Fred Astaire His Friends Talk

by Sarah Giles

Vanity Fair's editor at large, Sarah Giles interviews those who knew Fred Astaire best--his daughter, Ava; Audrey Hepburn; Rudolf Nureyev; Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; Ginger Rogers; Hermes Pan; Roddy McDowall; and many others. In this intensely personal book, his closest friends reminisce about the Fred they knew. 200 photos.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Film, Biography

220 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 1988

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book because Jackie O was the editor of this book at Double Day, and also asked or commissioned Sarah to make a book out of the interviews/comments she had from an article tribute she wrote in Vanity Fair. It was said that Fred’s widow (Robyn) did not want it published because it had some unflattering info in it. This is exactly why Jackie wanted it published!

After reading this cocktail size book, Robyn did have her reasons…for one thing; one friend said that Robyn had once commented that she was good at dating older men. The person agreed and said she was looking for security and an affluent lifestyle. She was 35 and he 81 when they married. What else could it look like? It was also mentioned that Robyn changed Fred’s phone number and did not tell any of his long time friends.

There were other comments here and there alluding to a very slightly negative side of Astaire. He was sometimes cranky and didn't have patience for the adulation….but the negatives were so few and just confirmed that he was a very shy man. All in all I did enjoy this book; it was a very beautiful pictorial tribute as well.

[Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a mercifully short book that I’ve largely forgotten, and I finished it less-than an hour ago. Even the title rankled me a bit. I desperately wanted the title to be: Fred Astaire: His Friends Talk, But His Dog won’t. That would have made it a much better book for me somehow.

This is a herky-jerky collection of observations from Astaire’s friends and family. There’s a lot of focus on his clothes. This was a yawn fest mostly. The upside is you come away with the conviction that Astaire was a genuinely decent person. He’s skateboarding at age 78 and marrying a 35-year-old woman at 81. I say more power to him.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My recollection is that the photos were nice and that the text wasn’t great. So it was nice but nothing special

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

As this book was full of lots of excellent, well-arranged photographs, it was lovely to look at. The written contents, however, were on the whole, rather unenlightening and frequently insipid. To be fair, Fred Astaire seems to have been a rather quiet, jejune sort of person outside of his dancing and acting, but Giles could have left out some of the pointless quotes, and put in more pictures.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unique and loving look at one of the greatest stars ever born.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

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