A wagon ('waggon' in British and Commonwealth English) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley or float.

Wagons are pulled by animals such as horses, mules or oxen, and are used for transporting goods, agricultural materials or sometimes people. Wagons are distinguished from carts, which have two wheels, and from lighter four-wheeled vehicles for carrying people, such as carriages. A wagon may be pulled by one animal or by several, often in pairs.

To enable the wagon to turn in as little space as possible, the front pair of wheels are often made smaller than the rear pair to allow them to turn close under the vehicle sides, and to allow them to turn still further the wagon body may be ''waisted''. The front wheels of trolleys and floats are small enough to turn under the vehicle's body.

See also

Araba (carriage)

Buckboard

Conestoga wagon

Covered wagon

Horse-drawn vehicle

Lorry (horse-drawn)

Bus

Ox-wagon

Toy wagon

Twenty-mule team

Vardo (Romani wagon)

Wagon train

Wagonette

Wagon-wheel effect

Wheelchair

References

External links

Category:Dutch loanwords Category:Animal-powered vehicles

pdc:Waage de:Fuhrwerk (Stellwagen) fr:chariot io:Charioto it:Carro (trasporto) la:Carrus hu:Kocsi nl:Wagen pl:fura pt:Carroça ru:Повозка tr:Araba wa:tchår

{{infobox person| name	Fred Astaire
birth name	Frederick Austerlitz
birth date	May 10, 1899
birth place	Omaha, Nebraska,United States
death date	June 22, 1987
death place	Los Angeles, California,United States
occupation	Actor, dancer, singer, choreographer
years active	1904–81
spouse	Phyllis Livingston Potter (1933–54; her death)Robyn Smith(1980–87; his death)
relatives	Adele Astaire(sister, deceased) }}

Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films.

Gene Kelly, another major innovator in filmed dance, said that "the history of dance on film begins with Astaire". Beyond film and television, many classical dancers and choreographers, Rudolf Nureyev, Sammy Davis Jr., Michael Jackson, Gregory Hines, Mikhail Baryshnikov, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins among them, also acknowledged his importance and influence.

Life and career

1899–1917: Early life and career

Astaire was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Johanna "Ann" (née Geilus) and Frederic "Fritz" Austerlitz (born September 8, 1868, as Friedrich Emanuel Austerlitz). Astaire's mother was born in the United States to Lutheran German immigrants from East Prussia and Alsace, while Astaire's father was born in Linz, Austria, to Jewish parents who had converted to Catholicism.

After arriving in New York City at age 24 on October 26, 1892, and being processed at Ellis Island, Astaire's father, hoping to find work in his brewing trade, moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and landed a job with the Storz Brewing Company. Astaire's mother dreamed of escaping Omaha by virtue of her children's talents, after Astaire's sister, Adele Astaire, early on revealed herself to be an instinctive dancer and singer. She planned a "brother-and-sister act," which was common in vaudeville at the time. Although Astaire refused dance lessons at first, he easily mimicked his older sister's step and took up piano, accordion and clarinet.

When their father suddenly lost his job, the family moved to New York City to launch the show business career of the children. Despite Adele and Fred's teasing rivalry, they quickly acknowledged their individual strengths, his durability and her greater talent. Sister and brother took the name "Astaire" in 1905, as they were taught dance, speaking, and singing in preparation for developing an act. Family legend attributes the name to an uncle surnamed "L'Astaire".

Their first act was called ''Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty''. Fred wore a top hat and tails in the first half and a lobster outfit in the second. The goofy act debuted in Keyport, New Jersey, in a "tryout theater." The local paper wrote, "the Astaires are the greatest child act in vaudeville."

As a result of their father's salesmanship, Fred and Adele rapidly landed a major contract and played the famed Orpheum Circuit not only in Omaha, but throughout the United States. Soon Adele grew to at least three inches taller than Fred and the pair began to look incongruous. The family decided to take a two-year break from show business to let time take its course and to avoid trouble from the Gerry Society and the child labor laws of the time. In 1912, Fred became an Episcopalian.

The career of the Astaire siblings resumed with mixed fortunes, though with increasing skill and polish, as they began to incorporate tap dancing into their routines. Astaire's dancing was inspired by Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and John "Bubbles" Sublett. From vaudeville dancer Aurelio Coccia, they learned the tango, waltz and other ballroom dances popularized by Vernon and Irene Castle.

Some sources state that the Astaire siblings appeared in a 1915 film entitled ''Fanchon, the Cricket'', starring Mary Pickford, but the Astaires have consistently denied this.

Fred Astaire first met George Gershwin, who was working as a song plugger in Jerome H. Remick's, in 1916. Fred had already been hunting for new music and dance ideas. Their chance meeting was to deeply affect the careers of both artists.

Astaire was always on the lookout for new steps on the circuit and was starting to demonstrate his ceaseless quest for novelty and perfection. The Astaires broke into Broadway in 1917 with ''Over the Top'', a patriotic revue.

1917–1933: Stage career in Broadway and London

They followed up with several more shows, and of their work in ''The Passing Show of 1918'' Heywood Broun wrote: "In an evening in which there was an abundance of good dancing, Fred Astaire stood out ... He and his partner, Adele Astaire, made the show pause early in the evening with a beautiful loose-limbed dance."

By this time, Astaire's dancing skill was beginning to outshine his sister's, though she still set the tone of their act and her sparkle and humor drew much of the attention, due in part to Fred's careful preparation and strong supporting choreography.

During the 1920s, Fred and Adele appeared on Broadway and on the London stage in shows such as George and Ira Gershwin's ''Lady Be Good'' (1924) and ''Funny Face'' (1927), and later in ''The Band Wagon'' (1931), winning popular acclaim with the theater crowd on both sides of the Atlantic. By then, Astaire's tap dancing was recognized as among the best, as Robert Benchley wrote in 1930, "I don't think that I will plunge the nation into war by stating that Fred is the greatest tap-dancer in the world."

After the close of ''Funny Face'', the Astaires went to Hollywood for a screen test (now lost) at Paramount Pictures, but were not considered suitable for films.

They split in 1932 when Adele married her first husband, Lord Charles Arthur Francis Cavendish, a son of the Duke of Devonshire. Fred Astaire went on to achieve success on his own on Broadway and in London with ''Gay Divorce'', while considering offers from Hollywood. The end of the partnership was traumatic for Astaire, but stimulated him to expand his range. Free of the brother-sister constraints of the former pairing and with a new partner (Claire Luce), he created a romantic partnered dance to Cole Porter's "Night and Day", which had been written for ''Gay Divorce''. Luce stated that she had to encourage him to take a more romantic approach: "Come on, Fred, I'm not your sister, you know." The success of the stage play was credited to this number, and when recreated in the film version of the play ''The Gay Divorcee'' (1934), it ushered in a new era in filmed dance. Recently, film footage taken by Fred Stone of Astaire performing in ''Gay Divorce'' with Luce's successor, Dorothy Stone, in New York in 1933 was uncovered by dancer and historian Betsy Baytos and now represents the earliest known performance footage of Astaire.

1933–1939: Astaire and Rogers at RKO

According to Hollywood folklore, a screen test report on Astaire for RKO Pictures, now lost along with the test, is reported to have read: "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little." The producer of the Astaire-Rogers pictures, Pandro S. Berman, claimed he had never heard the story in the 1930s and that it only emerged years later. Astaire later insisted that the report had actually read: "Can't act. Slightly bald. ''Also dances''". In any case, the test was clearly disappointing, and David O. Selznick, who had signed Astaire to RKO and commissioned the test, stated in a memo, "I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test." However, this did not affect RKO's plans for Astaire, first lending him for a few days to MGM in 1933 for his Hollywood debut, where he appeared as himself dancing with Joan Crawford in the successful musical film ''Dancing Lady''.

On his return to RKO Pictures, he got fifth billing alongside Ginger Rogers in the 1933 Dolores del Río vehicle ''Flying Down to Rio''. In a review, ''Variety'' magazine attributed its massive success to Astaire's presence: "The main point of ''Flying Down to Rio'' is the screen promise of Fred Astaire ... He's assuredly a bet after this one, for he's distinctly likable on the screen, the mike is kind to his voice and as a dancer he remains in a class by himself. The latter observation will be no news to the profession, which has long admitted that Astaire starts dancing where the others stop hoofing."

