That's Entertainment, Part II together for the first time since the 1946 film "Ziegfeld Follies", and for only the second time in their careers. (It was the last time 76-year-old Astaire danced on film, though the veteran actor continued to make film and TV appearances into the 1980s; Kelly would go on to appear in the 1980 musical "Xanadu".) According to film historian Robert Osborne, in specially-filmed introductions produced for Turner Classic Movies, it was Astaire who suggested to Kelly that the two take advantage of this potentially last-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform together, something Kelly actually wishes for out loud during his narration of
Fred Astaire Bob Fosse, who called Astaire his "idol", also acknowledged his influence. Fred Astaire was born Frederick Emanuel Austerlitz on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Johanna "Ann" (née Geilus) (22 December 1878 - 30 Jul 1975) and Frederic "Fritz" Austerlitz. Astaire's mother was born in the United States, to Lutheran German emigrants from East Prussia and Alsace. Astaire's father was born in Linz, Austria, to Jewish parents who had converted to Roman Catholicism. Astaire's father, "Fritz" Austerlitz, arrived in New York City at the age of 25 on October 26, 1893, at Ellis Island. '"Fritz" was hoping