2 3 Throwback Thursday and Ginger Rogers | Ballet Webb

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Throwback Thursday and Ginger Rogers


Throwback Thursday and Ginger Rogers

Her real name was Virginia Katherine McMath, and she was born on July 16, 1911 in Independence Missouri.  She won a Charleston contest at age 14, and received a 4-week touring contract.  Until the age of  17 she acted and danced in vaudeville.

Ginger Rogers appeared in the Broadway production of Top Speed in 1929.  Her first film was A Night in a Dormitory in 1930, in which she had a small part.  She went on to do more movies and some theater work, until the movie Gold Diggers of 1933 was released and she was discovered by the public.  One song she popularized in the film was We’re in the Money.

But she is best remembered for her famous partnership with Fred Astaire.  They were first paired in Flying Down to Rio in 1933. Many other movies followed including  Top Hat (1935), and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939).  It has been said that she did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.  In the link below, she (and Fred Astaire) dance in roller skates.

In 1940 she acted in Kitty Foyle and won an Oscar.  She continued to act onscreen until her last film Harlow in 1965. She then went on to appear in stage plays, traveling worldwide.  She retired in 1984 and wrote her autobiography, Ginger, My Story.

Ginger Rogers died on April 25, 1995.  She was 83.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid #50:  
Ginger Rogers is best remembered for her famous partnership with Fred Astaire.”

                Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“The only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first.”
-          Ginger Rogers
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