Having already been linked to his sister Adele on stage, Astaire was initially very reluctant to become part of another dance team. He wrote his agent, "I don't mind making another picture with her, but as for this ''team'' idea it's ''out!'' I've just managed to live down one partnership and I don't want to be bothered with any more." He was persuaded by the obvious public appeal of the Astaire-Rogers pairing. The partnership, and the choreography of Astaire and Hermes Pan, helped make dancing an important element of the Hollywood film musical. Astaire and Rogers made ten films together, including ''The Gay Divorcee'', ''Roberta'' (1935), ''Top Hat'' (1935), ''Follow the Fleet'' (1936), ''Swing Time'' (1936), ''Shall We Dance'' (1937), and ''Carefree'' (1938). Six out of the nine Astaire-Rogers musicals became the biggest moneymakers for RKO; all of the films brought a certain prestige and artistry that all studios coveted at the time. Their partnership elevated them both to stardom; as Katharine Hepburn reportedly said, "He gives her class and she gives him sex."

Astaire received a percentage of the films' profits, something extremely rare in actors' contracts at that time; and complete autonomy over how the dances would be presented, allowing him to revolutionize dance on film.

Astaire is credited with two important innovations in early film musicals. First, he insisted that the (almost stationary) camera film a dance routine in a single shot, if possible, while holding the dancers in full view at all times. Astaire famously quipped: "Either the camera will dance, or I will." Astaire maintained this policy from ''The Gay Divorcee'' (1934) onwards (until overruled by Francis Ford Coppola, who directed ''Finian's Rainbow'' (1968), Astaire's last film musical). Astaire's style of dance sequences thus contrasted with the Busby Berkeley musicals, which were known for dance sequences filled with extravagant aerial shots, quick takes, and zooms on certain areas of the body, such as the arms or legs. Second, Astaire was adamant that all song and dance routines be seamlessly integrated into the plotlines of the film. Instead of using dance as spectacle as Busby Berkeley did, Astaire used it to move the plot along. Typically, an Astaire picture would include a solo performance by Astaire — which he termed his "sock solo" — a partnered comedy dance routine, and a partnered romantic dance routine.

Dance commentators Arlene Croce, Hannah Hyam and John Mueller consider Rogers to have been Astaire's greatest dance partner, while recognizing that some of his later partners displayed superior technical dance skills, a view shared by Hermes Pan and Stanley Donen. Film critic Pauline Kael adopts a more neutral stance, while ''Time'' magazine film critic Richard Schickel writes "The nostalgia surrounding Rogers-Astaire tends to bleach out other partners."

Mueller sums up Rogers's abilities as follows: "Rogers was outstanding among Astaire's partners not because she was superior to others as a dancer, but because, as a skilled, intuitive actress, she was cagey enough to realize that acting did not stop when dancing began ... the reason so many women have fantasized about dancing with Fred Astaire is that Ginger Rogers conveyed the impression that dancing with him is the most thrilling experience imaginable." According to Astaire, "Ginger had never danced with a partner before ["Flying Down to Rio"]. She faked it an awful lot. She couldn't tap and she couldn't do this and that ... but Ginger had style and talent and improved as she went along. She got so that after a while everyone else who danced with me looked wrong."

For her part, Rogers described Astaire's uncompromising standards extending to the whole production, "Sometimes he'll think of a new line of dialogue or a new angle for the story ... they never know what time of night he'll call up and start ranting enthusiastically about a fresh idea ... No loafing on the job on an Astaire picture, and no cutting corners."

Astaire was still unwilling to have his career tied exclusively to any partnership, however. He negotiated with RKO to strike out on his own with ''A Damsel in Distress'' in 1937 with an inexperienced, non-dancing Joan Fontaine, unsuccessfully as it turned out. He returned to make two more films with Rogers, ''Carefree'' (1938) and ''The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle'' (1939). While both films earned respectable gross incomes, they both lost money due to increased production costs and Astaire left RKO. Rogers remained and went on to become the studio's hottest property in the early forties. They were reunited in 1949 at MGM for their final outing, ''The Barkleys of Broadway''.

1940–1947: Drifting to an early retirement

In 1939, Astaire left RKO to freelance and pursue new film opportunities, with mixed though generally successful outcomes. Throughout this period, Astaire continued to value the input of choreographic collaborators and, unlike the 1930s when he worked almost exclusively with Hermes Pan, he tapped the talents of other choreographers in an effort to continually innovate. His first post-Ginger dance partner was the redoubtable Eleanor Powell — considered the finest female tap-dancer of her generation — in ''Broadway Melody of 1940'' where they performed a celebrated extended dance routine to Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine". In his autobiography ''Steps in Time'', Astaire remarked, "She 'put 'em down like a man', no ricky-ticky-sissy stuff with Ellie. She really knocked out a tap dance in a class by herself."

He played alongside Bing Crosby in ''Holiday Inn'' (1942) and later ''Blue Skies'' (1946), but in spite of the enormous financial success of both, was reportedly dissatisfied with roles where he lost the girl to Crosby. The former film is particularly remembered for his virtuoso solo dance to "Let's Say it with Firecrackers" while the latter film featured an innovative song and dance routine to a song indelibly associated with him: "Puttin' on the Ritz". Other partners during this period included Paulette Goddard in ''Second Chorus'' (1940), in which he dance-conducted the Artie Shaw orchestra.

He made two pictures with Rita Hayworth, the daughter of his former vaudeville dance idols, the Cansinos: the first ''You'll Never Get Rich'' (1941) catapulted Hayworth to stardom and provided Astaire with his first opportunity to integrate Latin-American dance idioms into his style, taking advantage of Hayworth's professional Latin dance pedigree. His second film with Hayworth, ''You Were Never Lovelier'' (1942) was equally successful, and featured a duet to Kern's "I'm Old Fashioned" which became the centerpiece of Jerome Robbins's 1983 New York City Ballet tribute to Astaire. He next appeared opposite the seventeen-year-old Joan Leslie in the wartime drama ''The Sky's the Limit'' (1943) where he introduced Arlen and Mercer's "One for My Baby" while dancing on a bar counter in a dark and troubled routine. This film which was choreographed by Astaire alone and achieved modest box office success, represented an important departure for Astaire from his usual charming happy-go-lucky screen persona and confused contemporary critics.

His next partner, Lucille Bremer, was featured in two lavish vehicles, both directed by Vincente Minnelli: the fantasy ''Yolanda and the Thief'' which featured an avant-garde surrealistic ballet, and the musical revue ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1946) which featured a memorable teaming of Astaire with Gene Kelly to "The Babbit and the Bromide", a Gershwin song Astaire had introduced with his sister Adele back in 1927. While ''Follies'' was a hit, ''Yolanda'' bombed at the box office and Astaire, ever insecure and believing his career was beginning to falter surprised his audiences by announcing his retirement during the production of ''Blue Skies'' (1946), nominating "Puttin' on the Ritz" as his farewell dance.

After announcing his retirement in 1946, Astaire concentrated on his horse-racing interests and went on to found the Fred Astaire Dance Studios in 1947 — which he subsequently sold in 1966.

1948–1957: Productive years with MGM and second retirement

thumb|In ''Daddy Long Legs'' (1955)However, he soon returned to the big screen to replace the injured Kelly in ''Easter Parade'' opposite Judy Garland, Ann Miller and Peter Lawford, and for a final reunion with Rogers in ''The Barkleys of Broadway'' (1949). He then went on to make more musicals throughout the 1950s: ''Let's Dance'' (1950) with Betty Hutton, ''Royal Wedding'' (1951) with Jane Powell, ''Three Little Words'' (1950) and ''The Belle of New York'' (1952) with Vera-Ellen, ''The Band Wagon'' (1953) and ''Silk Stockings'' (1957) with Cyd Charisse, ''Daddy Long Legs'' (1955) with Leslie Caron, and ''Funny Face'' (1957) with Audrey Hepburn.

During 1952 Astaire recorded ''The Astaire Story'', a four-volume album with a quintet led by Oscar Peterson. The album provided a musical overview of Astaire's career, and was produced by Norman Granz. ''The Astaire Story'' later won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999, a special Grammy award to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

His legacy at this point was 30 musical films in 25 years. Afterwards, Astaire announced that he was retiring from dancing in film to concentrate on dramatic acting, scoring rave reviews for the nuclear war drama ''On the Beach'' (1959).

