The Ginger House and heavily involved in the theater, Ginger went on to become a Broadway star at the age of 19, and shortly after, a Hollywood film actress. She is perhaps best known for the nine films she made with Fred Astaire, but she was a huge star before they began working together and making dance films. Ginger visited her hometown several times during her lifetime. In 1942, she visited the home during an interview with LIFE magazine. In 1964, President Harry Truman declared July 16 to be "Ginger Roger's Day," Ginger again visited the home in 1972 when she was in
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers long period apart, Astaire and Rogers made only one movie together in 1938, the 80-minute "Carefree". During their time apart, Rogers appeared in the successful movie "Stage Door", while Astaire's career did not reach the same heights he had experienced with Rogers. The duo reunited, but "Carefree" marked a departure for their on-screen partnership, featuring Astaire in a role unlike his usual typecast persona, as well as less emphasis on the musical element of the film. "Carefree" was originally going to contain sequences shot in Technicolor, but RKO considered the cost prohibitive so it was filmed in black and white.