Reel to Real

Decades before Fred Astaire tripped the light fantastic in a series of Arcadian Art Deco musicals with Ginger Rogers who mimicked his every move more effectively than Fred's own giant silhouette triptych did in the "Bojangles of Harlem" number from Swing Time, there was another partner in Astaire's orbit – his older sister Adele.

Adele and Fred were joined at the hip from their first childhood vaudeville appearance together in 1905 in Keyport, NJ, in an act billed as "Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty" until 1932 when, after a successful career on the Broadway and London stages, Adele retired from showbiz to marry into the British aristocracy.

Indeed, by his own admission, throughout their partnership, Fred played "second fiddle" to Adele, a perennial audience favorite who generated enough onstage charisma in those days to power every trans-Atlantic steamer the Cunard Line floated.

A couple of new books are due to hit bookstores soon: one by Joseph Epstein entitled Astaire, and another, Puttin' on the Ritz, by Peter Levinson. They will, of course, center on Fred's inestimable contribution to filmed dance. But attention must be paid to the youthful Astaire when he was just starting to formulate his insouciant, effortless, outlaw style; a time when big sister Adele was with him every step of the way.

I came across a letter Adele wrote to me in 1981 (a year before she died) in response to several questions I asked her about when she and Fred performed on the Orpheum Vaudeville Circuit. At that time she was long-retired and living in the Biltmore Estates area of Phoenix, just about a stone's throw from the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Arizona Biltmore Hotel.

Fred and Adele: Their Early Vaudeville Days

Here now, a couple of snippets from an era that's been consigned to history books and the fuzzy memories of a few octogenarians who saw acts like master juggler W.C. Fields, the angular Astaires, the Marx Brothers and countless others that had to prove their bonafides each night and twice on Saturdays.

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TJ: I've read that Fred used to sneak onstage just before you were to perform in vaudeville and spread rosin around so that you wouldn't lose your footing during dance routines?

Adele: From the very beginning of our stage career my brother would sprinkle rosin on the floor to prevent falls. He also rehearsed the pit orchestra in whatever town we were playing. He was the diligent one, even when we were very young.

TJ: Did you ever face a tough vaudeville audience?

Adele: Audiences throughout the tour were always good and very receptive to our acts, which included a bride and groom number where my brother dressed in his first costume of top hat and tails. Later in the act, I dressed as a glass of champagne and Fred was a lobster.

TJ: What would you do between shows?

Adele: Between performances, my brother and I were tutored by my mother who was a school teacher. We also played games like any other kids.

TJ: How much salary did you and Fred make on the Orpheum Vaudeville circuit?