Ginger Rogers

Virginia Katherine McMath (July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995), better known as Ginger Rogers, was an American actress and dancer. She is most remembered as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten all-singing all-dancing Hollywood musicals, but her acting career spanned over thirty years. Her first roles were in a trio of short films made in 1929 — Night in the Dormitory, A Day of a Man of Affairs, and Campus Sweethearts. In 1939, she played opposite David Niven in Bachelor Mother.

In 1940 Ginger Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her starring role in Kitty Foyle.

She was a conservative Republican politically, and lived for much of her life with her mother, Lela Owens McMath Rogers (1891–1977), a Christian Scientist who was a newspaper reporter, scriptwriter, movie producer, one of the first women to enlist in the Marine Corps, and a founder of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. This close mother-daughter relationship has been proffered to explain at least in part Rogers's history of marital disappointment.

She first married her dancing partner Jack Pepper (real name Edward Jackson Culpepper) on March 29, 1929; they divorced in 1931, having separated soon after the wedding. In 1934, she married her second husband, actor Lew Ayres (1908–1996); they separated quickly and were divorced in 1941. In 1943, she married her third husband, Jack Briggs, a Marine; they divorced in 1949. In 1953, she married her fourth husband, lawyer Jacques Bergerac (16 years her junior, he became an actor and then a cosmetics company executive); they divorced in 1957 and he soon remarried actress Dorothy Malone. In 1961, she married her fifth husband, director and producer William Marshall, but separated from him within weeks of their marriage, eventually divorcing him in 1969.

Ginger Rogers died in 1995 and was interred in the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California.

The Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater in Medford, Oregon is named in her honor.

Filmography

• Campus Sweethearts RKO short subject, 1929
• A Day of a Man of Affairs Columbia short subject, 1929
• A Night in a Dormitory Pathe short subject, 1930
• Young Man of Manhattan Paramount, 1930
• The Sap from Syracuse Paramount, 1930
• Queen High Paramount, 1930
• Office Blues Paramount short subject, 1930
• Follow the Leader Paramount, 1930
• Honor Among Lovers Paramount, 1931
• The Tip-Off RKO, 1931
• Suicide Fleet RKO, 1931
• Carnival Boat RKO, 1932
• The Tenderfoot First National, 1932
• Hollywood on Parade MGM short subject, 1932
• The Thirteenth Guest Monogram, 1932
• Screen Snapshots Columbia short subject, 1932
• Hat Check Girl Fox, 1932
• You Said a Mouthful First National, 1932
• 42nd Street Warner Bros., 1933
• Broadway Bad Fox, 1933
• Hollywood on Parade No. 9 Paramount short subject, 1933
• Gold Diggers of 1933 Warner Bros., 1933
• Professional Sweetheart RKO, 1933
• Don't Bet on Love Universal, 1933
• A Shriek in the Night Allied, 1933
• Rafter Romance RKO, 1933
• Chance at Heaven RKO, 1933
• Sitting Pretty Paramount, 1933
• Flying Down to Rio RKO, 1933
• Twenty Million Sweethearts First National, 1934
• Upperworld Warner Bros., 1934
• Finishing School RKO, 1934
• Change of Heart Fox, 1934
• The Gay Divorcee RKO, 1934
• Hollywood Newsreel Warner Bros. short subject, 1934
• Romance in Manhattan RKO, 1935
• Roberta RKO, 1935
• Star of Midnight RKO, 1935
• Top Hat RKO, 1935
• In Person RKO, 1935
• Follow the Fleet RKO, 1936
• Swing Time RKO, 1936
• Shall We Dance RKO, 1937
• Stage Door RKO, 1937
• Vivacious Lady RKO, 1938
• Having Wonderful Time RKO, 1938
• Carefree RKO, 1938
• The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle RKO, 1939
• Bachelor Mother RKO, 1939
• 5th Ave Girl RKO, 1939
• Primrose Path RKO, 1940
• Lucky Partners RKO, 1940
• Kitty Foyle RKO, 1940
• Tom Dick and Harry RKO, 1941
• Roxie Hart 20th Century-Fox, 1942
• Tales of Manhattan 20th Century-Fox, 1942
• The Major and the Minor Paramount, 1942
• Once Upon a Honeymoon RKO, 1942
• Show Business at War 20th Century-Fox short subject, 1943
• Tender Comrade RKO, 1943
• Lady in the Dark Paramount, 1944
• Battle Stations 20th Century-Fox short subject, 1944
• I'll Be Seeing You Selznick, 1945
• Week-End at the Waldorf MGM, 1945
• Heartbeat RKO, 1946
• Magnificent Doll Universal, 1946
• It Had to Be You Columbia, 1947
• The Barkleys of Broadway MGM, 1949
• Screen Snapshots: The Great Showman Columbia short subject, 1950
• Perfect Strangers Warner Bros., 1950
• Storm Warning Warner Bros., 1951
• The Groom Wore Spurs Universal, 1951
• We're Not Married! 20th Century-Fox, 1952
• Dreamboat 20th Century-Fox, 1952
• Monkey Business 20th Century Fox, 1952
• Forever Female Paramount, 1953
• Screen Snapshots: Hollywood's Great Entertainers Columbia short subject, 1953
• Black Widow 20th Century-Fox, 1954
• Beautiful Stranger United Artists, 1954
• Tight Spot Columbia, 1955
• The First Traveling Saleslady RKO, 1956
• Oh, Men! Oh, Women! 20th Century-Fox, 1957
• The Confession Golden Eagle, 1964
• Harlow Magna, 1965

Quotations about Rogers

• "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, and she did it backwards and in high heels." Faith Whittlesey, former US ambassador to Switzerland. Responsibility for this quote also has been traced to a 1982 Frank and Ernest cartoon.

• "Fred gave Ginger class, and Ginger gave Fred sex." Katharine Hepburn, actress. Variants include "Astaire gave her class, and Rogers gave him sex" and "He gave her class, and she gave him sex."

External links

• Ginger Rogers biography (http://www.reelclassics.com/Actresses/Ginger/ginger.htm) from Reel Classics.
• Template:Imdb nameda:Ginger Rogers

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