Ginger Rogers

She married five times but unfortunately all of her marriages ended in divorce. She was married to Jack Pepper, Lew Ayres, Jack Briggs, Jacques Bergerac and William Marshall.

She died at the age of 83 after suffering a heart attack at her home in Rancho Mirage, California. Her ashes were entombed at the Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery, located in Chatsworth, California.

In 2007, her biographical musical titled ‘Backwards in High Heels’ opened in Florida. The musical was a tribute to her life and legacy.

Born as Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri, Ginger Rogers was the only child of William Eddins McMath, an electrical engineer and Lela Emogene.

After her parents got divorced, she stayed with her mother and grandparents. Her mother later remarried John Logan Rogers and the family settled in Fort Worth, Texas.

She attended the Central High School in Fort Worth, Texas but dropped out from school and during her teenage years performed on stage in Majestic Theatre, where her mother was also involved in.

She first took to stage performance in 1926, after winning a dance competition. Following this, she made appearances at the ‘The Craterian’ theatre located in Oregon.

She became a member of the vaudeville troupe called ‘Ginger and Pepper’ and made her debut on Broadway musical show ‘Top Speed’ on December 25, 1929.

In May 1930, she appeared in the film ‘Young Man of Manhattan’, directed by Monta Bell. One of her dialogues from the film, ‘Cigarette me, big boy’, became very popular.

Later in 1930, she played the role of ‘Polly Rockwell’ in the musical comedy film ‘Queen High’, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer. The same year, she was seen in the Broadway musical ‘Girl Crazy’, ‘The Sap from Syracuse’ and ‘Follow the Leader’.

In 1932, she was seen in the American mystery film, ‘The Thirteenth Guest’, in which she played the role of ‘Marie Morgan’. The same year she was also seen in the films ‘Hat Check Girl’, ‘The Tenderfoot’ and ‘You Said a Mouthful’.

In 1933, she appeared in the Academy Award nominated Warner Bros. musical film ‘42nd Street’, which was based on Bradford Ropes novel of the same name. The film got immense success at the box office.

In the early 1930s, she also appeared in the comedy-horror film ‘A Shriek in the Night’, ‘Don't Bet on Love’, the musical comedy ‘Sitting Pretty’, and ‘Rafter Romance’.

She starred in the immensely popular 1940 movie ‘Kitty Foyle’ that earned a whopping $2.385 million at the box office. The film was re-released nationally in 1955 and was adapted for radio shows and television.

She was seen in the hit 1964 Broadway musical ‘Hello,Dolly!’, which won the Tony Award for ‘Best Musical’. In 2002, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and was revived on Broadway, three times.