The Girl From Missouri

A century ago, Virginia Katherine McMath was born, aka Ginger Rogers.  She'll be forever linked with Fred Astaire and the ten delightful films they made together.  She may not have been the greatest dancer he ever worked with, but she was his greatest partner.

She also was a major star on her own, appearing in such hits as Bachelor Mother, Kitty Foyle (for which she won an Oscar) and The Major And The Minor.  I remember when I was a kid she came through Detroit in a touring version of Anything Goes.  Alas, I didn't see it.  But, soon after moving to Los Angeles, I met her at a tribute at the Director's Guild.  She was very gracious, anwswering the audience's questions and signing autographs afterwards.  You could still see the spark that lit up so many movies.

Here she is doing something rare in an Astaire and Rogers film--dancing solo.  The song is Irving Berlin's "Let Yourself Go," the musical, Follow The Fleet.



She also was in Busby Berkeley musicals. In fact, she introduced "We're In The Money" in Gold Diggers Of 1933. You haven't heard it until you've heard it in Pig Latin.