Profiles in Creativity: Fred Astaire

• Public image: Light on his feet, suave, endlessly charming in films with Ginger Rogers, Cyd Charisse, and others. He set the standard for ballroom-infused dance on screen.

• Emotional struggles:

  • He wrestled with crippling perfectionism. Astaire was famous for doing dozens of takes until every detail—down to a hand movement—was flawless.

  • After the death of his first wife, Phyllis, in 1954, he plunged into a deep depression. Friends described him as inconsolable and withdrawn, unsure if he could keep working.

  • He had recurrent bouts of anxiety and self-doubt, once quipping after a screen test, “Can’t act, slightly bald, can dance a little.” This ironic modesty reflected genuine insecurity despite his brilliance.

• Coping through dance: Work was his salvation. Even in grief, he returned to film and television, where dancing allowed him to reassert control and artistry when his emotional world was unsteady.

• https://www.grunge.com/678906/the-tragic-death-of-fred-astaires-first-wife-phyllis/

• "Steps in Time” (1959), Fred Astaire’s autobiography

• https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-fred-astaire-19870623-story.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com