Bio Unmasks Astaire as Racist

Actor wouldn't donate to black workshop
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 25, 2009 10:27 AM CDT
Bio Unmasks Astaire as Racist
7th July 1956: Actor and dancer Fred Astaire (1899-1987) poses in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where he is filming the Paramount musical 'Funny Face' with Audrey Hepburn.   (Getty Images)

Fred Astaire was a great dancer, but he was also a bit of a bigot. A new bio by Peter Levinson cited by the New York Post includes this anecdote: Solicited for a donation to a program developing young black writers, Astaire responded, “Whatever gave you the impression that I would be interested in giving money to start a workshop to help black kids? You've got the wrong guy.”
(More Fred Astaire stories.)

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