But at the time it was Adele’s fun-loving ways and mischievous charm that captured the hearts of reviewers and fans alike. Today you would be hard pressed to find anyone young or old who hasn’t heard of Fred Astaire, his legend so firmly attached to our cultural memory. At right, the pair in a 1931 ad for Chesterfield cigarettes that also promoted The Band Wagon, their last Broadway revue together. At the time the gamine Adele was considered the undisputed star of the duo. NO, THE OTHER ASTAIRE…At left, Adele and Fred Astaire in the 1920s. So when rumor had it that the duo was on the verge of a break-up, “The Talk of the Town” weighed in: In real life, however, their star soared above Jazz Age New York. (Pinterest/NY Times)įred became friends with composer George Gershwin the previous year, and in December 1924 the Astaires headlined George and Ira Gershwin’s first full-length New York musical, Lady, Be Good!, in which Fred and Adele played a brother-and-sister dance team down on their luck. EARLY BLOOMERS…Left, Fred and Adele Astaire in a photo taken around 1906, three years after they left Omaha and began their vaudeville career. By 1905 the brother-sister act were already popular on the vaudeville circuit, making their way to the Broadway stage by 1917. Their mother wanted the siblings to learn professional dance at an early age, so in 1903 she moved with the children to New York City, leaving their Austrian-born father in Nebraska to work at the Storz brewery. Apcover by Ilonka Karasz.įred and Adele Astaire were born a year apart in Omaha (she the eldest, born in 1898). Before there was Fred and Ginger, there was Fred and Adele, and during the 1920s and early 30s Fred and Adele Astaire were brother-sister dancing royalty and the toast of Broadway.
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