Fred Astaire

Victory is sweetest when you’ve known defeat.
     - Malcolm Forbes -

Few would argue whether Fred Astaire was the greatest American dancer ever seen on film. Born to a wealthy Omaha family, he began his popular vaudeville dance act with his sister Adele at the age of seven. Ironically, Adele was known as the stronger, more talented of the two. Fred remained in her shadow until she retired from dancing in 1931.

In his first screen test, MGM's testing director noted that Astaire, "Can't act. Can't sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little." Astaire went on to become an incredibly successful actor, singer and dancer and kept that note in his Beverly Hills home to remind him of where he came from. Over the course of his long film career, he appeared in 212 musical numbers, of which 133 contain fully developed dance routines, a high percentage of which are of great artistic value, a contribution unrivaled in films and with few parallels in the history of dance.