1958–1981: Branching out into televised dance and straight acting

Astaire did not retire from dancing completely. He made a series of four highly rated Emmy Award-winning musical specials for television in 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1968, each featuring Barrie Chase, with whom Astaire enjoyed an Indian summer of dance creativity. The first of these programs, 1958's ''An Evening with Fred Astaire'', won nine Emmy Awards, including "Best Single Performance by an Actor" and "Most Outstanding Single Program of the Year." It was also noteworthy for being the first major broadcast to be prerecorded on color videotape, and has recently been restored. The restoration won technical Emmy in 1988 for Ed Reitan, Don Kent, and Dan Einstein, who restored the original videotape, transferring its contents to a modern format, and filling in gaps where the tape had deteriorated with kinescope footage. Astaire personally won the Emmy for Best Single Performance by an Actor but the choice had a controversial backlash because many felt that his dancing in the special was not the type of "acting" the award was designed for. At one point Astaire even offered to return the award, but the Television Academy refused to consider it.

Fred played the role of Julian Osborne in the 1959 movie ''On the Beach'' and was nominated a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor award for his performance, losing to Stephen Boyd in ''Ben Hur'' . Astaire's last major musical film was ''Finian's Rainbow'' (1968), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He shed his white tie and tails to play an Irish rogue who believes if he buries a crock of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox it will multiply. His dance partner was Petula Clark, who portrayed his skeptical daughter. He admitted to being as nervous about singing with her as she confessed to being apprehensive about dancing with him. Unfortunately, the film was a box-office failure, though it has gained a strong reputation over the years since its release.

Astaire continued to act into the 1970s, appearing on television as the father of Robert Wagner's character of Alexander Mundy in ''It Takes a Thief'' and in films such as ''The Towering Inferno'' (1974), in which he danced with Jennifer Jones and for which he received his only Academy Award nomination, in the category of Best Supporting Actor. He voiced the mailman narrator in 1970's classic animated film ''Santa Claus is Comin' to Town''. He appeared in the first two ''That's Entertainment!'' documentaries in the mid 1970s. In the second, aged seventy-six, he performed a number of song-and-dance routines with Kelly, his last dance performances in a musical film. In the summer of 1975, he made three albums in London, ''Attitude Dancing'', ''They Can't Take These Away From Me'', and ''A Couple of Song and Dance Men'', the last an album of duets with Bing Crosby. In 1976, he played a supporting role as a dog owner in the cult movie ''The Amazing Dobermans'', co-starring Barbara Eden and James Franciscus. Fred Astaire played Dr. Seamus Scully in the French film ''The Purple Taxi'' (1977). In 1978, he co-starred with Helen Hayes in a well-received television film, ''A Family Upside Down,'' in which they play an elderly couple coping with failing health. Astaire won an Emmy Award for his performance. He made a well-publicized guest appearance on the science fiction television series ''Battlestar Galactica'' in 1979, as Chameleon, the possible father of Starbuck, in "The Man with Nine Lives", a role written for him by Donald P. Bellisario. Astaire asked his agent to obtain a role for him on ''Galactica'' because of his grandchildren's interest in the series. His final film role was the 1981 adaptation of Peter Straub's novel ''Ghost Story.'' This horror film was also the last for two of his most prominent castmates, Melvyn Douglas and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Working methods and influence on filmed dance

Astaire was a virtuoso dancer, able to convey light-hearted venturesomeness or deep emotion when called for. His technical control and sense of rhythm were astonishing. Long after the photography for the solo dance number "I Want to Be a Dancin' Man" was completed for the 1952 feature "The Belle of New York", it was decided that Astaire's humble costume and the threadbare stage set were inadequate and the entire sequence was re-shot. The 1994 documentary ''That's Entertainment! III'' shows the two performances side-by-side in split screen. Frame for frame, the two performances are absolutely identical, down to the subtlest gesture.

Astaire's execution of a dance routine was prized for its elegance, grace, originality and precision. He drew from a variety of influences, including tap and other black rhythms, classical dance and the elevated style of Vernon and Irene Castle, to create a uniquely recognizable dance style which greatly influenced the American Smooth style of ballroom dance, and set standards against which subsequent film dance musicals would be judged. He termed his eclectic approach his "outlaw style", an unpredictable and instinctive blending of personal artistry. His dances are economical yet endlessly nuanced, as Jerome Robbins stated, "Astaire's dancing looks so simple, so disarming, so easy, yet the understructure, the way he sets the steps on, over or against the music, is so surprising and inventive." Astaire further observes:

Working out the steps is a very complicated process — something like writing music. You have to think of some step that flows into the next one, and the whole dance must have an integrated pattern. If the dance is right, there shouldn't be a single superfluous movement. It should build to a climax and stop!"

With very few exceptions, Astaire created his routines in collaboration with other choreographers, primarily Hermes Pan. They would often start with a blank slate:

"For maybe a couple of days we wouldn't get anywhere — just stand in front of the mirror and fool around ... Then suddenly I'd get an idea or one of them would get an idea ... So then we'd get started ... You might get practically the whole idea of the routine done that day, but then you'd work on it, edit it, scramble it, and so forth. It might take sometimes as long as two, three weeks to get something going."

Frequently, a dance sequence was built around two or three principal ideas, sometimes inspired by his own steps or by the music itself, suggesting a particular mood or action. Many of his dances were built around a "gimmick", such as dancing on the walls in "Royal Wedding," or dancing with his shadows in ''Swing Time'', that he or his collaborator had thought up earlier and saved for the right situation. They would spend weeks creating all the dance sequences in a secluded rehearsal space before filming would begin, working with a rehearsal pianist (often the composer Hal Borne) who in turn would communicate modifications to the musical orchestrators.

His perfectionism was legendary; however, his relentless insistence on rehearsals and retakes was a burden to some. When time approached for the shooting of a number, Astaire would rehearse for another two weeks, and record the singing and music. With all the preparation completed, the actual shooting would go quickly, conserving costs. Astaire agonized during the entire process, frequently asking colleagues for acceptance for his work, as Vincente Minnelli stated, "He lacks confidence to the most enormous degree of all the people in the world. He will not even go to see his rushes ... He always thinks he is no good." As Astaire himself observed, "I've never yet got anything 100% right. Still it's never as bad as I think it is."

Although he viewed himself as an entertainer first and foremost, his consummate artistry won him the admiration of such twentieth century dance legends as Gene Kelly, George Balanchine, the Nicholas Brothers, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Margot Fonteyn, Bob Fosse, Gregory Hines, Rudolf Nureyev, Michael Jackson and Bill Robinson. Balanchine compared him to Bach, describing him as "the most interesting, the most inventive, the most elegant dancer of our times", while for Baryshnikov he was "a genius ... a classical dancer like I never saw in my life".

Influence on popular song

Extremely modest about his singing abilities (he frequently claimed that he couldn't sing), Astaire introduced some of the most celebrated songs from the Great American Songbook, in particular, Cole Porter's: "Night and Day" in ''Gay Divorce'' (1932); Irving Berlin's "Isn't This a Lovely Day?", "Cheek to Cheek" and "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" in ''Top Hat'' (1935), "Let's Face the Music and Dance" in ''Follow the Fleet'' (1936) and "Change Partners" in ''Carefree'' (1938). He first presented Jerome Kern's "The Way You Look Tonight" in ''Swing Time'' (1936); the Gershwins' "They Can't Take That Away From Me" in ''Shall We Dance'' (1937), "A Foggy Day" and "Nice Work if You Can Get it" in ''A Damsel in Distress'' (1937); Johnny Mercer's "One for My Baby" from ''The Sky's the Limit'' (1943) and "Something's Gotta Give" from ''Daddy Long Legs'' (1955); and Harry Warren and Arthur Freed's "This Heart of Mine" from ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1946).

