According to Hollywood legend, a screen test report on Fred Astaire for RKO Pictures, now lost along with the test, is reported to have read: “Can’t sing. Can’t act. Balding. Can dance a little.”
Whether or not the story is accurate, David O. Selznick, who had signed Astaire to RKO and commissioned the test, stated in a memo “I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test.”
Through hardwork and extreme dedication Astaire managed to make it all look easy. The rest, as we know, is history. Below is a brief moment from Fred’s stellar career.
