Throwback Thursday and Adele Astaire
Adele Marie Austerlitz was born on
September 10, 1896 in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1903 along with her younger brother
Fred, they began a vaudeville career as a boy-and-girl specialty duo. It wasn’t
until 1917 that they performed on Broadway, and Adele was then compared to
Fanny Brice and Imogene Coca. Fred was the more serious sibling and would
rehearse for hours.
On December 1, 1924, the Astaires headlined
Gershwin’s first full-length musical, Lady
Be Good. Critic Alexander Woollcott later wrote, “I do not know whether Gershwin was born into this world to write
rhythms for Fred Astaire’s feet or whether Fred Astaire was born into this
world to show how the Gershwin music should really be danced.”
Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times, wrote of the Astaires in 1930: ''Strictly speaking, the Astaires are
dancers. But they have more than one string to their fiddle. With them, dancing
is comedy of manners, very much in the current mode. Free of show-shop
trickery, they plunge with spirit into the midst of the frolic. Once to the
tune of 'If I Were You, Love,' with a squealing German band accompaniment, they
give dancing all the mocking grace of improvisation with droll dance
inflections and with comic changes of pace. Adele Astaire is also an impish
comedian; she can give sad lines a gleam of infectious good-nature. Slender,
agile and quickwitted, the Astaires are ideal for the American song-and-dance
stage.''
Adele starred in 11 musicals with her
brother including Funny Face, The Band
Wagon and For Goodness’ Sake. Then, in 1932, she left the world of the stage
to marry Lord Charles Cavendish, the second son of the ninth Duke of Devonshire.
They lived in Lismore Castle in County Waterford, Ireland. This romance created
an international sensation and although producers kept trying to coax her back
to show business, she refused.
Adele Astaire died at age 83 in 1981 of
a stroke.
From the Big
Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Dance History Secret #213:
“Adele Astaire was Fred Astaire’s sister and early
partner.”
Links of the Day:
Quote of the Day:
“If it doesn't look easy it is that we have not tried hard enough yet.”
- Fred
Astaire
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