Vinton Freedley A. Aarons with whom he formed a long term producing partnership. Their first major hit was "Lady Be Good!" (1924) with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin and featuring Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire. Over the next ten years the pair produced some of the most important works in the Broadway musical canon, featuring some of the most famous songs ever to emerge from the tin pan alley era, part of what is commonly referred to as "The Great American Songbook." The shows that followed included "Tip-Toes" (1925), "Oh, Kay!" (1926), and "Funny Face" (1927), again starring the
Life Is Beautiful (Fred Astaire song) Life Is Beautiful (Fred Astaire song) "Life Is Beautiful" is a 1974 song with music written by Fred Astaire and lyrics by Tommy Wolf. Tony Bennett was so impressed with the tune, it became the title track of his album of the same name in 1975. Bennett also performed the song as Astaire looked on during a March 1975 episode of "The Merv Griffin Show". The song became widely known as the closing theme for "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". In 1987, in memory of Astaire, who had died earlier that year, Carson closed out his 25th Anniversary special