Biographies

Fred Astaire: A Bio-Bibliography by Larry Billman (Highly Recommended)
This book is the most comprehensive of all the Fred biographies. Everything you need to know about Fred is here in this tome.

Fred Astaire : His Friends Talk by Sarah Giles (Recommended)
It's hard to find anyone who had anything bad to say about Fred. The worse thing that was said about him was how hard he worked and how hard he worked his colleagues when making movies. This book is full of stories, tributes and anecdotes about Fred from the people who really knew him.

Astaire: The Man, The Dancer by Bob Thomas
Written with Fred's participation, it is informative and insightful, and is one of the better biographies.

Fred Astaire: A Wonderful Life by Bill Adler
A short biography that was rushed out the door after Fred's passing.

Fred Astaire by Michael Freedland
A well-written bio, with lots and lots of pictures.

Fred Astaire by Stephen Harvey
Part of the Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies series. Nicely written and succinct. Recommended by quite a few Astaire fans on the Fred Astaire Mailing list.

Fred Astaire by Roy Pickard
Concentrates on the basic facts of Fred's life and work, focusing primarily on the films. Lots of colour illustrations.

Fred Astaire by Benny Green
A heavily illustrated book, written by the man who scripted the 13 part BBC radio documentary on Fred and compiled from the interviews and research he did for the series.

A Tribute To Fred Astaire by Peter Carrick
Contains the basic facts and not much more.

Movie Analysis

The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book by Arlene Croce
A very detailed and comprehensive look into the first nine Fred and Ginger movies. Called "A landmark in entertainment writing."

Starring Fred Astaire by Stanley Green and Burt Goldblatt
Lots of photos, lots of facts, detailed research and excellent writing. The authors put a lot of love into this book, and their admiration of Fred shines through.

Astaire and Rogers by Edward Gallefent
Seeks to approach the Astaire/Rogers RKO movies from a cinematic point of view, regarding the dancing as just another part of the movie and concentrating on the movie as a whole. 

Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films by John E. Mueller (Highly Recommended)
The best book to own. It breaks down every single one of Fred's 31 musicals, dance by dance, sequence by sequence, step by step. With hundreds of stills and fantastic commentary, this book is vital to understanding Fred's movies.

Co-stars/Collaborators

Ginger: My Story by Ginger Rogers

I Remember It Well by Vincente Minnelli 

Dancing on the Ceiling: Stanley Donen and his Movies by Stephen S. Silverman

The Two Of Us by Tony Martin and Cyd Charisse

McGraw-Hill Press has published a biography of Vera-Ellen, written by fellow fan Professor David Soren of the University of Arizona. The book is titled Vera-Ellen: The Magic and the Mystery and is available now. The book is mostly sold out - the remaining copies are available from the University of Arizona bookstore (520) 621-2811 (ask for the Textbooks Dept and the course Classics/Art 329 for Dr. Soren). The ISBN # is 0 07 234137 8.

Miscellaneous

The Fred Astaire Dance Book by John Monte

The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Murder Case by George Baxt
A fictional story, with our very own Fred and Ginger in the thick of the action!

Turn Left at the Black Cow : One Family's Journey From Beverly Hills to Ireland by Richard McKenzie (Recommended)
A warmly told tale, written by Ava's husband. While there is a lot of other material in the book that's also entertaining, the bits about Fred, Adele and Hermes make this book a lot of fun to read for the Fred fan.