Astaire Quotes & Sayings

If we followed our own advice, we'd be successful. — Fred Astaire

I remember seeing the first Astaire-Rogers musical on television, and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. It dawned on me that you don't have to wear a cowboy hat to be a man. — Edward Herrmann

The unpadded shoulders, the three-buttoned long and boxy coat, the too-short, thin pants, and the thin ties with striped buttoned shirts in dark colors-well, I suppose this may go very well with some personalities but it's not for me. To me, all such look like TV producers. Maybe they want to. — Fred Astaire

When I was a kid, I loved Nicholas brothers films. It was like skateboarding. Even Gene Kelly: I always preferred him to Fred Astaire, just because he was more athletic, like skateboarding. — Harmony Korine

Either the camera will dance, or I will. — Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire told me things I will never forget. Gene Kelly also said he liked my dancing. It was a fantastic experience because I felt I had been inducted into an informal fraternity of dancers, and I felt so honored because these were the people I most admired in the world. — Michael Jackson

Peabody wandered off, scanning the entertainment units lining the wall, wondering what it would be like to be able to afford any amusement available: music, art, video, holograms, VR, meditation chambers, games. Play a set of tennis with the latest Wimbeldon champ, dance with a hologram of Fred Astaire, — J.D. Robb

What I got, unconsciously, from admiring Fred Astaire was that he didn't want what he was doing to look difficult. What was difficult, in my opinion, was making it look so genuine, so effortless. I equally have tried to remain unseen on the screen. — Stanley Donen

There comes a day when people begin to say: "Why doesn't that old duffer retire?" I want to get out while they're still saying Astaire is a hell of a dancer. — Fred Astaire

When you have a Dancing partner, there's always gonna be a moment where the girl's gonna cry, Ginger didn't do that. But, most every other girl I've worked with have cried because they said "aah, I can't do it" and I have to go "Yes, you can, Shut up!" and they do do it. — Fred Astaire

I lived for 15 years in Los Angeles, and I still can't believe that the handsomest man in the world, Cary Grant, and the greatest performer in the world, Fred Astaire, and Johnny Carson, one after another - they were all in my home at different times. I celebrated my 50th birthday with them. Unforgettable. — Tony Bennett

I guess the only jewels of my life were the pictures I made with Fred Astaire. — Rita Hayworth

Did any artist ever bring more pure joy to more people than Fred Astaire? — Jack Kroll

When a clumsy cloud from here, meets a fluffy little cloud from there, he billows towards her. She scurries away, and he scuds right up to her. She cries a little, and there you have your showers. He comforts her, they spark! That's the lightning. They kiss........Thunder. — Fred Astaire

The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it's considered to be your style. — Fred Astaire

As a dancer, I out-Fred the nimblest Astaire. — P.G. Wodehouse

I asked Fred Astaire once when he was about my age if he still danced, and he said 'Yes, but it hurts now.' That's exactly it. I can still dance, too, but it hurts now! — Dick Van Dyke

The Fred Astaire movies made a huge impression on me. — Anton Du Beke

People think I was born in top hat and tails. — Fred Astaire

I'm just a hoofer with a spare set of tails. — Fred Astaire

I love the old Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly movies; they're so beautiful to look at. It's such a shame we don't make them anymore. Although, I don't know how you could make tap dancing current and topical. — Jamie Bell

I am the Fred Astaire of karate. — Jean-Claude Van Damme

Why didn't you tell me i was in love with you? — Fred Astaire

Oh, there's no such thing as my favorite performance. I can't sit here today and look back, and say: "Top Hat was better than Easter Parade or any of the others". I just don't look back, period. When I finish with a project, I say: "All right, that's that. What's next?" — Fred Astaire

I have never had anything that I can remember in the business - and that includes all the movies and the stage shows and everything - that I didn't enjoy. I didn't like some of the small-time vaudeville, because we weren't going on and getting better. Aside from that, I didn't dislike anything. — Fred Astaire

Dancing is a vertical interpretation of a horizontal intention. — Fred Astaire

I felt Michael Jackson was inspired a little bit more from the elegance of a Fred Astaire. Michael loved Sammy Davis, Jr. and James Brown and Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. But he wasn't any of those people. To be inspired is one thing, but he made it all his own. — Kenny Ortega

I always loved all kinds of music. I would watch musicals a lot as a kid, on TV, watch the Fred Astaire movies. I'd watch 'The Wizard of Oz.' I was a big Jerry Lewis fan, and they'd have these big bands and someone singing - some siren, or some guy singing some gorgeous song. I was always enamored of that style of music. — Queen Latifah

I want to do with skates what Fred Astaire is doing with dancing. — Sonja Henie

Fred Astaire was a more formal, trained dancer who loved waltzing and only danced with the girls. — Leslie Caron

If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant of dance, I'm the Marlon Brando. — Gene Kelly

I just put my feet in the air and move them around. — Fred Astaire

This search for what you want is like tracking something that doesn't want to be tracked. It takes time to get a dance right, to create something memorable. — Fred Astaire

