Happy Anniversary, Fred and Ginger!

On December 29th this year, there’s something pretty magical to celebrate: the 80th anniversary of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers pairing. On that day 80 years ago, FLYING DOWN TO RIO was released and movies were never the same. To celebrate the big day, I’m going to be posting some more on our favorite twosome throughout the month, so be sure to check back in soon. Until then, I’ll leave you with some quotes from Fred and “Feathers,” just in case you didn’t already love them enough.
 
“All the girls I ever danced with thought they couldn’t do it, but of course they could. So they always cried. All except Ginger. No no, Ginger never cried.” – Fred

“Ginger had never danced with a partner before. She faked it an awful lot. She couldn’t tap and she couldn’t do this and that…but Ginger had style and talent and improved as she went along. She got so that after a while everyone else who danced with me looked wrong.” – Fred

 

“I adored Fred. We were good friends. Our only problem is that we never aspired to be any kind of a team. We didn't want to be Abbott and Costello. We thought of ourselves as individuals. We didn't intend to be another Frick and Frack. [smiling, after a pause] But it happened anyway, didn't it? And I'll be forever grateful it did.” – Ginger

"We had fun and it shows. True, we were never bosom buddies off the screen; we were different people with different interests. We were only a couple on film." -- Ginger

"Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually she made things very fine for both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success." – Fred



“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.” – Ginger

And as a bonus: “Believe me, Ginger was great. She contributed her full fifty percent in making them such a great team. She could follow Fred as if one brain was thinking. She blended with his every step and mood immaculately. He was able to do dances on screen that would have been impossible to risk if he hadn't had a partner like Ginger - as skillful as she was attractive.” – Edward Everett Horton

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