Fred Astaire 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
Fred Astaire he danced on screen. He acted nine different roles in "The Man in the Santa Claus Suit" in 1979. 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. 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