Astaire also co-introduced a number of song classics via song duets with his partners. For example, with his sister Adele, he co-introduced the Gershwins' "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" from ''Stop Flirting'' (1923), "Fascinating Rhythm" in ''Lady, Be Good'' (1924), "Funny Face" in ''Funny Face'' (1927); and, in duets with Ginger Rogers, he presented Irving Berlin's "I'm Putting all My Eggs in One Basket" in ''Follow the Fleet'' (1936), Jerome Kern's "Pick Yourself Up" and "A Fine Romance" in ''Swing Time'' (1936), along with The Gershwins' "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" from ''Shall We Dance'' (1937). With Judy Garland, he sang Irving Berlin's "A Couple of Swells" from ''Easter Parade'' (1948); and, with Jack Buchanan, Oscar Levant, and Nanette Fabray he delivered Betty Comden and Adolph Green's "That's Entertainment" from ''The Band Wagon'' (1953).

Although he possessed a light voice, he was admired for his lyricism, diction and phrasing — the grace and elegance so prized in his dancing seemed to be reflected in his singing, a capacity for synthesis which led Burton Lane to describe him as "The world's greatest musical performer." Irving Berlin considered Astaire the equal of any male interpreter of his songs — "as good as Jolson, Crosby or Sinatra, not necessarily because of his voice, but for his conception of projecting a song." Jerome Kern considered him the supreme male interpreter of his songs and Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer also admired his unique treatment of their work. And while George Gershwin was somewhat critical of Astaire's singing abilities, he wrote many of his most memorable songs for him. In his heyday, Astaire was referenced in lyrics of songwriters Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart and Eric Maschwitz and continues to inspire modern songwriters.

Astaire was a songwriter of note himself, with "I'm Building Up to an Awful Letdown" (written with lyricist Johnny Mercer) reaching number four in the Hit Parade of 1936. He recorded his own "It's Just Like Taking Candy from a Baby" with Benny Goodman in 1940, and nurtured a lifelong ambition to be a successful popular song composer.

Awards, honors and tributes

1938 — Invited to place his hand and foot prints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood.

1950 — Ginger Rogers presented an honorary Academy Award to Astaire "for his unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures".

1950 — Golden Globe for "Best Motion Picture Actor -Music/Comedy" for ''Three Little Words''

1958 — Emmy Award for "Best Single Performance by an Actor" for ''An Evening with Fred Astaire''

1959 — Dance Magazine award

1960 — Nominated for Emmy Award for "Program Achievement" for ''Another Evening with Fred Astaire''

1960 — Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for "Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures"

1961 — Emmy Award for "Program Achievement" in 1961 for ''Astaire Time''

1961 — Voted Champion of Champions — Best Television performer in annual television critics and columnists poll conducted by ''Television Today'' and ''Motion Picture Daily''

1965 — The George Award from the George Eastman House for "outstanding contributions to motion pictures"

1968 — Nominated for an Emmy Award for ''Musical Variety Program'' for ''The Fred Astaire Show''

1972 — Named Musical Comedy Star of the Century by ''Liberty, "The Nostalgia Magazine"''.

1973 — Subject of a Gala by the Film Society of Lincoln Center

1975 — Academy Award nomination for ''The Towering Inferno''

1975 — Golden Globe for "Best Supporting Actor", BAFTA and David di Donatello awards for ''The Towering Inferno''

1978 — Emmy Award for "Best Actor — Drama or Comedy Special" for ''A Family Upside Down''

1978 — Honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

1978 — First recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors

1978 — National Artist Award from the American National Theatre Association for "contributing immeasurably to the American Theatre"

1981 — The Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute

1982 — The Anglo-American Contemporary Dance Foundation announces the Astaire Awards "to honor Fred Astaire and his sister Adele and to reward the achievement of an outstanding dancer or dancers". The awards have since been renamed The Fred and Adele Astaire Awards

1987 — The Capezio Dance Shoe Award (co-awarded with Rudolph Nureyev)

1987 — Inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York

1989 — Posthumous award of Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

1991 — Posthumous induction into the Ballroom Dancer's Hall of Fame

2000 — Ava Astaire McKenzie unveils a plaque in honor of her father, erected by the citizens of Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland

2008 — Conference to honor the life and work of Fred Astaire at Oriel College, University of Oxford, June 21–24.

Built in 1905, the Gottlieb Storz Mansion in Astaire's hometown of Omaha includes the "Adele and Fred Astaire Ballroom" on the top floor, which is the only memorial to their Omaha roots.

Astaire is referenced in the 2003 animated feature, ''The Triplets of Belleville'', in which he is eaten by his shoes after a fast-paced dance act.

Personal life

Politically, Astaire was a conservative and a lifelong Republican Party supporter, though he never made his political views publicly known. Along with Bing Crosby, George Murphy, Ginger Rogers and others he was a charter (founding) member of the Hollywood Republican Committee. He was churchgoing, supportive of American military action and was dismissive of the more open sexiness of movies in the 1970s.

Always immaculately turned out, with Cary Grant he was called "the best-dressed actor in American movies". Astaire remained a male fashion icon even into his later years, eschewing his trademark top hat, white tie and tails (which he never really cared for) in favor of a breezy casual style of tailored sports jackets, colored shirts, cravats and slacks — the latter usually held up by the idiosyncratic use of an old tie in place of a belt.

Astaire married for the first time in 1933, to the 25-year-old Phyllis Potter (née Phyllis Livingston Baker, 1908–1954), a Boston-born New York socialite and former wife of Eliphalet Nott Potter III (1906–1981), after pursuing her ardently for roughly two years. Phyllis's death from lung cancer, at the age of 46, ended 21 years of a blissful marriage and left Astaire devastated. Astaire attempted to drop out of the film ''Daddy Long Legs'' (1955), offering to pay the production costs to date, but was persuaded to stay.

In addition to Phyllis Potter's son, Eliphalet IV, known as Peter, the Astaires had two children. Fred, Jr. (born 1936) appeared with his father in the movie ''Midas Run'', but became a charter pilot and rancher instead of an actor. Ava Astaire McKenzie (born 1942) remains actively involved in promoting her late father's heritage.

His friend David Niven described him as "a pixie — timid, always warm-hearted, with a penchant for schoolboy jokes." Astaire was a lifelong golf and Thoroughbred horse racing enthusiast. In 1946 his horse Triplicate won the prestigious Hollywood Gold Cup and San Juan Capistrano Handicap. He remained physically active well into his eighties. At age seventy-eight, he broke his left wrist while riding his grandson's skateboard.

He remarried in 1980 to Robyn Smith, a jockey almost 45 years his junior. Smith was a jockey for Alfred G. Vanderbilt II.

Astaire died from pneumonia on June 22, 1987. He was interred in the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California. One last request of his was to thank his fans for their years of support.

Astaire has never been portrayed on film. He always refused permission for such portrayals, saying, "However much they offer me — and offers come in all the time — I shall not sell." Astaire's will included a clause requesting that no such portrayal ever take place; he commented, "It is there because I have no particular desire to have my life misinterpreted, which it would be."

Stage, film and television work

Musical films

''Dancing Lady'' (1933)

''Flying Down to Rio'' (1933)*

''The Gay Divorcee'' (1934)*

''Roberta'' (1935)*

''Top Hat'' (1935)*

''Follow the Fleet'' (1936)*

''Swing Time'' (1936)*

''Shall We Dance'' (1937)*

''A Damsel in Distress'' (1937)

''Carefree'' (1938)*

''The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle'' (1939)*

''Broadway Melody of 1940'' (1940)

''Second Chorus'' (1940)

''You'll Never Get Rich'' (1941)

''Holiday Inn'' (1942)

''You Were Never Lovelier'' (1942)

''The Sky's the Limit'' (1943)

''Yolanda and the Thief'' (1945)

''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1946)

''Blue Skies'' (1946)

''Easter Parade'' (1948)

''The Barkleys of Broadway'' (1949)*

''Three Little Words'' (1950)

''Let's Dance'' (1950)

''Royal Wedding'' (1951)

''The Belle of New York'' (1952)

''The Band Wagon'' (1953)

''Daddy Long Legs'' (1955)

''Funny Face'' (1957)

''Silk Stockings'' (1957)

''Finian's Rainbow'' (1968)

''That's Entertainment, Part II'' (1976) (narrator and performer)

Performances with Ginger Rogers

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Fred Astaire tribute site

Fred Astaire biography at AlsoDances.Net

Time.com: The Great American Flyer Fred Astaire:1899-1987

Time Magazine archive: Astaire essay by Richard Corliss

Astaire's religious views incl. many extracts from his biographers

Astaire or Kelly: A Generation Apart at Indian Auteur

Ava Astaire discusses her father's legacy. (BBC Television — Realplayer required)

"He's in Heaven ... " — In Memoriam Fred Astaire

Radio Interview — Fred Astaire — 1968

Links to photos of Astaire

"Fred Astaire and the art of fun": an essay on the Oxford Fred Astaire conference from TLS, July 16, 2008.

