WA2K Radio is now on the air

edgar, I love your Buddy Holly song. Back in a moment with a song by Linda. Having a little trouble, so it's time for a station break.

This is cyber space, WA2K radio

Look What I Found In My Beer
The Beautiful South

Look what I found in my beer
A couple of dancing ladies and a ticket out of here
Look what I found in my beer
A start to being lonely and an end to my career

Look what he found in his gin
Lights' looking lively when love's looking dim
Look what he found in his gin
Souls look heavy when personality's thin

Look what I found in the drum
A lifelong beat and a replacement to the rum
Look what I found in the guitar
Another fellow thinker and a chauffeur to my heart

Look what I found in the mic
An end to screwed-up drinking and a Paul I actually like
Look what I found in my beer
A free test drive for a heart I cannot steer
Look what I found in my beer

Look what I found in my drink
A brain without a plughole and a sink without a think
Look what I found in my drink
A "love you" to the barmaid and a too-familiar wink

Look what we found in his booze
The reflection of him and his children without shoes
Look what we found in his booze
This mornings jigsaw in a hill of last nights clues

Look what I found in the drum
A lifelong beat and a replacement to the rum
Look what I found in the guitar
Another fellow thinker and a chauffeur to my heart

Look what I found in the mic
An end to screwed-up drinking and a Paul I actually like
Look what I found in my beer
A free test drive for a heart I cannot steer
Look what I found in my beer

Look what we found in the dance
Look what I've found in the song
Low expectations in a large pile of cans
It makes the drink seem weak,
the friendship strong

Have Fun
The Beautiful South

Have fun
And if you can't have fun
Have someone else's fun
'Cause someone sure had mine
They came in
now they're having a whale of a time

You should grow a beard
A beard to tell a thousand stories never told before
A beard to tell you tales, whilst the fireplace roars
The closing of relationships and the opening of doors
The starting of hostilities and the ending of wars

Take care
And if you couldn't care
Take someone else's care
'Cause someone took my care
They went there and then they were not there

We should have a baby
And then I wouldn't feel quite so sad
Then I'd feel like Paul the Saint and not Jack the Lad
A baby that'll make me feel so very glad
I've had a life of booze, but that's all I've ever had

'Cause I'm the King of Misery
The Prince of the torn apart
And you're the lighthouse keeper
To the owner of a ship-wrecked heart

Take heart
And if you can't take heart
Take someone else's heart
Someone took my heart
They came in, now I'm torn apart

We should grey together
Not that pigeon-chested Trafalgar grey
The grey that greets you on that first October day
The grey of Russian front, whilst wolves bay
And the skeleton of life that love decays

'Cause you're the Queen of Sadness
The Princess of the House of Pain
And you're the final match
To the holder of this flickering flame

Have fun

Just A Few Things That I Ain't
The Beautiful South

When you called me a useless druggie
At least you got half of it right
When you called me a hopeless alcoholic
I'm only hopeless after nine at night
And when you said I came staggering home blind drunk
If I didn't you'd get terrible fright
And if this is the land of hope and glory
Where's the land of hope but not quite

I've been scruff bag, dirt bag, always someones binbag
But never been bono or sting
However I dressed never really impressed
So they never got to hear a damn thing
I've been bad man sad man certified mad
But never 007 or saint
Trendsetter go getter international jet setter
Are just a few things that I ain't

The time you told class I was a half wit
Was my very first 50 %
Previous best in any other test
Was either stolen copied or lent
And when you branded me and every single one of my mates
A waste of time and effort to teach
Why d'you give us sums if our only hope was bums
On someone else's deckchair and beach

I've been smart arse, mardy arse, on and off a lard arse
But never been a legend to god
New thing dumb thing even last year's thing
Headbang? - not even a nod!
I've been left-wing, secure-wing, lost stripes, gained winged
We've never caused a lady to faint
Wideboy, ladyboy, read it in the paper boy
A few things they said that I ain't

When popularity soared, hometown and abroad
I spent most of it trying to breathe in
Always ill at ease, too willing to please
An inferior life's bargain bin
When you come from a background of bargain bins
You're bound to fear it ends where it begins
So when nation adored we felt more of a fraud
And too phoney to celebrate wins

I've been scruffbag, dirtbag, always someones binbag
But never been Bono or Sting
However I dressed never really impressed
So they never got to hear a damn thing
I've been badman, sadman, certified mad
But never 007 or Saint
Trend-setter, go-getter, international jet-setter
Are just a few things that I ain't

Well, folks, look what I found in triplicate. Hey, dj. Good to see you back again, Canada.

