A man who rarely stopped trying... and achieving, entertainer Fred Astaire (1899–1987) was born Frederick Austerlitz on this day in Omaha, Nebraska. He put on his first pair of dancing shoes at age four when his mother enrolled him in ballet class.

"Old age is like everything else," he said. "To make a success of it, you've got to start young."

Astaire began in vaudeville, before mesmerizing Broadway and Hollywood with his incomparable style and finesse. He could sing, he could act, AND he could dance... gliding across the floor, alone or with partners like Ginger Rogers, Vera-Ellen, and Rita Hayworth.

A perfectionist and hard-worker, he defined sophistication and inventive choreography. He inspired generations of dancers. With a smile, Astaire once admitted he performed "for the applause and dough."

"The only way I know to get a good show is to practice, sweat, rehearse, and worry," said Astaire, who worked up to 18 hours a day for each musical and set standards rarely matched.

"When you're experimenting," he explained, "you have to try so many things before you choose what you want, that you may go days getting nothing but exhaustion."

His creative scene of You're All the World to Me in Royal Wedding (1951) featured him defying gravity, dancing on walls and ceiling in a specially constructed rotating room.

In Holiday Inn (1942), he danced with firecrackers. Ever airborne, he insisted on being filmed "full figure"—no special effects, just artistry and effort. He worked hard and set his own rules. Right at the top. Mistakes became his style.