Category:1899 births Category:1987 deaths Category:American Episcopalians Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:American ballroom dancers Category:20th-century actors Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:American crooners Category:American choreographers Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:American film actors Category:American tap dancers Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:California Republicans Category:Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Burials at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:National Museum of Dance Hall of Fame inductees Category:Actors from Omaha, Nebraska Category:RCA Victor artists Category:MGM Records artists Category:Vaudeville performers Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:Infectious disease deaths in California Category:Film choreographers

af:Fred Astaire ar:فريد أستير an:Fred Astaire bs:Fred Astaire bg:Фред Астер ca:Fred Astaire cs:Fred Astaire cy:Fred Astaire da:Fred Astaire de:Fred Astaire el:Φρεντ Αστέρ es:Fred Astaire eo:Fred Astaire fa:فرد آستر fr:Fred Astaire fy:Fred Astaire gl:Fred Astaire ko:프레드 아스테어 hr:Fred Astaire io:Fred Astaire id:Fred Astaire it:Fred Astaire he:פרד אסטר ka:ფრედ ასტერი la:Fridericus Astaire lb:Fred Astaire hu:Fred Astaire mk:Фред Астер nl:Fred Astaire ja:フレッド・アステア no:Fred Astaire nn:Fred Astaire nds:Fred Astaire pl:Fred Astaire pt:Fred Astaire ro:Fred Astaire ru:Фред Астер simple:Fred Astaire sk:Fred Astaire sr:Фред Астер sh:Fred Astaire fi:Fred Astaire sv:Fred Astaire tl:Fred Astaire ta:பிரெட் அஸ்ரயர் th:เฟรด แอสแตร์ tr:Fred Astaire uk:Фред Астер vi:Fred Astaire zh:弗雷德·阿斯泰爾

name	Cyd Charisse
birth name	Tula Ellice Finklea
birth date	March 08, 1922
birth place	Amarillo, Texas, U.S.
death date	June 17, 2008
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
othername	Lily Norwood, Felia Siderova, Maria Istomina
years active	1943-2006
occupation	Actress, dancer
spouse	Nico Charisse (1939–47) 1 son Tony Martin (1948–2008) (her death) 1 son
website	http://www.humorinthenews.com/cyd/ }}

Cyd Charisse (March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer.

After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually focused on her abilities as a dancer, and she was paired with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly; her films include ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), ''The Band Wagon'' (1953) and ''Silk Stockings'' (1957). She stopped dancing in films in the late 1950s, but continued acting in film and television, and in 1992 made her Broadway debut.

In her later years, she discussed the history of the Hollywood musical in documentaries, and participated in ''That's Entertainment! III'' in 1994. She was awarded the National Medal of the Arts and Humanities in 2006.

Life and career

Early life

Charisse was born as Tula Ellice Finklea in Amarillo, Texas, the daughter of Lela (née Norwood) and Ernest Enos Finklea, Sr., who was a jeweler. Her nickname "Sid" was taken from a sibling trying to say "Sis". (It was later spelled "Cyd" at MGM to give her an air of mystery.) She was a sickly girl who started dancing lessons at six to build up her strength after a bout with polio. At 12, she studied ballet in Los Angeles with Adolph Bolm and Bronislava Nijinska, and at 14, she auditioned for and subsequently danced in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as "Felia Siderova" and, later, "Maria Istomina".

During a European tour, she met up again with Nico Charisse, a handsome young dancer she had studied with for a time in Los Angeles. They married in Paris in 1939. They had a son, Nicky, born in 1942.

Career

The outbreak of World War II led to the break-up of the company, and when Charisse returned to Los Angeles, David Lichine offered her a dancing role in Gregory Ratoff's ''Something to Shout About''. This brought her to the attention of choreographer Robert Alton — who had also discovered Gene Kelly — and soon she joined the Freed Unit at MGM, where she became the resident MGM ballet dancer.

Charisse was principally celebrated for her on-screen pairings with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. She first appeared with Astaire in a brief routine in ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (produced in 1944 and released in 1946). Her next appearance with him was as lead female role in ''The Band Wagon'' (1953), where she danced with Astaire in the acclaimed "Dancing in the Dark" and "Girl Hunt Ballet" routines. Another early role cast her opposite Judy Garland in the 1946 film ''The Harvey Girls''.

As Debbie Reynolds was not a trained dancer, Gene Kelly chose Charisse to partner him in the celebrated "Broadway Melody" ballet finale from ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), and she co-starred with Kelly in 1954's Scottish-themed musical film ''Brigadoon''. She again took the lead female role alongside Kelly in his penultimate MGM musical ''It's Always Fair Weather'' (1956).

In 1957, she rejoined Astaire in the film version of ''Silk Stockings'', a musical remake of 1939's ''Ninotchka'', with Charisse taking over Greta Garbo's role. In his autobiography, Astaire paid tribute to Charisse, calling her "beautiful dynamite" and writing: "That Cyd! When you've danced with her you stay danced with."

In her autobiography, Charisse reflected on her experience with Astaire and Kelly: "As one of the handful of girls who worked with both of those dance geniuses, I think I can give an honest comparison. In my opinion, Kelly is the more inventive choreographer of the two. Astaire, with Hermes Pan's help, creates fabulous numbers — for himself and his partner. But Kelly can create an entire number for somebody else ... I think, however, that Astaire's coordination is better than Kelly's ... his sense of rhythm is uncanny. Kelly, on the other hand, is the stronger of the two. When he lifts you, he lifts you! ... To sum it up, I'd say they were the two greatest dancing personalities who were ever on screen. But it's like comparing apples and oranges. They're both delicious." After the decline of the Hollywood musical in the late 1950s, Charisse retired from dancing but continued to appear in film and TV productions from the 1960s through the 1990s. She had a supporting role in ''Something's Got to Give'' (1962), the last, unfinished film of Marilyn Monroe. She made cameo appearances in Blue Mercedes's "I Want to Be Your Property" (1987) and Janet Jackson's "Alright" (1990) music videos.

Her last film appearance was in 1994 in ''That's Entertainment! III'' as one of the onscreen narrators of a tribute to the great MGM musical films.

Personal life

Charisse was married to singer Tony Martin from 1948 until her death. The marriage lasted 60 years. Cyd's first husband, whose surname she kept, was Nico Charisse (March 1906 - April 1970); they were married from 1939 to 1947.

She had two sons, Nico "Nicky" Charisse from her first marriage, and Tony Martin, Jr., born 1950, from her second. One of her daughters-in-law is Liv Lindeland, who was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Year for 1972. A niece of hers by marriage is actress Nana Visitor.

Charisse wrote a joint biography with Martin (and Dick Kleiner) entitled ''The Two of Us'' (1976). She was featured in the 2001 ''Guinness Book of World Records'' under "Most Valuable Legs", since a $5 million insurance policy was reportedly accepted on her legs in 1952. MGM was reputed to have insured her legs for a million dollars each, but Charisse later revealed that that had been an invention of the MGM publicity machine.

Her daughter-in-law, Sheila Charisse, was a victim of the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 in 1979.

In 1990, following similar moves by MGM colleagues Debbie Reynolds and Angela Lansbury, Charisse produced the exercise video ''Easy Energy Shape Up'', targeted for active senior citizens.

Later years and death

In her eighties, Charisse made occasional public appearances and appeared frequently in documentaries spotlighting the golden age of Hollywood. She made her Broadway debut in 1992 in the musical version of ''Grand Hotel'' as the aging ballerina, Elizaveta Grushinskaya.

Charisse was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California on June 16, 2008 after suffering an apparent heart attack. She died the following day at age 86. After her death, she was buried on June 22, 2008 at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California, following a Christian ceremony presided over by Dr. Gary Allan Dickey, Senior Pastor of The United Methodist Church in Westlake Village.

