Name: Ginger Rogers

Birth Name: Virginia Katherine McMath

Birthdate: July 16, 1911

Date of Death: April 25, 1995

Birthplace: Independence, Mo.

Touring the vaudeville circuit as a teenager for four years with her divorcée mother, Rogers dropped anchor in New York City and worked radio singing jobs until her Broadway debut in the musical Top Speed in 1929. A starring role in the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy soon thereafter led to her fated meeting with Fred Astaire who was hired to help with the show's choreography (although it would be a few years before their onscreen debut in 1933's Flying Down to Rio would make their names synonomous with any future successful dance partnership). Rogers and Astaire made ten musicals together before she strayed away from the genre, finding Oscar success with her titular role in Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman (1940). Other films for which she is known include Gold Diggers (1933), Top Hat (1935), Tom Dick and Harry (1941) and Monkey Business (1952).


1. Her stage name: Several of Rogers' cousins had a hard time pronouncing her first name Virginia, shortening it to "Ginya;" her mother married a man named John Logan Rogers who never legally adopted "Ginger," but took his last name of Rogers anyway.
2. She directed her first stage musical, Babes in Arms, at age 74.
3. A keen artist, she did many paintings, sculptures and sketches in her free time but could never bring herself to sell any of them.
4. She was Hollywood's highest paid star of 1942.
5. She owned a lingerie factory in Rock Island Tennessee called Form Fit Rogers.


"The most important thing in anyone's life is to be giving something. The quality I can give is fun, joy and happiness. This is my gift."


Husband: William Marshall, married March 16, 1961, divorced 1969
Husband: Jacques Bergerac, married February 7, 1953, divorced July 7, 1957
Husband: Jack Briggs, married January 16, 1943, divorced September 7, 1949
Husband: Lew Ayres, married November 13, 1934, divorced March 13, 1941
Husband: Jack Pepper, married March 29, 1929, divorced July 11, 1931

1953: Golden Globe nomination: Best Motion Picture Actress (Musical/Comedy), Monkey Business

1941: Academy Award: Best Actress, Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman

 

FILMS

Mystery and Suspense: Cast A Dark Shadow/A Shriek In The Night - (1996) - Actor
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella - (1964) - Actor
Tight Spot - (1955) - Actor
Twist of Fate - (1954) - Actor
Forever Female - (1953) - Actor
Monkey Business - (1952) - Actor
We're Not Married - (1952) - Actor
The Groom Wore Spurs - (1951) - Actor
Great Musicals - Vol. 2 - (1951) - Actor
Heartbeat - (1946) - Actor
Weekend at the Waldorf - (1945) - Actor
I'll Be Seeing You - (1945) - Actor
Tender Comrade - (1943) - Actor
Roxie Hart - (1942) - Actor
Tales of Manhattan - (1942) - Actor
The Major and the Minor - (1942) - Actor
Once Upon a Honeymoon - (1941) - Actor
Tom, Dick and Harry - (1941) - Actor
Kitty Foyle - (1940) - Actor
The Primrose Path - (1940) - Actor
Bachelor Mother - (1939) - Actor
Carefree - (1938) - Actor
Vivacious Lady - (1938) - Actor
Stage Door - (1937) - Actor
Swing Time - (1935) - Actor
Swing Time Special LV Edition - (1935) - Actor
Top Hat - (1935) - Actor
The Thirteenth Guest - (1935) - Actor
The Gay Divorcee - (1934) - Actor
Romance in Manhattan - (1934) - Actor
42nd Street - (1933) - Actor
Gold Diggers of 1933 - (1933) - Actor
A Shriek in the Night - (1933) - Actor
Finishing School - (1933) - Actor
The Tip Off - (1931) - Actor
Hollywood Rhythm: The Paramount Musical Shorts 1929-1941, V. 2 - Jazz Cocktails - (1929) - Actor