Thanks for The Beautiful South songs, buddy. Just my speed. Oops, better not use the word "speed".

First a song from Linda, then a salute to dj and his beautiful south.

I'm sending you some money
I wish it could be more
But it's harder than I thought
To find the work I came here for

This place is just as pretty
As I pictured it to be
But a man in need of work's
An all too common sight to see

Each morning as the trucks roll in
A lucky few climb on
And the rest of us are left to wonder
Where the dream has gone
Where the dream has gone

They say the Sierra melts with the rain
To race through the valley like blood through the vein
Turning the lowland from golden to green
To harvest forever the dreams of the San Joaquin

Every day I struggle
With the distance and the fear
That I will not return
Or find a way to bring you here

My emptiness grows deeper
I feel my spirit fall
As night comes like a blanket
It brings no sleep at all

I only hope that time will find
A way to work things out
We will be together
In the life we dream about
Life we dream about

They say the Sierra melts with the rain
To race through the valley like blood through the vein
Turning the lowland from golden to green
To harvest forever the dreams of the San Joaquin
We'll harvest forever the dreams of the San Joaquin

Here's to you, my palindromic friend



All is well now, I hope

and here is bessie smith again ... to sing a bedtime lullabye for everyone
g' night !
hbg

AGGRAVATIN' PAPA , DON'T YOU TRY TO TWOTIME ME (or else) !

That's a perfect lullaby, hbg. Thanks for allowing Bessie to sing me to sleep.

Goodnight, all.

From Letty with love

fun little Chaka Khan number, with guest appearances by Dizzy Gillespie (who wrote the melody), Herbie Hancock, and Charlie Parker (often called Bird, and sometimes called himself Charlie Chan )

A long time ago in the 40's
Dizzy and Bird gave us this song
They called it "A Night In Tunisia"
And the melody still lingers on

It was new and very strange
Blew the squares right off the stage
Few could play along
But the melody still lingers on

Max and Miles to name just two
Together they grew
The music was young and strong
And the melody still lingers on

They paved the way for generations
From Coltrane to Stevie
No one could stop the winds of change
Without them where'd we be?

The Duke and the Prez were there before
The past you can't ignore
The torch is lit, we'll keep the flame
And the melody remains the same

In the 40's
A night in tunisia
In the 40's
A night in tunisia
In the 40's
A night in tunisia
In the 40's
A night in tunisia

Age of Aquarius

When the moon is in the seventh house
and Jupiter aligns with Mars
then peace will guide the planets
and love will steer the stars
this is the dawning of the age of Aquarius the age of Aquarius
Aquarius
Aquarius

Harmony and sympathy
transbinding
no one follows your directions
dreams of visions
mystic crystal revelations
the minds liberation
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
the age of Aquarius
Aquarius
Aquarius

Let the sun shine
let the sun shine
the sun is shining
let the sun shine

FIFTH DIMENSION
From the musical "Hair"

Good morning WA2K listeners and contributors.

Hey, M.D. Love that song. It simply is jazz history in verse. Thanks, Mr. big island and the funny epithet of Charlie Parker adds a light touch to the lyrics. Appreciate the pictures, too.

Oh, my, Rex. Remember that one well, Maine. I should do Let the Sunshine in, folks, but I think that I will be a bit different and tout a little Tull.

