ROGERS, GINGER

born July 16, 1911, Independence, Mo., U.S. died April 25, 1995, Rancho Mirage, Calif. original name Virginia Katherine McMath American stage and film dancer and actress, noted primarily as the partner of Fred Astaire in a series of motion-picture musicals. She began her dancing career in vaudeville and made her Broadway debut in 1929 in Top Speed. After starring in George Gershwin's Girl Crazy (193031), she went to Hollywood and began performing in movies, typecast as a flippant blonde. Her first performance with Fred Astaire occurred in Flying Down to Rio (1933), which was so popular that they continued the partnership in nine other films. Though best known for her dancing, Rogers preferred dramatic acting and in 1940 won an Academy Award for her leading role in Kitty Foyle. She also enjoyed a sure hand in light comedy and starred in such films as Tom, Dick and Harry (1941) and The Major and the Minor (1942). Rogers returned to the Broadway stage in 1965 when she took over the role of Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly and followed that in 1969 with a star performance as Mame in London.