Fred Astaire's Real Name: Frederick Austerlitz

Quick answer: The dancer and actor is known professionally as Fred Astaire. Britannica and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts independently give the original name Frederick Austerlitz, date his birth to May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, and date his death to June 22, 1987.

Real name and early life

Independent publishers support the documented original name Frederick Austerlitz. Britannica gives that original name, dates the birth to May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, and says he studied dancing from the age of four and in 1906 formed an act with his sister, Adele, that became a popular vaudeville attraction. The Kennedy Center independently says he was born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 10, 1899, and that his mother took him and Adele to New York to study dance; after less than a year of school, the two made their professional debut in Keyport, New Jersey, billed as the Astaires. Britannica independently records a Broadway debut in Over the Top (1917–18) and later stage hits including Funny Face (1927–28) and The Band Wagon (1931–32). Both accounts say Adele retired after marrying Lord Charles Cavendish in 1932.

Career highlights

Britannica says he was cast in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Dancing Lady (1933) and, the same year, was paired with Ginger Rogers in RKO's Flying Down to Rio, after which the pair starred in a series of 1930s films, with The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935), and Swing Time (1936) often cited among the best. The Kennedy Center independently lists more than 40 films from 1933 to 1977, ten of them with Rogers, including Swing Time, Top Hat, The Gay Divorcee, and Carefree, and later television specials including An Evening With Fred Astaire. Britannica later names Easter Parade, Royal Wedding, and The Band Wagon among later musicals. The Kennedy Center also records an honorary Oscar in 1949 and says he was voted a Money-Making Star in the Motion Picture Herald Fame Polls for three years in a row from 1935 to 1937.

Death

Britannica dates his death to June 22, 1987, in Los Angeles, California. The Kennedy Center independently dates the death to June 22, 1987, without naming a city.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Fred Astaire or Frederick Austerlitz are looking for the same dancer and actor. Britannica and the Kennedy Center support the original name used in the title.