The thing is that my idols have always been the types of guys who could do anything: Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Sinatra, Dean Martin; and when you look up to people like that, you don't accept that you need to be compartmentalised. — Justin Timberlake

Be yourself-but don't be conspicuous. — Fred Astaire

My uncle, who was a little more flamboyant, always said the guy who dressed the best was Fred Astaire. — Andy Garcia

There is a book to be written, for instance, on small errors in subtitles. In the Fred Astaire musical Royal Wedding, for instance, the English girl he falls for, played by Sarah Churchill (daughter of Sir Winston), is engaged to an American, whom we never see but who's called Hal - like Falstaff's prince, like a good high Englishman. That English H, though, was completely inaudible to the French translator who did the subtitles, and so throughout the film the absent lover is referred to in the subtitles as Al - Al like a stagehand, Al like my grandfather. If you have the habit of print addiction, so that you are listening and reading at the same time, this guy Al keeps forcing his way into the movie. "But what shall I say to Hal - that I have never loved him?" Patricia says to Fred. Down below it says, "Et Al - qu'est-ce que je vais lui dire? — Adam Gopnik

I don't like top hats, white ties, and tails. — Fred Astaire

When Fred Astaire danced, everything in this world was perfect. — Stanley Donen

When Ginger Rogers danced with Astaire, it was the only time in the movies when you looked at the man, not the woman. — Gene Kelly

I was spawned by some pretty good people in this business - Mr. Astaire, Mr. Tracy. They stopped and took their time to talk to people. — Robert Wagner

Sure he (Fred Astaire) was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did,..backwards and in high heels. — Robert Thaves

I am bit sending messages with my feet. All I ever wanted was not to come up empty. I did it for the dough and the old applause. — Fred Astaire

For ballroom dancing, remember that your partners have their own distinctive styles also. Cultivate flexibility. Be able to adapt your style to that of your partner. In doing so, you are not surrendering your individuality, but blending it with that of your partner. — Fred Astaire

If your gonna go down, go down swinging! — Fred Astaire

I inherited the knowledge that sometimes (talents) not only skip a generation, but sometimes run screaming from it. Ironically, it was the singing non-ability that helped feed my love of laughter. — Fred Astaire

Compositionally I always wanted to be like Fred Astaire. — Morton Feldman

When the bespangled Miss Charisse wraps her phenomenal legs around [Fred] Astaire, she can be forgiven everything - even the fact that she reads her lines as if she learned them phonetically. — Pauline Kael

I don't remember anybody ever pointing me out as a dancing prodigy, but I played a not bad second base. — Fred Astaire

When I am cast in a movie where I feel that the woman's part is more interesting, I usually start thinking about Spencer Tracy and Fred Astaire. They seem to be the most clear actors when working with women. — Jack Nicholson

I've always had an innate ability to dance, but I'm not as spiffy as those cinema legends like Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. — John Travolta

There's an old Fred Astaire movie where the stage becomes bigger and deeper and more complex. Moments like that really did impact on me and influence me. — Kenny Ortega

When working on my choreography I am not always receptive to outside suggestions or opinions. I believe that if you have something in mind in the way of a creation, such as a new dance, a sequence, or an effect, you are certain to come up with inaccurate criticism and damaging results if you go around asking for opinions. — Fred Astaire

Dancing in Tijuana when I was 13 - that was my 'summer camp.' How else do you think I could keep up with Fred Astaire when I was 19? — Rita Hayworth

Of course, Ginger was able to accomplish sex through dance. We told more through our movements instead of the big clinch. We did it all in the dance. — Fred Astaire

I don't want to be the oldest performer in captivity ... I don't want to look like a little old man dancing out there. — Fred Astaire

Slippery stages were the terror of my life. — Fred Astaire

While I was making my solo films, RKO was busily trying to get me and Fred Astaire back together. The studio wanted to capitalize on the success of 'Flying Down to Rio' and realized that the pairing of Rogers and Astaire had moneymaking potential. — Ginger Rogers

But I do nothing that I don't like, such as "inventing" up to the arty or "down" to the corny. I happen to relish a certain type of corn. What I think is the really dangerous approach is the "let's be artistic" attitude. I know that artistry just happens. — Fred Astaire

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any. — Fred Astaire

I often take a brand-new suit or hat and throw it up against the wall a few times to get that stiff, square newness out of it. — Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire is my hero. I love him because he was willing to kill himself to make his art look effortless. And because he proved it's possible to be an artist and a good person. — Connie Willis

I think there's no question that Michael Jackson was the foremost entertainer of his generation; perhaps of all time, arguably, taking the skills of a Sammy Davis, Jr., bringing together the street dance of African American urban culture, joining them to the politics of dance, of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly on that sphere alone. — Michael Eric Dyson

This is what I understood by it: that for Astaire the person in the film was not especially connected with him. — Zadie Smith

Some people seem to think that good dancers are born, but all the good dancers I have known are taught or trained.. — Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire represented the aristocracy, I represented the proletariat. — Gene Kelly