Took a sad song of one sweet evening
I smiled and quickly turned away
It's not easy singing sad songs
But still the easiest way I have to say
So when you look into the sun
And see the things we haven't done --
Oh was it better then to run
Than to spend the summer crying
Now summer cannot come anyway
I had waited for time to change her
The only change that came was over me
She pretended not to want love --
I hope she was only fooling me
So when you look into the sun
Look for the pleasures nearly won
Or was it better then to run
Than to spend the summer singing
And summer could have come in a day

So if you hear my sad song singing
Remember who and what you nearly had
It's not easy singing sad songs
When you can sing the song to make me glad
So when you look into the sun
And see the words you could have sung:
It's not too late, only begun
We can still make summer
Yes, summer always comes anyway

So when you look into the sun
And see the words you could have sung:
It's not too late, only begun
Look into the sun

It's a beautiful mornin', Ahhh,
I think I'll go outside a while,
An jus' smile.
Just take in some clean fresh air, boy!
Ain't no sense in stayin' inside
If the weather's fine an' you got the time.
It's your chance to wake up and plan another brand new day.
Either way,
It's a beautiful mornin', Ahhh,
Each bird keeps singin' his own song.
So long!
I've got to be on my way, now.
Ain't no fun just hangin' around,
I've got to cover ground, you couldn't keep me down.
It just ain't no good if the sun shines
When you're still inside,
Shouldn't hide, still inside, shouldn't hide,
Ahhhh..Oh! (shouldn't hide) Ah, ah, Oh.....
--------------
(Do, do, Waaa) (Do, do, Waaa)
------------
There will be children with robins and flowers;
Sunshine caresses each new waking hour.
Seems to me that the people keep seeing
More and more each day, gotta say, lead the way,
It's okay, wednesday, thursday, it's okay,
(Ahhh) monday, wednesday, friday, weekday, Ah, Ah, Ohhh.
---------
(Do, do, Waaa)

Ah, Ah, Oh, Oh, (Do, Do - Aaaa)
Wooooo oo oo oh, oh, oh, Ah wo, do, waa
Ohhhhhhh.....Oh, Oh, Oh, .....

The Rascals

Mornin', Texas. Hmmm. I took a look see in the archives concerning The Rascals. Don't think I know them, edgar.

Don't know this group either, folks, but it seems appropriate.

Things We Said lyrics

Artist - Nine Days
Album - Monday Songs
Lyrics - Things We Said

By the town where you said you'd still love me
By an ocean just seven miles wide
We could walk across that bridge
Watch the water flow under
Leave all our troubles behind
Well maybe you don't quite remember
Lying there on your living room floor
With your parents over head we went to sneak up into your bed
In the mornings I'd be sneaking out your door
I'd do anything at all to make you happy
Anything at all to see you smile
Well lord knows I tried
But didn't always do right
Take back every tear I made you cry
By the town where you said you'd still love me
By an ocean just seven miles wide
We could walk across that bridge
Watch the water flow under
Leave all our troubles behind
Ah yeah
Five years ago I was much older
Time comes and takes it all away
To have and to hold to death do us part
Leaves me with a thousand things to say
I said sometimes I don't quite remember
What I did to make you leave
With the moon up over head
I lie awake alone in my bed
Without you it's so hard to be me
By the town where you said you'd still love me
By an ocean just seven miles wide
We could walk across that bridge
Watch the water flow under
Leave all our troubles behind
By the town where you said you'd still love me
By an ocean just seven miles wide
We could walk across that bridge
Watch the water flow under
Leave all our troubles behind

Goodnight Irene by Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) in the 1940s is based on the 1886 pop song by Gussie L. Davis.

Irene goodnight
Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene
Goodnight Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Last Saturday night I got married
Me and my wife settled down
Now me and my wife are parted
I'm gonna take another stroll in town

Irene goodnight
Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene
Goodnight Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Sometimes I live in the country
Sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I take a great notion
To jump in the river and drown

Irene goodnight
Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene
Goodnight Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Stop ramblin'
Stop your gamblin'
Stop stayin' out late at night
Go home to your wife and family
Stay there by your fireside bright

Irene goodnight
Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene
Goodnight Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Goodnight Irene
Goodnight Irene
I'll see you in my dreams

Hey, dys. I love that song, and we do appreciate your little background info. RJB likes it as well. As usual, I am not certain why I know it, but I have given up being perplexed and simply accepted genetic memory.

I never see our djjd that I don't think of another group with a palindromic name call ABBA.

Here's a lovely summer song from that Swedish group, folks.


Our Last Summer
Artist(Band):Abba

The summer air was soft and warm
The feeling right, the Paris night
Did its best to please us
And strolling down the Elysee
We had a drink in each cafe
And you
You talked of politics, philosophy and I
Smiled like Mona Lisa
We had our chance
It was a fine and true romance

I can still recall our last summer
I still see it all
Walks along the Seine, laughing in the rain
Our last summer
Memories that remain

We made our way along the river
And we sat down in the grass
By the Eiffel tower
I was so happy we had met
It was the age of no regret
Oh yes
Those crazy years, that was the time
Of the flower-power
But underneath we had a fear of flying
Of getting old, a fear of slowly dying
We took the chance
Like we were dancing our last dance

I can still recall our last summer
I still see it all
In the tourist jam, round the Notre Dame
Our last summer
Walking hand in hand

Paris restaurants
Our last summer
Morning croissants
Living for the day, worries far away
Our last summer
We could laugh and play

And now you're working in a bank
The family man, a football fan
And your name is Harry
How dull it seems
Yet you're the hero of my dreams

I can still recall our last summer
I still see it all
Walks along the Seine, laughing in the rain
Our last summer
Memories that remain
I can still recall our last summer
I still see it all
In the tourist jam, round the Notre Dame
Our last summer
Walking hand in hand
Paris restaurants
Our last summer
Morning croissants
We were living for the day, worries far away

Percy Kilbride
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Percy Kilbride (July 16, 1888 - December 11, 1964), born in San Francisco, California, was a popular character actor. Despite being raised in a big city, he made a career of playing country hicks, most memorably as lazy Pa Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle movie series.

Kilbride began working in theater at the age of 12 and eventually became an actor on Broadway. Ironically in light of his most familiar roles, he first played an 18th-century French dandy in A Tale of Two Cities.

His film debut was as Jakey in White Woman in 1933. He left Broadway for good in 1942.

In 1945 he appeared in The Southerner.

In 1947 he and Marjorie Main played the supporting parts of Ma and Pa Kettle in The Egg and I, starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert. Those were followed by the popular Ma and Pa Kettle series with Kilbride and Main playing the main characters, during which time he also played in other movies.

Kilbride retired after making the 1955 film Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki He did, however, take a small role in Son of Flubber in 1963.

He died in Los Angeles, California, after having been struck by a car while walking near his home with a friend.

A lifelong bachelor, Kilbride left his estate to four nephews and a sister.

Barbara Stanwyck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birth name Ruby Catherine Stevens
Born July 16, 1907
New York City, New York, USA
Died January 20, 1990 (aged 82)
Santa Monica, California
Spouse(s) Frank Fay (1928-1935)
Robert Taylor (1939-1951)
Notable roles Jean Harrington in The Lady Eve
Victoria Barkley in The Big Valley
Academy Awards

Academy Honorary Award
1982 Life achievement
Emmy Awards

Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series
1961 The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1966 The Big Valley
Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries/Movie
1983 The Thorn Birds
Golden Globe Awards

Best Supporting Actress - Miniseries
1984 The Thorn Birds
Cecil B. DeMille Award
1986 Lifetime achievement

Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 - January 20, 1990) was an American actress of film, stage, and screen .





Biography

Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens in New York City to Catherine Ann McPhee, a Canadian immigrant from Nova Scotia, and Byron E. Stevens, an American.[1] She was raised in Brooklyn, New York. When she was two, her mother, who was pregnant at the time, died after being pushed off a moving trolley by a drunk. By age four, her father had abandoned the family. She was raised in foster homes and by an elder sister, but began working at age 13, and was a fashion model and Broadway chorine by the age of 15.

In 1926, Stanwyck began performing at the Hudson Theatre in the drama The Noose, which became one of the biggest hit plays of the season. She co-starred with actors Rex Cherryman and Wilfred Lucas. Cherryman and Stanwyck began a romantic relationship. The relationship was cut short however, when in 1928, Cherryman died at the age of 30 of septic poisoning while vacationing in Le Havre, France. Her performance in The Noose earned rave reviews, and she was summoned by film producer Bob Kane to make a screen test for his upcoming 1927 silent film Broadway Nights where she won a minor part of a fan dancer. This marked Stanwyck's first film appearance.


