This routine also marks Astaire's first use of a cane as a prop in one of his filmed dances.

This is likely the only Astaire performance to have imperfections, as it was live, and Levant would repeatedly change the tempo of his accompaniment to Astaire's singing during the bridges between verses, which appeared to get him quite off balance at first.

In 1936, Oppenheimer moved to Hollywood, where in his first week he was hired as a comedy writer on Fred Astaire's radio program.

" Never Gonna Dance " is often singled out as the partnership's and collaborator Hermes Pan's most profound achievement in filmed dance, while " The Way You Look Tonight " won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and went on to become Astaire's most successful hit record, scoring first place in the U. S. charts in 1936.

Academy Award-winning dramatic actor Ernest Borgnine as McHale first appeared as the lead character in a one-shot non-comedy drama called Seven Against the Sea, which aired as an episode of Alcoa Presents in 1962, an ABC dramatic anthology also known as Fred Astaire's Premiere Theatre and hosted by Fred Astaire, who introduced television audiences to the Quinton McHale character.

* " Audition Dance ": " One of my best solos " was Astaire's verdict on his first solo routine on the theme of Latin dance, celebrated for its comic inventiveness and dexterity.

Astaire's first drunk dance was the comic routine You're Easy To Dance With in Holiday Inn, but this solo marks his first clear departure from a carefully crafted screen image of urbane charm.

During development at the University of Plymouth, in conjunction with BAE Systems and Sumitomo Precision Products, the iBot was nicknamed Fred Upstairs ( after Fred Astaire ) because it can climb stairs: hence the name Ginger, after Astaire's regular film partner, Ginger Rogers, for a successor product.

Top Hat was the most successful picture of Astaire and Rogers ' partnership ( and Astaire's second most successful picture after Easter Parade ), achieving second place in worldwide box-office receipts for 1935.

As in " No Strings ," the song emerges from Astaire's mid-sentence as he dances with the hesitant Rogers on a crowded floor.

But Rogers feels guilty and deceived and would prefer to avoid Astaire's advances – in effect, fall out of love with him.

By now, Rogers has learned Astaire's true identity although neither of them yet know that her impulsive marriage to Rhodes is null and void.

Arlene Croce, Hannah Hyam and John Mueller all consider Rogers to have been Astaire's finest dance partner, principally because of her ability to combine dancing skills, natural beauty, and exceptional abilities as a dramatic actress and comedienne, thus truly complementing Astaire, a peerless dancer who sometimes struggled as an actor and was not considered classically handsome.

John Mueller summed up Rogers's abilities as follows: " Rogers was outstanding among Astaire's partners not because she was superior to others as a dancer but because, as a skilled, intuitive actress, she was cagey enough to realize that acting did not stop when dancing began ... the reason so many women have fantasized about dancing with Fred Astaire is that Ginger Rogers conveyed the impression that dancing with him is the most thrilling experience imaginable ".

This event, which was shown on television, was somewhat marred when Astaire's widow, Robyn Smith, who permitted clips of Astaire dancing with Rogers to be shown for free at the function itself, was unable to come to terms with CBS Television for broadcast rights to the clips ( all previous rights holders having donated broadcast rights gratis ).

Dance commentators Arlene Croce, Hannah Hyam and John Mueller consider Rogers to have been Astaire's greatest dance partner, a view shared by Hermes Pan and Stanley Donen.

Mueller sums up Rogers's abilities as follows: " Rogers was outstanding among Astaire's partners not because she was superior to others as a dancer, but because, as a skilled, intuitive actress, she was cagey enough to realize that acting did not stop when dancing began ... the reason so many women have fantasized about dancing with Fred Astaire is that Ginger Rogers conveyed the impression that dancing with him is the most thrilling experience imaginable.

For her part, Rogers described Astaire's uncompromising standards extending to the whole production, " Sometimes he'll think of a new line of dialogue or a new angle for the story ... they never know what time of night he'll call up and start ranting enthusiastically about a fresh idea ... No loafing on the job on an Astaire picture, and no cutting corners.

