Adele Astaire Bunch and Judy" (1922), and then the Gershwin brothers' first Broadway collaboration "Lady, Be Good!", followed by their "Funny Face". Both were hits in America and in London. After Fred's success in Hollywood, Astaire gave consideration in 1935 to making a film, but ultimately declined the opportunity. She sang and recorded duets with Fred, George Vollaire and Bernard Clifton. While performing in England in 1927, Astaire had met Lord Charles Cavendish, the second son of His Grace The 9th Duke of Devonshire. When Charles visited her in the United States in 1929 the pair began courting. On March 5, 1932,
Mario Braggiotti Fray and Braggiotti. Mario arranged all the music for the fledgling duo to perform, and they began playing at the Left Bank club "Boeuf sur le Toit". When George Gershwin came to Paris to compose "An American in Paris," the young men introduced themselves to their idol, who immediately put them to work trying out the famous taxi horns he was writing into that composition. In 1928 Gershwin helped launch their careers by hiring them to play in his London production of "Funny Face" with Fred and Adele Astaire. Mario became a good friend of Gershwin, who once said, "Mario