Toward the end of Fred Astaire’s successful film dancing career, he made several television specials in the 1950s and 1960s. In the second of the four specials, Another Evening with Fred Astaire, Astaire donned a mask of an unusual choice. In a dance sequence for the 1959 show, he performed as Mad Magazine‘s Alfred E. Neuman.
The dance creeps me out a bit, perhaps because the Neuman mask is such high quality. Astaire had the mask created by movie make-up man John Chambers, who did such great work on the Planet of the Apes films.
In the segment, Astaire dances to Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady.” The performance also features dancer and actress Barrie Chase with Astaire.
2021 Update: Unfortunately, the video of the dance is not currently available on YouTube. But the video below intercuts some of the Alfred E. Neuman dance scenes, putting it to a polka tune. So if you wish to get an idea of the dance, you can check out the video.
Apparently, folks do not really know why Astaire wanted to be a dancing Alfred E. Neuman, but the Mad Magazine fan in me likes it.
What do you think of Fred Astaire as Alfred E. Neuman? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uxyg1aUaoI
Thanks Eric. That’s the identical video to the one that is posted in the article above. As I noted, though, it is not the original music but a video someone made that intercuts the video of Astaire. Take care.