Ginger Rogers
Biography
Ginger Rogers (July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the twentieth century. During her long career, she made a total of 73 films and is noted for her role as Fred Astaire's partner in a series of ten musical films. She achieved great success in a variety of film roles and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kitty Foyle. After winning a 1925 Charleston dance contest that launched a successful vaudeville career, she gained recognition as a Broadway actress for her stage debut in Girl Crazy. This led to a contract with Paramount Pictures, which ended after five films. Rogers had her first successful film role as a supporting actress in 42nd Street. In the 1930s, Rogers' nine films with Fred Astaire gave RKO Pictures some of its biggest successes, most notably Top Hat and Swing Time. But after two commercial failures with Astaire, she branched out into dramatic and comedy films. Her acting was well received by critics and audiences, and she became one of the biggest box-office draws and highest paid actresses of the 1940s. Her performance in Kitty Foyle won her the Oscar for Best Actress. Rogers' popularity peaked by the end of the decade. She reunited with Astaire in 1949 in the commercially successful The Barkleys of Broadway. After an unsuccessful period in the 1950s, she returned to Broadway in 1965, playing the lead role in Hello, Dolly!. More Broadway roles followed, along with her stage directorial debut in 1985 of an off-Broadway production of Babes in Arms. She also made television acting appearances until 1987. In 1992, Rogers was recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors. She died of a heart attack in 1995, at age 83. Rogers is associated with the phrase "backwards and in high heels", which is attributed to Bob Thaves' Frank and Ernest 1982 cartoon with the caption "Sure he [Astaire] was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did...backwards and in high heels". This phrase is sometimes incorrectly attributed to Ann Richards, who used it in her keynote address to the 1988 Democratic National Convention. A Republican and a devout Christian Scientist, Rogers married five times with all of them ending in divorce, and having no children. During her long career, Rogers made 73 films, and her musical films with Astaire are credited with revolutionizing the genre. Rogers was a major movie star during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood and is often considered an American icon. She ranks number 14 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list of female stars of classic American cinema. Her autobiography Ginger: My Story was published in 1991.
Known For
Ann
42nd Street
Dale Tremont
Top Hat
Penny Carrol
Swing Time
Mary Marshall
I'll Be Seeing You
Ramona Gladwyn
We're Not Married!
Edwina Fulton
Monkey Business
Fay
Gold Diggers of 1933
Linda Keene
Shall We Dance
Self
Hollywood on Parade No. A-1
Comtesse Scharwenka
Roberta
Pat Morgan
A Shriek in the Night
Queen
Cinderella
Francey
Vivacious Lady
Diane
Tales of Manhattan
Mimi Glossop
The Gay Divorcee
Sherry Martin
Follow the Fleet
Honey Hale
Flying Down to Rio
Marsha Mitchell
Storm Warning
Polly Parrish
Bachelor Mother
Amanda Cooper
Carefree
Arlette Lafron
Heartbeat
Dinah Barkley
The Barkleys of Broadway
Katherine Butt-Smith
Once Upon a Honeymoon
Jean Maitland
Stage Door
Carlotta Marin
Black Widow
Mary Grey
Fifth Avenue Girl
Teddy Shaw
Having Wonderful Time
Susan Applegate
The Major and the Minor
Irene Castle
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
Ellie May Adams
Primrose Path
Donna Mantin
Star of Midnight
Terry Scott
Perfect Strangers
Victoria Stafford
It Had to Be You
Roxie Hart
Roxie Hart
Sherry Conley
Tight Spot
Nancy Fallon
Teenage Rebel
Lela / Marie Morgan
The Thirteenth Guest
Gloria Marlowe
Dreamboat
Janie
Tom, Dick and Harry
Irene Malvern
Week-End at the Waldorf
Kitty Foyle
Kitty Foyle
Jo Jones
Tender Comrade
Johnny Victor
Beautiful Stranger
Liza Elliott
Lady in the Dark
AJ Furnival
The Groom Wore Spurs
Mildred Turner
Oh, Men! Oh, Women!
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Peggy Cornell
Twenty Million Sweethearts
Mary
Rafter Romance
Self (archive footage)
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
Marge Harris
Chance at Heaven
Baby Face
The Tip-Off
Beatrice Page
Forever Female
Jean Newton
Lucky Partners
Ruth Weston
The Tenderfoot
Doris Brown
Honor Among Lovers
Molly Gilbert
Don't Bet on Love
Carol Corliss
In Person
Dorothy
Sitting Pretty
Rose Gillray
The First Traveling Saleslady
Miss Gravis
Office Blues
Sylvia Dennis
Romance in Manhattan
Pony
Finishing School
Polly Rockwell
Queen High
Lilly Linda
Upperworld
Puff Randolph
Young Man of Manhattan
Honey
Carnival Boat
Sally
Suicide Fleet
Dolly Madison
Magnificent Doll
Glory
Professional Sweetheart
Flip Daly
Broadway Bad
Madge Rountree
Change of Heart
Mary Brennan
Follow the Leader
Alice Brandon
You Said a Mouthful
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Ellen Saunders
The Sap from Syracuse
Jessie King
Hat Check Girl
Archive Footage
"All -Singing All-Dancing" Before And After
Madame Rinaldi
The Confession
Self
Hollywood on Parade
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
Self
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
Hollywood Newsreel
Self (archive footage)
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
Self (archive footage)
Busby Berkeley: A Journey with a Star
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Ginger Rogers
A Night in a Dormitory
Mama Jean Bello
Harlow
Self
Show-Business at War
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Various / Self (archive footage)
Astaire and Rogers: Partners in Rhythm
Ginger Rogers (archive footage) (uncredited)
George White's Scandals
Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Self
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
Self (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Self (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
That's Dancing!
Self (uncredited)
Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12
A Day of a Man of Affairs
Campus Sweethearts
Self (archive footage)
Fred Astaire donne le 'la'
Self (archive footage)
Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together Again
Self (archive footage)
Astaire and Rogers Sing the Great American Songbook
Self (archive footage)
Sem Título #1: Dance of Leitfossil
Self
Night of 100 Stars
Self (archive)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression
Self (archive footage)
Hooray for Hollywood
Self
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Self (Archival Footage)
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
111
Gender
Female
Birthday
1911-07-16
Place of Birth
Independence, Missouri, USA
Also Known As
Virginia Katherine McMath