Ginger Rogers

The all-time greatest quote about Ginger Rogers, comparing her to partner Fred Astaire: “Sure he was great, but don’t forget Ginger Rogers did everything he did backwards…and in high heels!”

Ginger Rogers was more than a dancer, though of course she was a great one. She made 63 movies that didn’t include Astaire. She even won the Best Actress Oscar in 1940 for her movie Kitty Foyle. Even so, we’ll always remember the elegant, precise, and sweeping dances the two performed in such movies as Flying Down to Rio (1933)… The Gay Divorcee (1934)… Roberta (1935)… Top Hat (1935)… Follow the Fleet (1936)… Swing Time (1936)… Shall We Dance (1937)… Carefree (1938)… and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939). Of her partnership with Astaire , Rogers said, “I adore the man. I always have adored him. It was the most fortunate thing that ever happened to me, being teamed with Fred: he was everything a little starry-eyed girl from a small town ever dreamed of.”

By the way, that Oscar she won for Kitty Foyle? She beat Katharine Hepburn, Joan Fontaine, and Bette Davis for it. Not bad. Not bad at all. Ginger Rogers was selected as number 14 on the AFI’s list of top 25 female screen legends.