Ginger Rogers
Biography
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who was born in Independence, Missouri, and grew up in Kansas City, then started in vaudeville after winning a Charleston contest as a teenager and became a Broadway star in Girl Crazy at 19. Her screen breakthrough came as a supporting player in 42nd Street (1933) and Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), and her nine musicals with Fred Astaire at RKO, among them The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935), Swing Time (1936) and Shall We Dance (1937), helped reshape the Hollywood musical. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Kitty Foyle (1940), and critics and audiences responded well to Stage Door (1937), Bachelor Mother (1939) and The Major and the Minor (1942). She later reunited with Astaire in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), returned to Broadway in Hello, Dolly! and in London in Mame, and directed an off-Broadway Babes in Arms in 1985.
83years old at death
- Born Independence
- Died Rancho Mirage
- Star sign: CancerThe sign runs June 21 to July 22
- Virginia Katherine McMath (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 35
- Career span
- 34 years1931 to 1965
First and latest
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First role
Rogers got her start in show business when Eddie Foy's touring vaudeville act reached Fort Worth and wanted a fast stand-in. At 14, in 1925, she won a Charleston contest and toured for six months as Ginger Rogers and the Redheads.
Big break
Two weeks after Top Speed opened in New York, Rogers was picked to star on Broadway in Girl Crazy, written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, with Fred Astaire brought in to help the dancers with their choreography. The part turned her into an overnight star at 19.
Behind the camera
Rogers had wanted to direct for a long time, and in 1985 she got her chance with the musical Babes in Arms, staged off-Broadway in Tarrytown, New York, when she was 74.
Ginger Rogers movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Mark Sandrich directed five of these films, Gregory La Cava three and George Stevens two. Fred Astaire appears in ten of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Fred Astaire's page
Eric Blore's page
Jack Carson's page
Fred Aldrich's page
Lucille Ball's page
Franklin Pangborn's page
Mark SandrichDirector, 5 films, 1934 to 1938
All films by Mark Sandrich
Gregory La CavaDirector, 3 films, 1937 to 1940
All films by Gregory La Cava
All films by George Stevens
Also four films together1 more actor
- Jack GarganTom, Dick and Harry (1941), Primrose Path (1940), The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) and Carefree (1938)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Ginger Rogers's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$37.9 million
17 of the 35 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 35 films: 17 worldwide figure; 2 us gross only; 1 never in cinemas; 15 figure not found.
- 17Worldwide figure
- 2US gross only
- 1Never in cinemas
- 15Figure not found
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 61% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$4.4M11.7% of the total
- 2$3.2M8.5% of the total
- 3$3.2M8.5% of the total
- 4$2.7M7.2% of the total
- 5$2.6M6.9% of the total
- 6$2.5M6.6% of the total
- 7$2.3M6.0% of the total
- 8$2.2M5.7% of the total
$14.8 millionfrom the other 9 films with a worldwide figure, 39% of the total
Awards
Four awards and honors from 1941 to 1980, one of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | |||
| 1941 | Best Actress | Kitty Foyle | Won |
| Other honors | |||
| 1980 | Amateur Cartoonist Extraordinary Award | Won | |
| Kennedy Center Honors | Won | ||
| Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.