11/04/2024
Fred Astaire on tap dancer Eleanor Powell: "Eleanor was an out-and-out dancer. She danced like a man. She slammed the floor and did it great and that's fine and suddenly she's on her toes in the ballet sequence -- it did look kinda funny."
On Judy Garland: "She was just simply wonderful. She danced beautifully, learned beautifully. She was very adept at whatever she did. Really in fine form. We were all set to do another picture together, but she got sick and that was the end of that."
On actress/dancer Leslie Caron: "A ballet dancer really, but technically good. I called her 'The Sergeant Major'."
On Gene Kelly: "You know, that Kelly, he's just terrific. That's all there is to it. He dances like crazy, he directs like crazy. I adore this guy. I really am crazy about his work."
On Cyd Charisse: "When you dance with her, you stay danced."
But who was his favorite?
"I must say Ginger (Rogers) was certainly the one. You know, the most effective partner I had. Everyone knows. That was a whole other thing that we did...I just want to pay a tribute to Ginger because we did so many pictures together and believe me it was a value to have that girl...she had it. She was just great!"
"All the girls I ever danced with thought they couldn't do it. So they always cried. All except Ginger. No, no, Ginger never cried."
"Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually she made everything work very fine for both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success."
Astaire on Astaire: "I suppose I made it look easy, but gee whiz, did I work and worry." (IMDb)
