Fred Astaire Quotes

American dancer, actor, and singer (1899–1987)

Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American film and stage dancer, actor, singer and choreographer.

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Birth Name: Frederick Austerlitz

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Fred Astaire is the best singer of songs the movie world ever knew. His phrasing has individual sophistication that is utterly charming. Presumably the runner-up would be Bing Crosby, a wonderful fellow, though he doesn't have the unstressed elegance of Astaire.

Astaire can't do anything bad.

They climb the clouds/ To come through with airmail/ The dancing crowds/ Look up to some rare male/ Like that Astaire male.

Fred Astaire once worked so hard/ he often lost his breath/ and now he taps all other chaps to death

When you talk about Fred Astaire, you talk about heaven. What more can I say?

For a guy who had retired ostensibly, your comeback represents the greatest event since Satchel Paige.

There never was a greater perfectionist, there never was, and never will be, a better dancer, and I never knew anybody more kind, more considerate, or more completely a gentleman...I love Fred, John, and I admire and respect him. I guess it's because he's so many things I'd like to be and I'm not.

He has a remarkable ear for intonation, a great sense of rhythm and what is most important, he has great style - style in my way of thinking is a matter of delivery, phrasing, pace, emphasis, and most of all presence.

As a dancer he stands alone, and no singer knows his way around a song like Fred Astaire.

There is no setup in Hollywood that compares with an Astaire picture.

Except for times Fred worked with real professional dancers like Cyd Charisse, it was a twenty five year war.

The history of dance on film begins with Astaire.

When I was in the Soviet Union recently I was being interviewed by a newspaperman and he said, "Which dancers influenced you the most?" and I said, "Oh, well, Fred Astaire." He looked very surprised and shocked and I said, "What's the matter?" He said, "Well, Mr. Balanchine just said the same thing."

He was not just the best ballroom dancer, or tap dancer, he was simply the greatest, most imaginative, dancer of our time.

It's unmatched perfection. It's a taste, understanding of his strength, and weaknesses in a way. He was not a sexual animal, but he made his partners look so extraordinarily related to him.