The Palace Theatre was also the venue for Rogers and Hart's The Girl Friend ( 1927 ) and Fred Astaire's final stage musical Gay Divorce ( 1933 ).

* American Dancer, November 1936: " Astaire's dancing can no longer be classified as mere tap, because it is such a perfect blend of tap, modern and ballet, with a generous share of Astaire's personality and good humor ... Rogers is vastly improved ... but she cannot, as yet, vie with Astaire's amazing agility, superb grace and sophisticated charm.

Whitney became a major investor in two of Astaire's Broadway stage vehicles, The Band Wagon ( 1930 ) and Gay Divorce ( 1932 ), and played a crucial role in securing for Astaire a contract with RKO Pictures in 1933, using his contacts with Merion C. Cooper-both men were board members of Pan American Airways whose planes were prominently featured in Astaire's breakthrough film with Ginger Rogers: Flying Down to Rio ( 1933 ).

Hermes Pan ( December 10, 1910 – September 19, 1990 ) was an American dancer and choreographer, principally remembered as Fred Astaire's choreographic collaborator on the famous 1930s movie musicals starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Pan also performed the essential function of rehearsing Ginger Rogers, whose many other commitments during the filming of the Astaire-Rogers musicals often conflicted with Astaire's rehearsal schedule.

It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song " Night and Day " in which Astaire danced with co-star Claire Luce.

For " Top Hat, White Tie and Tails ", probably Astaire's most celebrated tap solo, the idea for the title song came from Astaire who described to Berlin a routine he had created for the 1930 Ziegfeld Broadway flop Smiles called " Say, Young Man of Manattan ," in which he gunned down a chorus of men – which included teenagers Bob Hope and Larry Adler – with his cane.

Long after the photography for the solo dance number " I Want to Be a Dancin ' Man " was completed for the 1952 feature " The Belle of New York ," it was decided that Astaire's humble costume and the threadbare stage set were inadequate and the entire sequence was reshot.

She falls for Lawford, who plays an English aristocrat – mirroring Adele Astaire's romance and eventual marriage to Lord Charles Cavendish, son of the Duke of Devonshire.

As Jerome Robbins stated, " Astaire's dancing looks so simple, so disarming, so easy, yet the understructure, the way he sets the steps on, over or against the music, is so surprising and inventive.

Astaire's choreography exercises every limb and makes extensive use of hand-clappers.

This, the second of Astaire's outings with Hayworth, avoids wartime themes, and benefits from lavish production values – a consequence of the box-office success of the earlier You'll Never Get Rich.

In both cases, the film features a commentary by Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, and Larry Billman, author of Fred Astaire, a Bio-bibliography.

Astaire's mother dreamed of escaping Omaha by virtue of her children's talents, after Astaire's sister, Adele Astaire, early on revealed herself to be an instinctive dancer and singer.

Astaire's dancing was inspired by Bill " Bojangles " Robinson and John " Bubbles " Sublett.

By then, Astaire's tap dancing was recognized as among the best, as Robert Benchley wrote in 1930, " I don't think that I will plunge the nation into war by stating that Fred is the greatest tap-dancer in the world.

" Astaire maintained this policy from The Gay Divorcee ( 1934 ) onwards ( until overruled by Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Finian's Rainbow ( 1968 ), Astaire's last film musical ).

The album, produced by Norman Granz, provided a musical overview of Astaire's career.

Astaire's last major musical film was Finian's Rainbow ( 1968 ), directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

With her role, she again made history by becoming Astaire's final on-screen dance partner.

* " Bojangles of Harlem ": Once again, Kern, Bennett and Borne combined their talents to produce a jaunty instrumental piece ideally suited to Astaire, who here-while overtly paying tribute to Bill Robinson-actually broadens his tribute to African-American tap dancers by dancing in the style of Astaire's one-time teacher John W. Bubbles, and dressing in the style of the character Sportin ' Life, whom Bubbles played the year before in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

These releases feature an introduction by Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie.

The dance director was Dave Gould, assisted by Hermes Pan, who went on to be Astaire's primary choreographer.

All of Astaire's numbers were directed by Vincente Minnelli.