Adele Astaire and her brother Fred Astaire appeared on the vaudeville circuit as children in 1905 and went on to become a famous song and dance team before Adele left to marry in 1932. She was an extrovert and her on-stage personality sparkled over that of her more reticent younger brother. The team made their Broadway debut in 1916’s Over the Top. In George and Ira Gershwin’s Lady Be Good (1924) they became the darlings of Broadway performing “Hang onto Me,” “Fascinating Rhythm” (along with Cliff Edwards), the title song, and “Swiss Miss.”
In the Gershwins’ Funny Face (1927) they introduced the show’s title song, plus “Let’s Kiss and Make Up” and the comedic “The Babbitt and the Bromide.” In the same show Adele and Allen Kearns introduced “S’Wonderful” and “He Loves and She Loves.”
The Astaires’ last show together was a revue, The Bandwagon (1931), with music and lyrics by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz, who wrote the show-stopping closing number for the whole cast, “That’s Entertainment.”
