Happy 110th Birthday, Ginger Rogers!

            Part of being an old movie nerd means you're familiar with plenty of actors and actresses. However, there's always that one star you love a little bit more, whose movies you're always excited to see, whom you tend to go on and on about until everyone around you knows who they are. Presenting... Ginger Rogers!

            At the beginning of the pandemic, I stumbled across a lovely movie called Top Hat - and the rest is history. I had never seen a film quite like it before and it was magical. I probably waltzed around the house singing "Cheek to Cheek" for a week afterward. To make a long story short, my Old Hollywood obsession was born! And along with it, my new favorite actress was discovered.

            Born on July 16, 1911, today is the 110th anniversary of Ginger Rogers' birthday. Happy birthday, Ginger!

 

 

            Now, you may wonder, why Ginger? What makes her worthy of the "favorite actress" title? Well, since you asked...

 

                When Ginger was 14 years old, she was just a small-town girl from Independence, Missouri. Raised by a single mother, Ginger's aspirations included being an English teacher. All that changed when she won a Charleston contest, which led to a vaudeville contract, which led to two Broadway shows - Top Speed and Girl Crazy. By the time she was 19, she was making films, and in 1931 she moved to Hollywood.

                Ginger was popular as soon as she arrived in California - within two years she was receiving top billing on films. Her characters in those early Pre-Codes were typical of the time: sassy and clever girls who always had a joke to tell or someone to poke fun at. In 1933, she was cast in a movie that would prove to be a fateful one - Flying Down to Rio. It was her first film pairing with Fred Astaire, and though they only had supporting roles and one dance number, it was a smash success. RKO Studios quickly re-teamed them in 1934's the Gay Divorcee, and they would go on to make ten beloved musicals together:

 

Flying Down to Rio

The Gay Divorcee

Roberta

Top Hat

Follow the Fleet

Swing Time

Shall We Dance

Carefree

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

The Barkleys of Broadway

                Now a few fun facts:

                Flying Down to Rio was the only film where Ginger was billed above Fred Astaire. It was Fred's second movie, and Ginger's twentieth!

                Also, it wasn't a coincidence that they were paired in Flying Down to Rio. Fred and Ginger had first met in 1930, when Fred was called in to help choreograph "Embraceable You" for Ginger's show Girl Crazy. They even dated for a while, until Ginger left for Hollywood and Fred stayed on Broadway. When he came west in 1933, RKO needed a dance partner for Fred - and he just happened to know Ginger, their resident musical queen!

 

                Another reason Ginger is my favorite actress: she was capable of anything the movies called for. Musicals? Sure. Rom-coms? Yep. Dramas? Mysteries? Thrillers? Those, too. Her dramatic acting was in just as high demand as her singing and dancing. (If you need more proof, there are six Ginger Rogers films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.) In 1940, she beat out Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn (among others) to win a Best Actress Oscar for Kitty Foyle.

 

                There are a few super-famous roles originally offered to Ginger that she turned down, including Rosalind Russell's role in His Girl Friday, Barbara Stanwyck's in Ball of Fire, and Donna Reed's in It's a Wonderful Life. (I love Rosalind Russell, but I would give anything to see Ginger play Hildy.)

                Ginger never took singing, dancing, or acting lessons, but she was incredibly talented at all three. The famous and almost-always misquoted quote about her is actually this:

                It's a "Frank and Ernest" comic strip, and the origin of the phrase. Now you know!

 

                After she stopped appearing in films in the 1950s, Ginger went back to Broadway, where she starred in numerous plays and musicals. She played the title role in both Mame and Hello, Dolly! She also had a few TV specials, a pilot episode of her own show, plenty of interviews (thanks, YouTube), a show with the Rockettes, a cameo in I Love Lucy, and a Vegas nightclub act.

 

                She was married five times. Sadly, none of the marriages lasted very long - most of her husbands were alcoholics, and seeing as Ginger didn't drink, this proved to be a problem. Another problem was the whole my-wife-is-an-internationally-famous-star-and-now-I'm-insecure complex that seemed to plague so many Hollywood couples.

                Besides her Oscar, other honors included her Grauman's Chinese Theatre plaque, Kennedy Center Honors, and being voted the 11th greatest screen actress by the American Film Institute.

                Ginger published her autobiography in 1991, and passed away in 1995.

                Now you know a bit more about my favorite actress! If you haven't seen one of her films or it's been a while, I can recommend 42nd Street for a classic Pre-Code musical, any of the Fred-and-Ginger films, or Monkey Business for a hilarious rom-com.

                Thanks for reading!