I loved old black and white movies, especially the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals. I loved everything about them - the songs, the music, the romance and the spectacle. They were real class and I knew that I wanted to be in that world. — Sharon Stone

Can't act. Can't sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little. — Fred Astaire

I just put my feet in the ground and move them around. — Fred Astaire

Astaire was not a sexual animal, but he made his partners look so extraordinarily related to him. — Mikhail Baryshnikov

Fred Astaire. Not a handsome man. He said himself he couldn't sing. He was balding his whole life. He danced like a cheetah runs, with the grace of the first creation. I mean, that first week. On one of those days God created Fred Astaire. Saturday maybe, since that was the day for the pictures. When you saw Fred you felt better about everything. He was a cure. He was bottled in the films and all around the earth, from Castlebar to Cairo, he healed the halt and the blind. That's the gospel truth. St Fred. Fred the Redeemer. — Sebastian Barry

When I am asked about influences, I always say I bow down to Fred Astaire, because when you look at him dancing you never look at his extremities, do you? You look at his centre. What you never see is the hours of work that went into the routines, you just see the breathtaking spirit and freedom. — Alan Rickman

[Hugh Jackman is] an Adamantium-laced Fred Astaire. — Jon Stewart

I make up cassettes all the time - to take on the road with me - a song from this album, a song from that album. That's the way I listen to music; it's like one of those K Tel things: it's from all over. I listen to Fred Astaire, I listen to African folk music, I listen to Talking Heads. — Robert Palmer

Fred Astaire never let you see him sweat, but he sweetened his deceptively casual virtuosity with just enough charm to make it irresistible. — Terry Teachout

Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything [Fred Astaire] did, .. backwards and in high heels.
From: Frank and Ernest by Bob Thaves, art by Bob Thaves. — Bob Thaves

I studied dancing for 13 years. And loved to dance. Always wanted to dance with Fred Astaire. — Lauren Bacall

From Fred Astaire I learned discipline and hard work. — Dirk Benedict

When I was young, I ran to see Astaire and Rogers, Huston, Lubitsch - they were formative for me. I also read 'Flash Gordon' when I was 6, but if I were still reading it when I was 16, I'd have been an imbecile. — Lina Wertmuller

And that love that wrinkles your nose touches my foolish heart. — Fred Astaire

I wish I was born in that era: dancing with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, going to work at the studio dressed in beautiful pants, head scarves, and sunglasses. — Catherine Zeta-Jones

What can one say about Michael Jackson? He is one of the world's most acclaimed entertainers, an innovative and exciting songwriter whose dancing seems to defy gravity and has been heralded by the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.
His public is perhaps unaware of the extent of his dedication to his craft. Restless, seldom satisfied, he is a perfectionist who is constantly challenging himself. To many people Michael Jackson seems an elusive personality, but to those who work with him, he is not. This talented artist is a sensitive man, warm, funny, and full of insight. — Jackie Kennedy

You see, as far as the man's personality goes, there's no one who can touch Fred Astaire. He's unique. — Donald O'Connor

Disco is just jitterbug. — Fred Astaire

If it doesn't look easy it is that we have not tried hard enough yet. — Fred Astaire

I spent an entire evening seated between Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, being charmed from either side. It was pure Hollywood magic. — Lorna Luft

Dancing is a sweat job. — Fred Astaire

I don't make love by kissing, I make love by dancing. — Fred Astaire

In America, at the beginning of talkies, they pulled Fred Astaire from the theaters and put him on the screen and had all of these great composers write songs for him. They call it the Great American Songbook; I call it the Fred Astaire Songbook because they were written for him. — Tony Bennett

Wrap up the 20th century; Fred Astaire is gone. — Jack Kroll

I can't rely upon sex and violence to sell my books — Libi Astaire

We attend to his later performances as a dramatic actor with respect, but watching the nondancing, nonsinging Astaire is like watching a grounded skylark. — Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire's got nothing on me. — Si Robertson

Oh, God! That boy moves in a very exceptional way. That's the greatest dancer of the century. — Fred Astaire

I can sing as well as Fred Astaire can act. — Burt Reynolds

It's nice that all the composers have said that nobody interprets a lyric like Fred Astaire. But when it comes to selling records I was never worth anything particularly except as a collector's item. — Fred Astaire

As a dancer, obviously, we are all inspired by Michael Jackson, and I always looked up to Gene Kelly. He was a bigger version of Fred Astaire, and he was amazing as well. — Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Chance is the fool's name for Fate — Fred Astaire

The entire planet can get along nicely now with maybe a dozen champion performers in each area of human giftedness. A moderately gifted person has to keep his or her gifts all bottled up until, in a manner of speaking, he or she gets drunk at a wedding and tap-dances on the coffee table like Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers. We have a name for him or her. We call him or her an exhibitionist. How do we reward such an exhibitionist? We say to him or her the next morning, Wow! Were you ever drunk last night! — Anonymous

I'm really influenced by Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. — Cris Judd