Top Hat and Tails
Michael Freedland profiles one of the world's greatest dancers - Fred Astaire , of whom Irving Berlin once said, "I'd rather have Fred Astaire sing my songs than anyone else. You see, he gets the phrasing right." Freedland, who wrote the authorised Astaire biography, spent weeks with the star and kept in touch with him until just before he died in 1987. He met people who knew Astaire well, including Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth and Bing Crosby , and a host of other Hollywood and Broadway personalities, many of whom tell their side of the Astaire story tonight. The programme also features many of those classic Astaire tunes.
Producer Stella Hanson