Personal life

Her first husband was actor Frank Fay. They were married on August 26, 1928. On December 5, 1932 they adopted a son, Dion, who was one month old. (He and Stanwyck eventually became estranged.) The marriage was a troubled one; Fay's successful career on Broadway did not translate to the big screen, whereas Stanwyck achieved Hollywood stardom fairly rapidly. Also, Fay reportedly did not shy away from physical confrontations with his young wife, especially when he was inebriated (some film historians claim that the marriage was the basis for A Star is Born[citation needed]). The couple divorced on December 30, 1935.

Stanwyck and actor Robert Taylor began living together. Their 1939 marriage was arranged with the help of the studio, a common practice in Hollywood's golden age. She and Taylor enjoyed their time together outdoors during the early years of their marriage, and were the proud owners of many acres of prime West Los Angeles property. Their large ranch and home in the Mandeville Canyon section of Brentwood, Los Angeles, California is still to this day referred to by locals as the old "Robert Taylor ranch".

Taylor would have several affairs during the marriage, including one with Ava Gardner. Stanwyck was rumored to have attempted suicide when she learned of Taylor's fling with Lana Turner. She ultimately filed for divorce in 1950 when a starlet made her romance with Taylor public. The decree was granted on February 21, 1951.

Stanwyck was reportedly devastated when many of his old letters and photos were lost in a house fire. She never remarried, collecting alimony of 15 percent of Taylor's salary until his death.


Career

In 1926, a friend introduced Stanwyck (then known under her original name) to Willard Mack, who was casting his play The Noose. Asked to audition, she was hired on the spot. Willard thought a great deal of the actress and believed that to change her image, she needed a first class name, one that would stand out. He happened to notice a playbill for a play then running called Barbara Frietchie in which an actress named Joan Stanwyck appeared. He used this to come up with "Barbara Stanwyck" as Ruby's new stage name. She was an instant hit and he even re-wrote the script to give her a bigger part.

Stanwyck starred in almost a hundred films during her career and received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Stella Dallas (1937), Ball of Fire (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), and Sorry, Wrong Number (1948). In 1954 she appeared alongside Ronald Reagan in the western Cattle Queen of Montana. She received an Academy Honorary Award "for superlative creativity and unique contribution to the art of screen acting" in 1982.

When Stanwyck's film career declined in 1957, she moved to television. Her 1961-1962 series The Barbara Stanwyck Show was not a ratings success but earned the star her first Emmy Award. The 1965-1969 western series The Big Valley made her one of the most popular actresses on television, winning her another Emmy. Twenty years later, she earned her third Emmy for The Thorn Birds. Her last starring role was in 1985, on the TV series The Colbys alongside Charlton Heston, Stephanie Beacham and Katharine Ross.

William Holden always credited her with saving his career when they costarred together in Golden Boy. They remained lifelong friends and he paid tribute to her at the 1977 Academy Awards. In 1977, Stanwyck and Holden were presenting the Best Sound Oscar. Holden paused to pay a special tribute to Stanwyck.

The Waltons producer, Earl Hamner Jr., wanted Stanwyck for the lead role of Angela Channing on the successful 1980s melodrama, Falcon Crest, which was a spin-off of The Vintage Years, but she turned it down.

Stanwyck has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1751 Vine Street.

In 1973, she was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

In 1987 the American Film Institute awarded her a televised AFI Life Achievement Award.


Later years

Her retirement years were somewhat active, with charity work done completely out of the limelight. She became somewhat reclusive following a robbery in her home while she was present; she was pushed into a closet, but suffered no serious physical injury.

She died of congestive heart disease at St.John's Hospital, in Santa Monica, California.

Ginger Rogers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Virginia Katherine McMath
Born July 16, 1911
Independence, Missouri, USA
Died April 25, 1995 (aged 83)
Rancho Mirage, California, USA
Spouse(s) Jack Pepper (1929-1931)
Lew Ayres (1934-1941)
Jack Briggs (1943-1949)
Jacques Bergerac (1953-1957)
William Marshall (1961-1969)
Academy Awards

Best Actress
1940 Kitty Foyle

Ginger Rogers (July 16, 1911 - April 25, 1995) was an Academy Award-winning American film and stage actress and singer. In a film career spanning fifty years she made a total of seventy-three films, and is now principally celebrated for her role as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre.





