Actress Ginger Rogers: biography, personal life, films

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Ginger Rogers is an American actress, dancer and singer. She was most famous in joint performances with Fred Astaire in films of the early 30s. Biography of Ginger Rogers, her personal life and creative path - later in this article.

Early years

Virginia Katherine McMath, better known as Ginger Rogers, was born July 16, 1911, in Independence, Missouri (USA). She was the only child of Leela and William McMath, a journalist and electrical engineer with Scottish, Welsh and English roots. In the year the girl was born, the McMaths divorced. Lila soon left for Hollywood to try her luck as a screenwriter, and little Virginia was left in the care of her maternal grandparents. Below is a childhood photo of Ginger Rogers with his father.

At the age of seven, Virginia received the nickname "Ginger" from one of her little cousins, unable to pronounce her complex name, which stuck and later became the pseudonym "Ginger". When the girlturned nine, her mother remarried - to John Logan Rogers. From him, the future actress took her last name, despite the fact that he did not officially adopt her. At the same time, the girl began to live with her mother again - Lila was successful as a screenwriter, and Jinja, watching her mother work at the film studio and in the theater, became more and more imbued with acting and the stage.

Career start

In 1926, 15-year-old Jinja Rogers won a Charleston dance competition for a six-month tour with professional dancers. It was during this tour that the girl was offered to change the name Jinja to the more harmonious Ginger - this is how the name of the future star was formed, under which she later became famous.

At the age of 17, Ginger Rogers moved to New York, where she got a job as a radio singer. In 1929, she made her debut on Broadway - she played a small role in the musical "Speed Limit". After that, she was noticed and in 1930 was invited to the main role in the production of "Crazy Girl". Brilliantly coping with the role, which included choreography and vocals, Rogers instantly became a star. At the same time, she met Fred Astaire, who was invited to this musical as a choreographer and dance director.

The first films with Ginger Rogers were three short films in 1929 - Dormitory Night, Businessman's Day and Campus Sweethearts. The aspiring actress appeared in more than ten films between 1929 and 1933, but her first realsuccess was the role of Ann Lowell in the film "42nd Street" (1933).

Duets with Fred Astaire

The most famous in the filmography of Ginger Rogers are ten musical pictures in which she performed in a duet with the most famous Hollywood dancer Fred Astaire. List of these movies:

• "Flight to Rio" (1933);
• "The Merry Divorce" (1934);
• "Robert" (1935);
• "Cylinder" (1935);
• "Following the Fleet" (1936);
• "Swing Time" (1936);
• "Shall we dance?" (1937);
• "Carefree" (1938);
• "The Vernon and Irene Castle Story" (1939);
• "The Barkley Couple of Broadway" (1949).

33 dance routines performed by Rogers and Astaire revolutionized the film musical genre, captivating audiences with unparalleled elegance and virtuosity. Most film critics agree that Ginger was the best of all Fred Astaire's dancing partners, as she not only danced amazingly, but also had both dramatic and comedic talent. One of the most famous dance numbers called "The Last Dance" from the movie "Swing Time" can be seen below.

Further creativity

Despite the fact that the partnership with Astaire brought Ginger Rogers popularity, in the same years she starred in no less successful non-musical films. It is worth notingthe film "The Door to the Stage" in 1937, where the actress fully demonstrated her dramatic abilities. Among the most successful comedies of this period are The Lively Lady (1938), The Fifth Avenue Girl (1939) and The Bachelor Mom (1939).

In 1940, the actress played a major role in the film "Kitty Foyle", for which in 1941, beating the famous stars Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Joan Fontaine, she received the Oscar. Another notable role was Roxie Hart in the 1942 film of the same name, which later became the basis for the legendary musical of the 70s and the film of 2002.

In the same year, the actress played in the comedy "The Major and the Little" - he is interesting in his acting debut with her mother Lila Rogers, who embodied the mother of the heroine Ginger on the screen.

Freed from lengthy contracts with RKO and Paramount studios, Ginger Rogers did not use the services of agents and chose her own roles. She starred in her most successful films of the 1940s, such as Gentle Comrade (1943), A Play in the Dark (1944) and Waldorf Weekend (1945), and became the highest paid actress in Hollywood.

By the beginning of the 50s, Rogers' successful career gradually began to decline, but she still appeared in several successful films with star actingcomposition. For example, she starred in Storm Warning (1950) with Ronald Reagan and Doris Day, Monkey Labor (1952) with Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe, and We're Single (1952), also with Marilyn Monroe.

Late creativity

After a series of low-profile films, the actress returned to Broadway and had a huge success, starring in the musical Hello, Dolly! 1965. In 1969, she played a major role in the musical "Mother", which was in one of the theaters in London and was even presented to Queen Elizabeth II. After that, the actress occasionally appeared on the screen, most often as a cameo or guest star - for example, starring in one series of a popular TV show. So, she appeared in the television series "Love Boat" (1979), "Shine" (1984) and "Hotel" (1987). The role in "Hotel" was the last film work in the career of Ginger Rogers.

Private life

Ginger Rogers first married in March 1929 when she was 17 years old. Her childhood friend Jack Pepper, a dancer, singer and comedian, with whom they performed in a duet, became her husband. The newlyweds broke up two months after the wedding, but officially remained spouses until 1931.

In 1932, Rogers began a relationship with actor and director Mervyn Leroy, but the young people quickly ended them, while remaining friends for the rest of their lives. In 1934, Gingers married actor Lew Ayres, with whom she had been married for seven years.years.

In 1943, the actress married for the third time - to the Marine Jack Briggs, who also began his acting career. The couple lived together for six years and divorced due to creative differences.

The fourth husband of Ginger Roger was the French lawyer Jean Bergerac, who was 16 years younger than his wife. After moving to Hollywood, he also began an acting career and soon met a new young lover - Rogers' fourth marriage broke up four years later.

The fifth and last husband of the actress was the director and producer William Marshall, with whom they got engaged in 1961. The couple lived together for ten years and divorced because of the collapse of their joint film company, organized in Jamaica, and Marshall's progressive alcoholism. In none of the five marriages, the actress never became a mother.

Death

At the age of 22, Ginger Rogers was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, but being a Christian Science devotee, she never went to the doctor or took medication. Her fifth husband, William Marshal, deceived Ginger and injected her with insulin injections under the guise of vitamins, which she only found out about after the divorce. In the early 90s, the actress had a heart attack, and she was partially paralyzed, but still did not want to go to the hospital and refused all medications. In early 1995, Rogers fell into a diabetic coma associated with lifelong non-compliance with diabetes treatment. Without leaving a coma, the actress died on April 25, 1995years, at the age of 83.

Memory

Even during the lifetime of the actress, a star with her name was installed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rogers is the subject of Ginger Rogers and the Riddle of the Scarlet Cloak, written by her mother Lila in 1942. In 2007, Florida hosted the premiere of the biographical musical "Onward in High Heels".