Monday, May 7, 2012

FRED ASTAIRE - 'PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ



The man can dance; the man can sing.  What more do you want?

10 comments:

  1. And he was Episcopalian!

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  2. Actually I prefer the Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle version myself.

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  3. BarbieAnn, I just watched the video of Wilder and Boyle again, and they're funnier, that's for sure. Still, Fred is still the master in my book. ;-)

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  4. The NYU German department recently held a reception for Friedrich Ulfers to recognize his fifty years of teaching. (He didn't have a Ph.D. until 1968 when they gave him one to class up the faculty list -- he just taught and mentored, though he's published some important works in the past decade.) Many people spoke, praising Fred's range of interests and influence far and wide. Then Avital Ronell, former head of the department and star literary theorist, spoke from Israel via the Internet, calling Ulfers "one of her three Freds," the others being Nietzsche and Astair -- at which point she played the entire five-minute clip. Fred Ulfers said that was a hard act to follow -- but he did. Great guy. Gave a glimpse of an NYU before it became a real estate power.

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  5. Fred had style in every way!

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  6. Murdoch, thanks for the wonderful story about one of the other Freds.

    Ciss B, yes. I've long thought Astaire's talent as a song stylist was greatly underrated.

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  7. That's a good one. Fred dances amazingly well for a man who has had a few too many. :-)

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