Biography

Early life

She was born in Independence, Missouri, the daughter of Eddins McMath, of Scottish ancestry and Lela Owens McMath, of Welsh ancestry. Her mother separated from Rogers' father soon after her birth, and mother and daughter went to live with the Walter Owens family in nearby Kansas City.

Her parents divorced and fought for custody, with her father even kidnapping her twice. After they divorced, Rogers stayed with her grandparents, Walter and Saphrona Owens, while her mother wrote scripts for two years in Hollywood. Several of Rogers' cousins had a hard time pronouncing her first name Virginia, shortening it to "Ginya".

When she was nine years old, her mother got remarried to a man named John Logan Rogers. Ginger took the name of Rogers, although she was never legally adopted. They lived in Fort Worth, Texas, and her mother became a theater critic for a local newspaper, the Fort Worth Record.

As a teenager, she thought of teaching school, but with her mother's interest in Hollywood and the theater, her young exposure to the theater increased. Waiting for her mother in the wings of the Majestic Theatre, she began to sing and dance along to the performers on stage.


Vaudeville

Five years later her entertainment career was born one night when the traveling vaudeville act of Eddie Foy (Bob Hope would play Foy in The Seven Little Foys) came to Fort Worth and needed a quick stand-in. She would enter and win a Charleston contest and then hit the road on a Vaudeville tour. Her mother and she would tour for four years. During this time her mother divorced John Rogers, but kept his surname.

When only 17 she married Jack Culpepper, another dancer on the circuit. The marriage was over within months, and she went back to touring with her mother. When the tour got to New York City, she stayed, getting radio singing jobs and then her Broadway theater debut in a musical called Top Speed, which opened on Christmas Day, 1929.


Film career

1929-1933

Her first movie roles were in a trio of short films made in 1929 ?- Night in the Dormitory, A Day of a Man of Affairs, and Campus Sweethearts.

Within two weeks of opening in Top Speed she was hired to star in Girl Crazy by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin. Fred Astaire was hired to help the dancers with their choreography, and he briefly dated Rogers. Her appearance in Girl Crazy made her an overnight star at the age of 19. In 1930 she was signed with Paramount Pictures for a seven-year contract.

Rogers would soon get herself out of the Paramount contract and move with her mother to Hollywood. When she got to California, she signed a three-picture deal with Pathé, which resulted in three forgettable pictures. After getting bit parts for singing and dancing for most of 1932, in 1933 she made her screen breakthrough in 42nd Street (film) with Warner Brothers.

She went on to make a series of films with RKO and, in the second of those, Flying Down to Rio (1933), she again met up with Fred Astaire.


1933-1939: Fred and Ginger

Ginger Rogers was most famous for her partnership with Fred Astaire. Together, from 1933 to 1939 they made nine musical films at RKO and in so doing, revolutionized the Hollywood musical, introducing dance routines of unprecedented elegance and virtuosity, set to songs specially composed for them by the greatest popular song composers of the day, and performed in some of the most glamorous Art Deco-inspired sets ever seen on film. To this day, "Fred and Ginger" remains an almost automatic reference for any successful dance partnership.


Croce, Hyam and Mueller all consider Ginger Rogers to have been Astaire's finest dance partner, principally due to her ability to combine dancing skills, natural beauty and exceptional abilities as a dramatic actress and comedienne, thus truly complementing Astaire: a peerless dancer who sometimes struggled as an actor and was not considered classically handsome. The resulting song and dance partnership enjoyed a unique credibility in the eyes of audiences, as bluntly expressed by Katharine Hepburn: "She gives him sex, he gives her class." Of the 33 partnered dances she filmed with Astaire, Croce and Mueller have highlighted the infectious spontaneity of her performances in the comic numbers "I'll Be Hard To Handle" from Roberta (1935), "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket" from Follow the Fleet (1936) and "Pick Yourself Up" from Swing Time (1936). They also point to the use Astaire made of her remarkably flexible back in classic romantic dances such as "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" from Roberta (1935), "Cheek to Cheek" from Top Hat (1935) and "Let's Face the Music and Dance" from Follow the Fleet (1936). For special praise, they have singled out her performance in the "Waltz in Swing Time" from Swing Time (1936), which is generally considered to be the most virtuosic partnered routine ever committed to film by Astaire. She generally avoided solo dance performances: Astaire always included at least one virtuoso solo routine in each film while Rogers only ever performed one: "Let Yourself Go" from Follow the Fleet (1936).

Although the dance routines were choreographed by Astaire and his assistant Hermes Pan, both have acknowledged Rogers's input into the process, and have also testified to her consummate professionalism, even during periods of intense strain as she tried to juggle her many other contractual film commitments with the punishing rehearsal schedules of Astaire, who made at most two films in any one year. In 1986, shortly before his death, Astaire remarked: "All the girls I ever danced with thought they couldn't do it, but of course they could. So they always cried. All except Ginger. No no, Ginger never cried". John Mueller sums up Rogers's abilities as follows: "Rogers was outstanding among Astaire's partners not because she was superior to others as a dancer but because, as a skilled, intuitive actress, she was cagey enough to realize that acting did not stop when dancing began...the reason so many women have fantasized about dancing with Fred Astaire is that Ginger Rogers conveyed the impression that dancing with him is the most thrilling experience imaginable".

Ginger Rogers also introduced some celebrated numbers from the Great American Songbook, songs such as Harry Warren and Al Dubin's "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)" from Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), "Music Makes Me" from Flying Down to Rio (1933), "The Continental" from The Gay Divorcee (1934), Irving Berlin's "Let Yourself Go" from Follow the Fleet (1936) and the Gershwins' "Embraceable You" from Girl Crazy and "They All Laughed (at Christopher Columbus)" from Shall We Dance (1937). Furthermore, in song duets with Astaire, she co-introduced Irving Berlin's "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket" from Follow the Fleet (1936), Jerome Kern's "Pick Yourself Up" and "A Fine Romance" from Swing Time (1936) and the Gershwins' "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" from Shall We Dance (1937).


After 1939

In 1939 Rogers requested a break from musicals saying "I don't want to make a musical for the next year. Don't get me wrong?-I'm not ungrateful for what musicals have accomplished for me. However for the last four years I've been doing the same thing with minor variations." After breaking with Astaire, her first role was opposite David Niven in Bachelor Mother. In 1941 Ginger Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in 1940s Kitty Foyle. She enjoyed considerable success during the early 1940s, and was RKO's hottest property during this period, however, by the end of this decade her film career was in decline. Arthur Freed reunited her with Fred Astaire for one last time in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) which, while very successful, failed to revive Rogers's flagging career, although she continued to obtain parts throughout the 1950s.

In later life, Rogers remained on good terms with Astaire: she presented him with a special Academy Award in 1950, and they teamed up in 1967 as co-presenters of individual Academy Awards. The Kennedy Center honored Ginger Rogers in December 1992, an event which when shown on television, was somewhat marred when Astaire's widow, Robyn Smith (who permitted clips of Astaire dancing with Rogers to be shown for free at the function, itself), was unable to agree terms with CBS for broadcast rights to the clips.[2]


Personal life

In 1940 Rogers purchased a 1000-acre (4 km²) ranch between Shady Cove, Oregon and Eagle Point, Oregon, along the Rogue River, just north of Medford. The ranch, named the 4-R's (for Rogers's Rogue River Ranch), is where she would live, along with her mother, when not doing her Hollywood business, for 50 years. The ranch was also a dairy, and supplied milk to Camp White for the war effort during World War II. Rogers loved to fish the Rogue every summer. She sold the ranch in 1990 and moved to Medford.

Politically, Rogers was a Republican.

She lived for much of her life with her mother, Lela Rogers (1891-1977), who was a newspaper reporter, scriptwriter, and movie producer. Lela was also one of the first women to enlist in the Marine Corps, and was a founder of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals.