Honors

On November 9, 2006, in a private White House ceremony, President George W. Bush presented Cyd Charisse with the National Medal of the Arts and Humanities, the highest official U.S. honor available in the arts.

Tributes

In her collection "Tauzia 1945" fashion designer Marcela Calvet pays tribute to her by naming an exotic handbag after Cyd Charisse.

Filmography

Features:

''Something to Shout About'' (1943)

''Mission to Moscow'' (1943)

''Thousands Cheer'' (1943)

''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1945)

''The Harvey Girls'' (1946)

''Three Wise Fools'' (1946)

''Till the Clouds Roll By'' (1946)

''Fiesta'' (1947)

''The Unfinished Dance'' (1947)

''On an Island with You'' (1948)

''The Kissing Bandit'' (1948)

''Words and Music'' (1948)

''East Side, West Side'' (1949)

''Tension'' (1950)

''Mark of the Renegade'' (1951)

''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952)

''The Wild North'' (1952)

''Sombrero'' (1953)

''The Band Wagon'' (1953)

''Easy to Love'' (1953) (Cameo)

''Brigadoon'' (1954)

''Deep in My Heart'' (1954)

''It's Always Fair Weather'' (1955)

''Meet Me in Las Vegas'' (1956)

''Silk Stockings'' (1957)

''Twilight for the Gods'' (1958)

''Party Girl'' (1958)

''Black Tights'' (1960)

''Five Golden Hours'' (1961)

''Two Weeks in Another Town'' (1962)

''Something's Got To Give'' (1962), unfinished

''Assassination in Rome'' (1965)

''The Silencers'' (1966)

''Maroc 7'' (1967)

''Film Portrait'' (1973) (documentary)

''Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'' (1976)

''Warlords of Atlantis'' (1978)

''Private Screening'' (1989)

''That's Entertainment! III'' (1994)

Short subjects:

''Rhumba Serenade'' (1941)

''Poeme'' (1941)

''I Knew It Would Be This Way'' (1941)

''Did Anyone Call?'' (1941)

''Magic of Magnolias'' (1942)

''This Love of Mine'' (1942)

''1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration'' (1955)

Music videos

"I Want To Be Your Property" by Blue Mercedes (1988)

"Alright" by Janet Jackson (1990)

References

External links

The Cyd Charisse Appreciation Page

Famous Texans site

Archive of American Television

Legs - A tribute to Cyd Charisse

The Official Cyd Charisse Web Site

Photographs and bibliography

BBC obituary

CBC obituary

FOX obituary

NY Times obituary

Category:1922 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Actors from Texas Category:American dancers Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American Methodists Category:Ballets Russes dancers Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Disease-related deaths in California Category:People from Amarillo, Texas Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients

an:Cyd Charisse ca:Cyd Charisse cy:Cyd Charisse da:Cyd Charisse de:Cyd Charisse es:Cyd Charisse fr:Cyd Charisse it:Cyd Charisse he:סיד צ'ריס nl:Cyd Charisse ja:シド・チャリシー no:Cyd Charisse pl:Cyd Charisse pt:Cyd Charisse ru:Сид Чарисс sr:Сид Шарис fi:Cyd Charisse sv:Cyd Charisse zh:賽德·查里斯

Name	Tank
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Durrell Babbs
Born	January 01, 1976Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Origin	Washington, DC, US
Genre	R&B;, pop, hip hop, dance, crunk&B;, reggae
Occupation(s)	Singer, dancer, actor, model, musician
Instruments	Vocals, keyboard, piano, drums
Years active	1996–present
Label	Blackground (2000-2009), Atlantic (2010-Present)
Associated acts	TGT, Tyrese, Ginuwine, The Underdogs, Aaliyah, Omarion
Website	www.TheRealTank.com }}

Tank (born Durrell Babbs on January 1, 1976 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American R&B; singer, songwriter and producer.

Career

Tank was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and moved with his family as a child to the Washington, D.C. suburb of Clinton, Maryland. He was a multi-sport athlete at Crossland High School and was offered the opportunity to play college football. However Tank decided to focus on music and his talent eventually led him to an opportunity to sing background vocals for Ginuwine during one of Ginuwine's tours. In 2001, following Ginuwine's successful tour Tank released his debut album ''Force of Nature'' which spawned the ''R&B; Top Ten''-single "Maybe I Deserve".

In 2002, Tank released his second album ''One Man'' and a single of the same name.

Tank released his third solo album entitled "Sex, Love & Pain" on May 15, 2007. The lead single was intended to be "I Luv Dem Girls", but for unknown reasons the song was given to Marques Houston who renamed it "Strip Club" (intending to place it on his third solo album "Veteran"). However, "Strip Club" did not make "Veteran," and "Sex, Love & Pain"'s last track is the Timbaland remix to "I Luv Dem Girls". The first single from Tank's third album was "Please Don't Go". Later in the year Tank, Ginuwine and Tyrese Gibson formed a group called TGT. Their first single was a remix of "Please Don't Go" with an international tour entitled "The Shirts Off Tour" and search for a fourth member to follow. Tank released his fourth studio album, ''Now or Never'', on December 14, 2010. Tank collaborated with other artists on this project like Chris Brown, Drake, Letoya Luckett and many other artists.

Tank's song writing and production credits include working with Dave Hollister, Marques Houston, Omarion, Jamie Foxx, Donell Jones and Monica amongst others. As an associate of production team The Underdogs, also Harvey Mason and with his team, Song Dynasty. He has worked with many different artists over the years and was also a contributor to the score of the film adaptation of the musical ''Dreamgirls'', in which he also had a cameo. He was also featured in the movie "The Preacher's Kid."

Personal life

Tank is the father to four children listed here in birth order: Jordan & Ryen Babbs, Zoey Babbs and Durrell Babbs Jr..

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart positions		!align="center" rowspan="2" width="150"
		!width="60"	!width="60"
	align="left" valign="top"

¹Copies shipneeds

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions			Album
! width="40"	! width="40"	! width="40"
align="left"
	align="left"
	align="left"
align="left"
	align="left"

Awards

Grammy Award Nominations

*2008, Best R&B; Male Vocal Performance: "Please Don't Go"

*2008, Best R&B; Album: ''Sex, Love & Pain''

*2010, Best R&B; Song: "Under"

*2011, Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group: "Take My Time" with Chris Brown

References

External links

Official website

French Group dedicated to Tank on SoulRnB.com (Photos, Videos, Discussions, Etc.)

Category:African American singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American male singers Category:Living people Category:People from Milwaukee, Wisconsin Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:1976 births

es:Tank (cantante norteamericano) fr:Tank (chanteur) it:Tank (cantante statunitense) pl:Tank (wokalista)

name	Man
background	group_or_band
origin	Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales
genre	Progressive rock Pub rock
years active	1968–19761983–present
labels	Pye RecordsUnited Artists Records MCA Records
associated acts	Dire Straits, Quicksilver Messenger Service
website	manband.co.uk
current members	Josh AceMartin AceJames BeckRene RobrahnPhil Ryan
past members	John CipollinaClive John (AKA Clint Space)George Jones Jeff JonesMicky JonesDeke LeonardTweke LewisGareth Llewellyn ThorringtonJohn McKenzieRick MartinezMalcolm Morley Bob Richards John Weathers Ken WhaleyRay WilliamsTerry Williams Will Youatt
notable instruments	}}

Man are a rock band from South Wales whose style is a mixture of West Coast psychedelia, progressive rock, blues and country-rock. Formed in 1968 as a reincarnation of Welsh rock harmony group ‘’The Bystanders’’, Man are renowned for the extended jams in their live performances, and having had numerous line up changes.

The Bystanders

Man evolved out of The Bystanders, a successful close harmony pop group from Merthyr Tydfil who played numerous club residencies in Wales, often playing several clubs a night. The Bystanders issued eight singles, including "98.6" (#45 in UK Singles Chart, in February 1967) which featured in the 2009 film, ''The Boat That Rocked'' (although Keith's version was the bigger hit, reaching #24 in the UK) and "When Jesamine Goes", written by their manager Ronnie Scott and Marty Wilde under the pseudonyms of Frere Manston and Jack Gellar, which was later covered by The Casuals as "Jesamine" and got to #2 in the UK Chart. They also recorded sessions of cover versions for the BBC as rules restricting needle time required "live" performances between the records during the 1960s; becoming regulars on the ’’Jimmy Young Show’’, "The David Symonds Show" and others.

