Fred Astaire was an American dancer, actor, singer, choreographer and presenter. He is widely regarded as the "greatest popular-music dancer of all time". He received numerous accolades including an Honorary Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute in 1973, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, and AFI Life Achievement Award in 1980. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1972, and the Television Hall of Fame in 1989.
Adele Astaire Douglass, was an American dancer, stage actress, and singer. After beginning work as a dancer and vaudeville performer at the age of nine, Astaire built a successful performance career with her younger brother, Fred Astaire.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1927.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1937.
Funny Face is a 1957 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen and written by Leonard Gershe, containing assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Although having the same title as the 1927 Broadway musical Funny Face by the Gershwin brothers, and featuring the same male star, the plot is completely different and only four of the songs from the stage musical are included. Alongside Astaire, the film stars Audrey Hepburn and Kay Thompson.
Arthur Schwartz was an American composer and film producer, widely noted for his songwriting collaborations with Howard Dietz.
Girl Crazy is a 1930 musical by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Ethel Merman made her stage debut in the first production and co-lead Ginger Rogers became an overnight star. Rich in song, it follows the story of Danny Churchill who has been sent to fictional Custerville, Arizona, to manage his family's ranch. His father wants him there to focus on matters more serious than alcohol and women but Danny turns the place into a dude ranch, importing showgirls from Broadway and hiring Kate Forthergill as entertainer. Visitors come from both Coasts and Danny falls in love with the local postmistress, Molly Gray.
Oh, Kay! is a musical with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse. It is based on the play La Présidente by Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Veber. The plot revolves around the adventures of the Duke of Durham and his sister, Lady Kay, English bootleggers in Prohibition Era America. Kay finds herself falling in love with a man who seems unavailable. The show is remembered for its enduring song, "Someone to Watch Over Me".
The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley. The original name was an amalgamation of Aarons's and Freedley's first names; the theater was renamed for playwright Neil Simon in 1983. The Neil Simon has 1,467 seats across two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
Shall We Dance, released in 1937, is the seventh of the ten Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical comedy films. The story follows an American ballet dancer (Astaire) who falls in love with a tap dancer (Rogers); the tabloid press concocts a story of their marriage, after which life imitates art. George Gershwin wrote the symphonic underscore and Ira Gershwin the lyrics, for their second Hollywood musical.
"'S Wonderful" is a 1927 popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced in the Broadway musical Funny Face (1927) by Adele Astaire and Allen Kearns.
My One and Only is a musical with a book by Peter Stone and Timothy S. Mayer and music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. The musical ran on Broadway and West End.
"Funny Face" is a 1927 song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
"My One and Only" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, written for the 1927 musical Funny Face where it was introduced by Fred Astaire, Betty Compton and Gertrude McDonald. It was originally titled "(What Am I Gonna Do) If You Turn Me Down?"
"He Loves and She Loves" is a 1927 song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Ira Gershwin.
Frederick A. Thompson, usually credited as Fred Thompson was an English writer, best known as a librettist for about fifty British and American musical comedies in the first half of the 20th century. Among the writers with whom he collaborated were George Grossmith Jr., P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Ira Gershwin. Composers with whom he worked included Lionel Monckton, Ivor Novello and George Gershwin.
She Knew What She Wanted is a 1936 British musical comedy film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Albert Burdon, Claude Dampier and Googie Withers. It was based on the stage musical Funny Face.
She Couldn't Say No is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Tommy Trinder, Fred Emney and Googie Withers. It was based on a play Funny Face by Paul Gerard Smith and Fred Thompson. The screenplay features a woman who arranges a burglary to try to recover a stolen diary with compromising details written in it.
Vinton Freedley was an American theater and television producer known for his productions of the works of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and television shows such as Talent Jackpot and Showtime U.S.A..
Sammy Lee, born Samuel Levy, was an American choreographer, dancer, and producer who worked mainly on Broadway and for 20th Century Fox film corporation in Hollywood.
