I watched an old "Dick Cavett Show" with Fred Astaire on cable television last night. My guess is that Astaire was in his early 70s at the time. His mother was still alive at age 93. I can not say that I have thought much about Astaire, except enjoying some of his films was Ginger Rogers.
Astaire received an extremely warm welcome from Cavett's studio audience. Chips from Astaire's films (Funny Face, You Were Never Lovelier) were shown. Fred talked about preparation and guessed that even the most complicated dance scenes were completed in a day and a half or so.
Cavett did not ask any controversial questions (Astaire was very conservative politically), so Fred came off as a kind grandfather figure. He had extraordinary talents as a dancer and singer. I did attend one Dick Cavett taping on a night Irish actress Sibborn McKenna and David Merrick were the guests. McKenna was well known in 1971, but did not receive much applause, not even close to what Astaire receive.
I wish that Astaire's visit had lasted much longer than 90 minutes.