When formed in 1962 The Bystanders included Owen Money, then known as Gerry Braden, but he was replaced by Vic Oakley, giving the classic line up of Micky Jones (guitar), Ray Williams (bass), Jeff Jones (drums), Clive John (aka Clint Space) (keyboards) and Vic Oakley (vocals). By 1968 the other members wanted to change musical direction to a more psychedelic/American west-coast guitar sound, so Oakley left, to be replaced by Deke Leonard; and the band changed its name to Man.

The Pye years

Man were initially signed to Pye Records, for whom they recorded their first two albums:- ''Revelation'' noted for the simulated orgasm on "Erotica", which received a UK ban, and ''2 Ozs of Plastic with a Hole in the Middle''. Whilst mixing the second album, Leonard left, and was replaced by Martin Ace from Leonard’s previous band, Dream. At this time, Man were recording three demo sessions a week for Leeds Music, including Down the Dustpipe which they taught to Status Quo.

Man then toured Europe, predominantly Germany, where they supported Chicago, but on their return, were stopped as suspected terrorists, then jailed for drugs offences in Belgium. Leonard then rejoined, but Ace stayed on as a multi-instrumentalist. Shortly after, Ray Williams and Jeff Jones were fired, with Terry Williams joining on drums and Ace moving to bass. Leonard, Ace and Terry Williams having been together in “Dream”, this was seen by some as a take-over.

A bootleg of the first gig by this line up, October 1970 in Hamburg, was issued as ''To Live for to Die'' and was later re-bootlegged by the band. Despite good reviews in Britain ''Two Ounces of Plastic ...'' was more popular in Germany, so the band spent a year in Germany, where, having to play 4–5 hours a night, most numbers became extended jams.

The United Artists Years

Their manager, Barrie Marshall, obtained a new record contract with Andrew Lauder of United Artists Records, for whom the band recorded the eponymous ''Man'' album, which received mixed reviews. Their media break came when outperforming Soft Machine, Yes and Family at a concert in Berlin, but they continued to play on the continent. Having appeared on the United Artists sampler album, ''All Good Clean Fun'', they undertook a tour of Switzerland, to promote the album, together with Help Yourself and Leicester band ''Gypsy''.

The next album ''Do You Like It Here Now, Are You Settling In?'' recorded at Rockfield Studios by Kingsley Ward, received good reviews, and the band played German TV and Iceland with Badfinger. Constant touring was creating internal pressures, and in January 1972, John left the band, to form “Iowerth Pritchard and the Neutrons” with Phil Ryan and Will Youatt.

The new four piece supported Hawkwind and Brinsley Schwarz at a charity gig at The Roundhouse on 13 February 1972, recorded and issued as ''Greasy Truckers Party'', a limited edition double album which rapidly became a collectors' item. United Artists' A&R; man, Andrew Lauder, persuaded them to follow this up with a live album. ''Live at the Padget Rooms, Penarth'' was recorded on 8 April 1972. It was sold at a reduced price and only 8000 copies were pressed, which sold out in a week, making it No 1 in the “budget” album chart. Man recorded the first of their three Peel Sessions on 29 August 1972, (the others being 18 September 1973 & 31 October 1974)

The band then tried to write a new studio album, but lacked inspiration. Martin Ace left, to form "The Flying Aces" with his wife George, so Micky Jones and Terry Williams sacked Leonard, and John rejoined together with his new band members, Ryan (keyboards) and Youatt (bass). The new band recorded ''Be Good to Yourself at Least Once a Day'' which received good reviews. A party on 19 December 1972, with Dave Edmunds, Help Yourself, The Flying Aces and others, was issued as ''Christmas at the Patti'', a double 10” album, which again topped the “budget” album chart, but on tour John fell out with Micky Jones, and left again.

The four-piece started to record ''Back Into The Future'', but felt the need for a second guitarist, so Alan “Tweke” Lewis joined from ''Wild Turkey''. On 24 June 1973 they recorded the live half of this double album at Man’s spiritual London home, The Roundhouse, backed by the Gwalia Male Voice Choir, who had previously sung with Man at The Oval, when they supported Frank Zappa. The album initially sold well, rising to No 23, and again, this was tipped to be album that would make the band, but pressing was restricted by a lack of plastic during the oil crisis. The follow-up tour had Deke Leonard’s ''Iceberg'' as support. During the tour, Micky Jones and Leonard discussed a new Man line-up, so when Ryan and Youatt left to form ''The Neutrons'' in December 1973, Leonard disbanded Iceberg and rejoined Man along with two former members of Help Yourself; Malcolm Morley (keyboards) and Ken Whaley (bass), who had also played in Iceberg.

The next album ''Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics'' was produced by Roy Thomas Baker, noted for his work with Queen, and spent 4 weeks in the UK album chart, peaking at No 24. In March/April 1974 Man supported Hawkwind on ''The 1999 Party'', a 5 week US tour. At the Los Angeles Whisky a Go Go on 12 March, Jim Horn joined on saxophone, which was issued as a bonus disc with the reissue of the ''Rhinos ...'' Album in 2007. The 21 April gig in Chicago, was recorded for radio, and issued on CD as ''The 1999 Party Tour'' in 1997, but omits Morley from the credits, although he is on the recording.

Morley left the day before recording started on the next album ''Slow Motion''. Before the album was released, the band toured the UK (again with Badfinger) and USA in August–October 1974. They returned to the USA in March 1975, to promote the album by touring with REO Speedwagon and New Riders of the Purple Sage, but the tour collapsed on the first night. A new US tour, with REO Speedwagon and Blue Öyster Cult broke up two-thirds of the way through. Additional dates were arranged, but most were cancelled when Micky Jones developed pneumonia, so the final gigs were to be at the San Francisco Winterland. These were a great success, and promoter Bill Graham paid them a bonus, and rebooked them, but Whaley had had enough, and left.

Martin Ace flew out as a stand in, and the band met and rehearsed with John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service, who played with them at Winterland, and agreed to play a UK tour. On this tour, the Roundhouse gig was recorded, but it is rumoured that Micky Jones had to over-dub Cipollina’s guitar, as it was out of tune, before the ''Maximum Darkness'' album could be released. The album eventually reaching no 25 in the UK album chart. and Martin Ace continued as “stand in” bassist, until the end of a French tour, with Hawkwind, Gong and Magma, when he returned to the ''Flying Aces''.

MCA

The band changed label to MCA Records, Ryan rejoined on keyboards, but as no bass players they knew were available, the band had to audition for the first time in their history. Auditions went badly, until the final audition, of John McKenzie of Global Village Trucking Company, who was immediately offered the job. They then recorded ''The Welsh Connection'' which reached No 40 in the UK Album Chart and was toured in March/April 1976 in Britain and June/July in the US. During the US tour differences arose again, and on the subsequent European tour Ryan and McKenzie announced they would be leaving, and the rest of the band agreed to call it a day. The MCA record deal, however, was for 3 albums, but nobody was willing to contribute new material, and their attempts at covers were poor, so MCA eventually agreed to a live farewell album. ''All's Well That Ends Well'' was recorded at the Roundhouse on 11–13 December, although the final gig was in Slough on 16 December 1976. The band agreed that they “would never, ever, be one of those bands who reformed in a futile attempt to recapture past glories ...”.

Interval

After the 1976 break up, band members undertook numerous projects, often with other former members.

Martin Ace

Ace left Man before ''The Welsh Connection'' to reform The Flying Aces with his wife George (guitar), Mickey Gee (guitar), Phil Ryan (keyboards) and Stuart Halliday (drums). Ryan returned to Man and Halliday joined ‘’Alkatraz’’ being replaced first by Dave Charles, (ex Help Yourself) and then Mike Gibbins (ex Badfinger)

In the 1980s Ace & Micky Jones occasionally backed Welsh Elvis impersonator, Peter Singh in ''The Screaming Pakistanis'' and Ace also played with guitarist David Tipton with John 'Pugwash' Weathers (ex Gentle Giant) on drums.

