Adele Astaire
| Adele Astaire | |
|---|---|
Adele Astaire, 1919
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| Born |
Adele Marie Austerlitz September 10, 1896 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | January 25, 1981 (aged 84) Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. |
| Occupation | Dancer, entertainer |
| Spouse(s) |
Lord Charles Cavendish (m. 1932; his death 1944) Kingman Douglass (m. 1947; his death 1971) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Fred Astaire (brother) |
Adele, Lady Charles Cavendish (born Adele Marie Austerlitz; September 10, 1896 – January 25, 1981) was an American dancer, stage actress and singer. She was Fred Astaire's elder sister, and his partner in a 27-year career in vaudeville and theater, beginning when he was five and she was eight.
Adele was born Adele Marie Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska, the daughter of Johanna "Ann" (née Geilus), an American-born Lutheran of German descent, and Frederic "Fritz" Emanuel Austerlitz (September, 1868–1924), an Austrian Roman Catholic brewer of Jewish descent from Vienna. Adele became an Episcopalian, like her younger brother.
A teacher's suggestion that the two children might have a stage career if trained for it prompted the family to move from Omaha to New York, though the father returned to Omaha to work. Adele, Fred and their mother lived in a boardinghouse, and the children began attending the Alviene Master School of the Theatre and Academy of Cultural Arts. They adopted the more American-sounding name 'Astaire' after trying several variations on the original family surname.
In 1905 Adele Astaire had a successful vaudeville act with her younger brother, Fred Astaire. After 1917 they developed it into a celebrated adult career on Broadway and, beginning in 1923, on the London stage. Adele was the bigger and more charismatic star of the two during their time performing together. Peter Pan creator J. M. Barrie asked Adele to play his creation; contractual reasons forced her to turn down the part.
Back in New York the duo appeared in Jerome Kern's The Bunch and Judy (1922), and then the Gershwin brothers' first Broadway collaboration Lady, Be Good!, followed by their Funny Face. Both were hits in America and in London.
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