Adele Astaire Adele Astaire Adele, Lady Charles Cavendish (born Adele Marie Austerlitz; September 10, 1896 – January 25, 1981), was an American dancer, stage actress and singer. She was Fred Astaire's elder sister, and his partner in a 27-year career in vaudeville and theater, beginning when he was five and she was eight. Adele Marie Austerlitz was born on September 10, 1896, in Omaha, Nebraska. Her parents were Johanna "Ann" Geilus, an American-born Lutheran of German descent, and Frederic "Fritz" Austerlitz, an Austrian-born Roman Catholic of Jewish descent. Adele's younger brother, Fred, was born two years after her. When Adele was eight
Ginger Rogers the 1940s. Her performance in "Kitty Foyle" (1940) won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Rogers remained successful throughout the 1940s and at one point was Hollywood's highest-paid actress, but her popularity had 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 through the 1950s, Rogers made a successful return to Broadway in 1965, playing the lead role in "Hello, Dolly!". More lead roles on Broadway followed, along with her stage directorial debut in 1985 on an off-Broadway production of "Babes in Arms".