred had a sort of American aristocratic air about him as he exuded "class" but without being a snob. His dancing was sublime and he seemed to migrate between this reality and another, such were his surreal flowing movements (sounds like the result of a Mexican meal)

    In the 70's I went to an exhibit at NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art which featured clothing from the golden era of Hollywood. When no one was looking I copped a feel of his tuxedo. Wouldn't try that today lest I get shipped off to Guantanamo!

    PS An odd aside, my spell check knew the proper spelling of "Guantanamo" just as it knew both "Illuminati" and "Bilderberg" Hmmm....

  32. #31
    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Posts
    8
    Amazingly there is no flak over the Bojangles blackface routine Eleanor Powell did in Honolulu. She worked with him and was friends and this was her tribute. Eleanor was big on civil rights and this was well known so no one took offense.

  33. #32
    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Posts
    8
    Fred was clearly outdone by Eleanor in that movie and would never work with her again though she wanted to. At Astaire’s 1981 AFI tribute Eleanor spoke and got a prolonged standing ovation. Well deserved. You can just see Astaire thinking “ damn it shes upstaging me again.” But she gives a glowing tribute. She was a class act all around. Sadly she was diagnosed with cancer after this and this was her last appearance. https://youtu.be/vOjtFC38o40

  34. 09-09-2021, 09:58 PM

  35. #33
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    6,302
    Quote Originally Posted by Squid McGuffy View Post
    Amazingly there is no flak over the Bojangles blackface routine Eleanor Powell did in Honolulu. She worked with him and was friends and this was her tribute. Eleanor was big on civil rights and this was well known so no one took offense.
    This is a very good point. ( thank you for saying this)
    Carolyn(1958-2009) always in my heart.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •