Happy birthday, Fred Astaire

What can I say?  He was my first and longest crush -- and my point of entry into classical Hollywood cinema.

I wrote him endless letters as a child and teenager (by today's standards, I'd have been a considered a stalker and the FBI would have a file on me -- or maybe it does!).

I was harmless, though. And many years later when I was a Ph.D. student in Los Angeles, I left a bouquet of flowers on his doorstep on his birthday with a brief thank-you note printed on university stationery.  I rang the bell and then ran --  Ding Dong Ditch -- but I  heard the sounds of a convivial  gathering  floating from around back of the large house, and  I didn't want to intrude or bother anyone, least of all an old man.  I just wanted him to know that his own work had led me to mine. I'm glad I did. He died the next month on June 22.

A piece of personal trivia: he named his dog after me.  Yup, a true story and not the ravings of a delusional fan :)

Comments

[sparkly_jules]

Love, love, love the new look!! Red is fabulous!!

Now come on, you can't leave us hanging with the "Fred Astaire named his dog after me...." and then depart.....you've got to tell the story. I'm looking forward to it. :-) I'm sure others are, too.

:-)

Jules