Steppin' Out: Astaire Sings
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This is a sixteen minute excerpt from the film 'The Gay Divorcee' and is properly titled 'The Continental'. The song won the first ever 'Best Original Song' Oscar (1934) and was written by Con Conrad & Herb Magidson. During the excerpt the song is sung first by Ginger Rigers then by Fred Astaire. After a dance interlude it is then sung by Erik Rhodes and finally by Lillian Miles. Read more on Last.fm.

Fred Astaire (1899-1987) was an American dancer and singer famous for his numerous appearances in the 1920s and 1930s in Vaudeville, on Broadway and on the London stage with sister Adele Astaire; in musical films between the 1930s and 1960s; and on American TV in the 1950s and beyond. Although he teamed with many dancers, including Gene Kelly, his best known screen pairing was with Ginger Rogers, with whom he appeared in 10 films. He continued to act in non-dancing roles in films and TV in the 1960s through 1980s. In part because of his expressive phrasing and graceful interpretation, Astaire was chosen to introduce many now-classic songs, including standards by Cole Porter (example, "Night and Day"), his friend Irving Berlin ("Let's Face the Music and Dance"), Jerome Kern ("The Way You Look Tonight"), Johnny Mercer ("One for My Baby") and George and Ira Gershwin ("They Can't Take That Away from Me"). Fred Astaire is interred at Oakwood Memorial Park, Chatsworth, California, USA, the same cemetery where Ginger Rogers, is located. (http://encyclopaediaoftrivia.blogspot.com/2011/09/fred-astaire.html) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.