Micky Jones

Shortly after the break-up, Micky Jones recorded some demos with John McKenzie (bass), Malcolm Morley (guitar & keyboards) and Derek Ballard (drums). In 1978 he formed the ''Micky Jones Band'', with Tweke Lewis (guitar), Steve Dixon (drums), Al McLaine (bass) and Steve Gurl (ex Wild Turkey & Babe Ruth) (keyboards).

Lewis & Gurl left, so Jones, Dixon & McLaine continued as three-piece ''Manipulator'' occasionally known as ‘’The Acidtones’’. In 1981 Jones disbanded Manipulator and formed ''The Flying Pigs'' with Mick Hawksworth (bass) and Phil Little (drums).

Deke Leonard

Leonard reformed ''Iceberg'', with Lincoln Carr (bass) and Terry Williams (when not playing with ''Rockpile''). He still had a record contract and initially recorded with Martin Ace and Terry Williams, but needed two attempts to complete the album ‘'Before Your Very Eyes’', release of which was delayed for five years, when EMI took over United Artists. A later line up included 2 musicians Leonard had played with in ''Help Yourself'', Richard Treece (guitar & bass) and B.J. Cole (pedal steel guitar), plus Reg Isadore (drums). Leonard took up writing, and briefly moved to the USA, where he worked on a Walter Egan album.

Leonard formed ''The Force'' with Sean Tyla (ex Ducks Deluxe) (guitar), Micky Groome (bass) and Paul Simmons (drums). Their album ''Force's First'' also included Terry Williams and Martin Ace. The Force disbanded after Tyla suffered severe stage fright in 1982, and Leonard reformed the band as another ''Iceberg''

John McKenzie

McKenzie initially joined Ryan and Pete Brown, before joining Steve Hillage appearing on some tracks of the ‘'Live Herald'’ album. He then became a session/backing musician, touring with Dr John, Albert Lee, Davy Spillane, The Christians, Seal, Alison Moyet and Everything but the Girl and recording with Bob Dylan, The Pretenders, Eurythmics, David Bowie, Mary Coughlan, Paul Brady, Moya Brennan, Andrea Corr, Damien Rice, and Wham.

Phil Ryan

Ryan rejoined his former Piblokto partner Pete Brown and briefly formed The Brown & Ryan Band with McKenzie (bass), Taff Williams (ex Neutrons) (guitar) and Steve Jones (drums). A second line up of Pete Brown, Phil Ryan, Taff Williams, Dill Katz (bass) and Jeff Seopardie (drums) known as both ‘’Pete Brown and the Interoceters’’ and ‘’Ray Gammond and the Interoceters’’ recorded some tracks issued on Pete Brown’s 1984 album ‘’Party in the Rain’’. He also played a few gigs with the Flying Aces.

Ryan then moved to Denmark, where his wife Bolette came from, and wrote music for films and TV

Terry Williams

On the breakup of Man, Williams immediately joined Rockpile with Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe and Billy Bremner. They continued until 1982, issuing several successful albums & singles and touring the USA and Europe. Williams briefly worked with Meat Loaf, before receiving an offer from Dire Straits, who he was still working with, when Man reformed.

Reformed

The band reformed in 1983, with a line-up of Micky Jones and Deke Leonard on guitars, Martin Ace on bass and John “Pugwash” Weathers (formerly of Gentle Giant) on drums. This line up was to stay constant until 1996, except from a short spell, when Weathers was unwell, and Rick Martinez temporarily took over

After rehearsals, their first gig was on All Fools Day at the Marquee Club in London, and in June they recorded ''Friday 13th'' (Picasso PIK 001) at The Marquee, but this comprised old numbers, not new material. Not having a recording contract to promote them, albums were issued on several labels, e.g. ''Friday 13th'' was also issued as ''Live at the Marquee'' (Great Expectations PIPCD 055) and ''Talk about a Morning'' (Dressed to Kill DRESS 600). Later that year they played the Reading Festival which was recorded for Tommy Vance’s Friday Rock Show and released as ''Live At Reading '83'' in 1993.

In 1983, they also recorded an album of new material in Germany, but fell out with the producer, who was also the album’s promoter, so the album was never issued. The first studio album to be issued, ''The Twang Dynasty'' was issued in 1992 and included the track "Fast and Dangerous" which was used on trailers for Paul Whitehouse’s Fast Show, although the band were not paid for this.

Their performance at 1994’s Glastonbury Festival was issued as ''Live 1994 - Official Bootleg'' (and reissued as ''Live Official Bootleg''), and in 1995 they recorded ''Call Down The Moon'' issued on the Hypertension label, and produced by the band and Ron Sanchez – a US musician and DJ, who had long championed their cause.

Weathers left in 1996, allegedly because Gentle Giant were about to reform, and was replaced by returning drummer Terry Williams, who in the interim, had served in bands such as Dire Straits. Williams recorded some tracks, later released on the ''Undrugged'' album, and then Leonard suffered a minor stroke, so the band played a few gigs as a 3 piece. When Leonard returned in 1997, Williams left, to be replaced by drummer Bob Richards formerly of ''The Wild Family'' and ''The Adrian Smith Band''.

Former keyboardist Phil Ryan returned in 1998 taking the band back to the classic 5-piece line-up, which recorded a live double album at The Star Club, Oberhausen, West Germany, in March that year. Ryan played a major role in producing 2000's ''Endangered Species'', but then had to withdraw from the band for personal reasons. Ryan was replaced by Gareth Llewellyn Thorrington, who missed the recording of ''Down Town Live'' at the Down Town Blues Club, Hamburg, in May 2001, as his flight was cancelled due a bomb-scare, but appeared on part of the ''Undrugged'' album (an “unplugged” album with a twist in the title), which had been started in 1996, and was finally issued in 2002. ''Undrugged'' has some classic covers, including Brian Wilson's Sail on Sailor and Ray Charles's Georgia On My Mind both lead vocals being by Micky Jones.

In 2002 Micky Jones was diagnosed with a brain tumour and had to take time off for treatment. Micky's place was temporarily taken by his son George Jones, but when Micky had recovered enough to rejoin, in 2004, Leonard decided to leave, again, so George became a permanent member of the band. In 2005, Micky Jones' health deteriorated due to the re-occurrence of his brain tumour and he was replaced by Martin Ace's son Josh Ace.

In 2006, the album ''Diamonds and Coal'' was released, after which Thorrington was sacked, and the band continued as a 4-piece. The 40th anniversary tour in 2008, saw the return of Ryan on keyboards, giving a multi-generational line up, with two early members (Martin Ace and Phil Ryan), two sons of early members (George Jones and Josh Ace) and Bob Richards, who had been in the band since 1997. This line up also recorded a studio album, but before this was mixed, the band split. Josh Ace, Martin Ace and Phil Ryan recruited James Beck (guitar, vocals) and Rene Robrahn (drums, vocals) to the new line up and wiped parts of the album to replace George Jones. Bob Richards parts were kept on as they were unable to record over them, due to the lack of a click track. This latest album ''Kingdom of Noise'' was finally released in June 2009.

After leaving Man, Micky Jones continued to perform for a while, but was then diagnosed with another tumour, he spent the next year and a half in and out of hospital, his health meant he remained at a care home in Swansea for the next 3 years until he died peacefully, at the age of 63, on 10 March 2010. Fans paid tribute to Micky Jones online, calling Man the greatest Welsh band of all time.

Clive John, AKA Clint Space, another of the founding members, died after a long fight against emphysema on 24 August 2011.

Discography

For a full discography see "The Manband Archive". In August 2011 this listed 412 releases, on 71 labels, in 24 countries.

Band member timeline

References

Further reading

Leonard D. (1996 & Rev. 2001) ''Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics''. Northdown Publishing ISBN 1-900711-00-1 & ISBN 1900711091

Leonard D. (2000) ''Maybe I Should’ve Stayed in Bed?'' Northdown Publishing ISBN 1-900711-09-5

External links

Comprehensive fan site

Original fan site

Micky Jones Official site

Deke Leonard Official site

The Harvard Man Home Page

Tribute Album download page

Man at Discogs.com

Category:People from Swansea Category:British progressive rock groups Category:Welsh musical groups Category:Welsh rock music groups Category:Musical groups established in 1968

cs:Man (skupina) cy:Man de:Man (Band) es:Man (banda) pt:Man (banda)