U.S. #5612
2021 55¢ Tap Dance – Derick Grant
Issue Date: July 10, 2021
First Day City: New York, NY
Type of Stamp: Commemorative
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Pane of 20
Self-Adhesive
Quantity Printed: 18,000,000
Ginger Rogers (July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) became famous as Fred Astaire's favorite dance partner during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She was also an accomplished actress and singer, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kitty Foyle (1940).
Rogers's dance partnership with Fred Astaire began in 1933 and lasted through 1939. Their first film together was Flying Down to Rio. The professional chemistry between the two are undeniable, and audiences adored their performances. Together, Rogers and Astaire helped revitalize Hollywood musicals with their dancing. They performed elegant ballroom sequences and fast-moving tap routines. Composers eventually began writing songs specially for Rogers and Astaire to dance to. Perhaps the most famous of which was Cole Porter's "Night and Day."
In general, critics and historians alike consider Ginger Rogers to have been Fred Astaire's best dance partner. Astaire himself said "Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually, she made things very fine for both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success."
In male-dominated Hollywood, Rogers had to fight for her salary. Eventually, her talents were acknowledged and she got the recognition she deserved.