Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer, and singer. She is known for her starring role in "Kitty Foyle" (1940), but is best remembered for performing in RKO's musical films (partnered with Fred Astaire) on stage, radio and television, throughout much of the 20th century. Born in Independence, Missouri, and raised in Kansas City, Rogers and her family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, when she was nine years old. After winning a 1925 Charleston dance contest that launched a successful vaudeville career, she gained recognition as a
Ginger Rogers CBS radio. In 1941, Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in 1940's "Kitty Foyle". She enjoyed considerable success during the early 1940s, and was RKO's hottest property during this period. In "Roxie Hart" (1942), based on the same play which served as the template for the later musical "Chicago", Rogers played a wisecracking wife on trial for a murder her husband committed. In the neorealist "Primrose Path" (1940), directed by Gregory La Cava, she played a prostitute's daughter trying to avoid the fate of her mother. Further highlights of this period included "Tom, Dick, and