No one around me was obsessed with Fred Astaire except for me. It just snowballed, really. I started with tap lessons. When I didn't have tap shoes, I taped nickels on the bottom of my penny loafers.
Fred Astaire was my dream dancer.
Fred Astaire was retired when he worked in 'The Pleasure of His Company.' They were lucky to get him to play the father part.
I asked Fred Astaire once when he was about my age if he still danced, and he said 'Yes, but it hurts now.' That's exactly it. I can still dance, too, but it hurts now!
I wanted to be Stan Laurel, then I wanted to be Fred Astaire and then Captain Kangaroo. I actually started out as a radio announcer when I was 17 and never left the business, so that's literally 70 years.
From Fred Astaire I learned discipline and hard work.
I live in a wonderful world of make-believe. A world of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. A world of Winnie the Pooh and Edward Bear. Things like that. Wonderful things. Funny things.
My mom was a huge fan of 'Dirty Dancing.' I couldn't quite get a break, and she was like, 'Patrick Swayze was a dancer!' And Fred Astaire. I started dancing, and it led me to acting. It helps with fighting or whatever choreography in general.
Whether it's Cyd Charisse and Fred Astaire or 'West Side Story,' see it on the big screen. That's the way we should appreciate it.
Over the years, myths were built up about my relationship with Fred Astaire. The general public thought he was a Svengali, who snapped his fingers for his little Trilby to obey; in their eyes, my career was his creation.
