He was born Fredrick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska in 1899. His stage and film career spanned a total of seventy-six years, during which he made thirty-one movie musical. He's generally acknowledged to have been the most influential dancer in the history of film and television. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.

In 1932, a Hollywood talent agent made this note on his screen test: "Can't act. Can't sing. Can dance a little." The screen test was clearly disappointing, and David O. Selznick, who had commissioned the test, described it as "wretched" in a 1933 studio memo. However, this did not affect RKO's plans for Fred Astaire who later, danced his way into the hearts of America through musical after musical. Like Top Hat, Swing Time, Shall…