Download American Legends: The Life of Fred Astaire AudioBook Free
"No dancer can watch Fred Astaire and not know that we all should have been in another business." (Mikhail Baryshnikov) A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most important characters, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees and shrubs? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, listeners can get swept up to speed on the lives of America's most significant women and men in enough time it takes to complete a commute, while learning interesting facts long overlooked or never known. Practically all famous celebrities are regaled by the general public, but even still, Fred Astaire occupies a privileged position in American pop culture. The precise films where Astaire acted may well not be especially famous in their own right - most people likely cannot remember the subject of Top Hat (1935), his most decorated film - but Astaire's dancing prowess invariably creates a long lasting impact on viewers. Instead of tying his popularity to a single film, Astaire's genius lay in making his star persona around a particular group of iconographic imagery that has been inlayed within American culture. Across his videos, the continuing iconic images of the very best head wear, cane, and jacket tails, as well as the image of Astaire dancing with Ginger Rogers, all constitute a timeless symbol for beauty that is constantly on the captivate viewers who are unfamiliar with the plots of his videos. There were other film musical celebrities who were proficient dancers, Gene Kelly main among them, but none could perform with the seamless beauty of Astaire, and none has been appreciated nearly as well. Astaire's dancing volumes epitomized sophistication and gaiety, so that it is seem as if he was carefree.