Rogers's mother "named names" to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and both mother and daughter were staunchly anti-Communist. They had an extremely close mother-daughter relationship ?- Rogers's mother even denied Rogers's father visitation rights after their divorce.

Rogers's first marriage was to her dancing partner Jack Pepper (real name Edward Jackson Culpepper) on March 29, 1929. They divorced in 1931, having separated soon after the wedding. In 1934, she married her second husband, actor Lew Ayres (1908 - 1996). They separated quickly and were divorced in 1941. In 1943, she married her third husband, Jack Briggs, a Marine. They divorced in 1949.

A recent biography of actor James Stewart claims that Stewart lost his virginity to Ginger Rogers. (New York Times Book Review, Nov.2006)

In 1953, Rogers married her fourth husband, lawyer Jacques Bergerac. 16 years her junior, he became an actor and then a cosmetics company executive. They divorced in 1957 and he soon remarried actress Dorothy Malone. In 1961, she married her fifth husband, director and producer William Marshall. They divorced in 1971.

Rogers was good friends with Lucille Ball (a distant cousin on her mother's side) for many years until Ball's death in 1989, at the age of 77. Ball did not seem to share Rogers's political views, but evidently still enjoyed her friendship, as did Bette Davis, a Democrat who definitely did not share Rogers's views and called her a "moralist", but still professed to enjoying her company.

Ginger Rogers was a cousin of actress/writer/socialite Phyllis Fraser (whose acting career was brief).

It has been said in books and other publications that Rogers was Rita Hayworth's cousin but they were not blood relatives. Their connection is as follows: Hayworth's mother's brother, Vinton Hayworth (Hayworth's uncle), was married to Rogers's mother's sister, Jean Owens (Rogers's aunt).

Rogers would spend the winters in Rancho Mirage, California, and the summers in Medford, Oregon. Ginger Rogers died on April 25, 1995, of congestive heart failure, at the age of 83, in Rancho Mirage, and was cremated. Her ashes are interred in the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California.

The Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater in Medford, Oregon is named in her honor.


Portrayals of Ginger Rogers

A musical about the life of Ginger Rogers, entitled Backwards in High Heels, premiered in Florida in early 2007.[1]


Quotations about Rogers

"Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels."[2]
"Fred gave Ginger class, and Ginger gave Fred sex." Katharine Hepburn, actress. Variants include "Astaire gave her class, and Rogers gave him sex" and "He gave her class, and she gave him sex appeal."
Madonna sings "Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, dance on air" in her famous song "Vogue", an apparent homage to the legendary actress and dancer.

Dead Donkey

Kenny, a teenage redneck who lived near Austin, Texas, bought a donkey from a farmer for $100.00.

The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. But when the farmer drove up the next day he said, "I'm sorry son, but I have some bad news. The donkey died."

Kenny replied, "Well, then, just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "I can't do that. I already went out and spent it."

Kenny said, "Ok, then, just bring me the dead donkey."

The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?"

Kenny, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"

Kenny said, "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he is dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?"

Kenny said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998.00."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Kenny said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."

Wow! Bob. I think we need a Kenny in our lives. Loved it, hawkman.

Once again, we appreciate all the bio's, but guess who we will await before commenting? If you get the right answer, folks, we'll send you a two dollar Florida lottery ticket.

Here's that song from Madonna, listeners.

Vogue lyrics by Madonna.

Strike a pose
Strike a pose
Vogue, vogue, vogue
Vogue, vogue, vogue

Look around everywhere you turn is heartache
It's everywhere that you go [look around]
You try everything you can to escape
The pain of life that you know [life that you know]

When all else fails and you long to be
Something better than you are today
I know a place where you can get away
It's called a dance floor, and here's what it's for, so

Chorus:

Come on, vogue
Let your body move to the music [move to the music]
Hey, hey, hey
Come on, vogue
Let your body go with the flow [go with the flow]
You know you can do it

All you need is your own imagination
So use it that's what it's for [that's what it's for]
Go inside, for your finest inspiration
Your dreams will open the door [open up the door]

It makes no difference if you're black or white

Running as fast as I can to get here, honest. Hope I don't get docked.

Here are Percy, Barbara and Ginger: