View source for Ginger Rogers

{{Short description|American actress, dancer and singer (1911–1995)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ginger Rogers
| image              = Ginger Rogers - Tender Comrade.jpg
| caption            = Rogers in 1943
| birth_name         = Virginia Katherine McMath
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1911|07|16}}
| birth_place        = [[Independence, Missouri]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1995|04|25|1911|07|16}}
| death_place        = {{nowrap|[[Rancho Mirage, California]], U.S.}}
| resting_place      = [[Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery]]
| awards             = [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]
| known_for          = {{hlist|''[[Kitty Foyle (film)|Kitty Foyle]]''|''[[Top Hat]]''|''[[Vivacious Lady]]''|''[[The Gay Divorcee]]''|''[[Swing Time (film)|Swing Time]]''|''[[42nd Street (film)|42nd Street]]''}}
| occupation         = {{hlist|Actress|dancer|singer}}
| years_active       = 1925–1987
| party              = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| website            = {{URL|gingerrogers.com}}
| spouse             = {{ubl|{{marriage|[[Jack Pepper]]|1929|1931|end=div}}|{{marriage|[[Lew Ayres]]|1934|1940|end=div}}|{{marriage|[[Jack Briggs (actor)|Jack Briggs]]|1943|1949|end=div}}|{{marriage|[[Jacques Bergerac]]|1953|1957|end=div}}|{{marriage|[[William Marshall (bandleader)|William Marshall]]|1961|1969|end=div}}}}
| relatives          = {{ubl|[[Lela E. Rogers|Lela Rogers]] (mother)|[[Phyllis Fraser]] (cousin)|[[Vinton Hayworth]] (uncle)}}
}}

'''Ginger Rogers''' (born '''Virginia Katherine McMath'''; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the [[Classical Hollywood cinema|Golden Age]] of Hollywood. She won an [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] for her starring role in [[Kitty Foyle (film)|''Kitty Foyle'']] (1940), and performed during the 1930s in [[RKO]]'s [[musical film]]s with [[Fred Astaire]]. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century.

Rogers was born in [[Independence, Missouri]], and raised in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]. She and her family moved to [[Fort Worth, Texas]], when she was nine years old. In 1925, she won a Charleston dance contest<ref name=":0" /> that helped her launch a successful [[vaudeville]] career. After that, she gained recognition as a [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] actress for her stage debut in ''[[Girl Crazy]]''. This led to a contract with [[Paramount Pictures]], which ended after five films. Rogers had her first successful film roles as a supporting actress in ''[[42nd Street (film)|42nd Street]]'' (1933) and ''[[Gold Diggers of 1933]]'' (1933).

In the 1930s, Rogers's nine films with Fred Astaire are credited with revolutionizing the genre and gave [[RKO Pictures]] some of its biggest successes: ''[[The Gay Divorcee]]'' (1934), ''[[Top Hat]]'' (1935) and ''[[Swing Time (film)|Swing Time]]'' (1936). But after two commercial failures with Astaire, she turned her focus to dramatic and [[comedy film]]s. Her acting was well received by critics and audiences in films such as ''[[Stage Door]]'' (1937), ''[[Vivacious Lady]]'' (1938), ''[[Bachelor Mother]]'' (1939), ''[[Primrose Path (1940 film)|Primrose Path]]'' (1940),  ''Kitty Foyle'' (1940), ''[[The Major and the Minor]]'' (1942) and ''[[I'll Be Seeing You (1944 film)|I'll Be Seeing You]]'' (1944). After winning the Oscar, Rogers became one of the biggest box-office draws and highest-paid actresses of the 1940s.<ref name=":0">{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-ginger-rogers-19950426-story.html| title=From the Archives: Movie Great Ginger Rogers Dies at 83| last=Oliver| first=Myrna| date=April 26, 1995| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]| access-date=2018-01-15| language=en-US}}</ref>

Rogers's popularity was peaking by the end of the decade. She reunited with Astaire in 1949 in the commercially successful ''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]].'' She starred in the successful comedy ''[[Monkey Business (1952 film)|Monkey Business]]'' (1952) and was critically lauded for her performance in ''[[Tight Spot]]'' (1955) before entering an unsuccessful period of filmmaking in the mid-1950s, and returned to Broadway in 1965, playing the lead role in ''[[Hello, Dolly! (musical)|Hello, Dolly!]]'' More Broadway roles followed, along with her stage directorial debut in 1985 of an off-Broadway production of ''[[Babes in Arms]]''. She continued to act, making television appearances until 1987, and wrote an autobiography ''Ginger: My Story'' which was published in 1991. In 1992, Rogers was recognized at the [[Kennedy Center Honors]]. She died of natural causes in 1995, at age 83.

During her long career, Rogers made 73 films. In 1999, she ranks number 14 on the [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars]] list of female stars of classic American cinema.

== Early life ==
[[File:Ginger Rogers Birthplace.jpg|thumb|100 W Moore St., Independence, Missouri, the birthplace of Ginger Rogers]]
Virginia Katherine McMath was born on July 16, 1911, in [[Independence, Missouri]], the only child of [[Lela E. Rogers|Lela Emogene Owens]], a newspaper reporter, and William Eddins McMath, an electrical engineer.<ref name="GingerMyStory">{{cite book| title=Ginger: My Story| url=https://archive.org/details/gingermystory00roge| url-access=registration| last=Rogers| first=Ginger| date=1991| publisher=HarperCollins| isbn=978-0-0615-6470-3| location=New York}}</ref>{{rp|9, 10}}<ref name="GingerMyStory" />{{rp|16}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WSaMu4F06AQC&pg=PA551| title=Ginger Rogers| page=551| encyclopedia=Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century| first=Susan| last=Ware| year=2004| publisher=Harvard University Press| isbn=978-0-6740-1488-6}}</ref> Her maternal grandparents were Wilma Saphrona (''née'' Ball) and Walter Winfield Owens.<ref name="GingerMyStory2">{{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Ginger|url=https://archive.org/details/gingermystory00roge|title=Ginger: My Story|date=1991|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-0615-6470-3|location=New York|url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|3}} She was of Scottish, Welsh, and English ancestry.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://famouskin.com/pedigree.php?name=6411+ginger+rogers&ahnum=1| title=Ancestry of Ginger Rogers| website=Famous Kin.com}}</ref> Her mother gave birth to Ginger at home, having lost a previous child in a hospital.<ref name="GingerMyStory" />{{rp|11}} 
Rogers was raised a [[Christian Science|Christian Scientist]] and remained a lifelong adherent.

Her parents separated shortly after she was born.<ref name="GingerMyStory" />{{rp|1, 2, 11}}After unsuccessfully trying to reunite with his family, McMath kidnapped his daughter twice, and her mother divorced him soon thereafter.<ref name="GingerMyStory" />{{rp|7, 15}}<ref name="NewsKidnapping">{{cite news |title=Family History of Ginger Rogers, A Glamour Girl, Turns to Missouri |newspaper=The Maryville Daily Forum |access-date=27 February 2015 |url-access=subscription |page=4 |date=19 May 1944 |quote=The actress was kidnapped by her father two times after (their) separation. |volume=34 |number=295| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1882783/ginger_rogers_kidnapped_twice_by_father/| via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Rogers said that she never saw her natural father again.<ref name="GingerMyStory" />{{rp|15}}

In 1915, she was left with her grandparents, who lived in nearby [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], while her mother made a trip to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] in an effort to get an essay she had written made into a film.<ref name="GingerMyStory" />{{rp|19}} Lela succeeded and continued to write scripts for Fox Studios.<ref name="GingerMyStory" />{{rp|26–29}}

One of Rogers's young cousins had a hard time pronouncing "Virginia", giving her the nickname "Ginger".<ref>{{Cite web |date=1995-04-25 |title=OBITUARY Ginger Rogers |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ginger-rogers-1617100.html |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

When Rogers was nine years old, her mother married John Logan Rogers. Ginger took the surname Rogers, although she was never legally adopted. They lived in [[Fort Worth]]. Her mother became a theater critic for a local newspaper, the ''Fort Worth Record''. She attended, but did not graduate from, Fort Worth's Central High School (later renamed [[R. L. Paschal High School]].)

As a teenager, Rogers thought of becoming a school teacher, but with her mother's interest in Hollywood and the theater, her early exposure to the theater increased. Waiting for her mother in the wings of Ft. Worth's Majestic Theatre, she began to sing and dance along with the performers on stage.<ref>{{cite news| title=Ginger Rogers – Actress and Singer| url=https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A42130333| work=BBC News| access-date=3 August 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128025947/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-london/plain/A42130333| archive-date=28 January 2014| url-status=live}}</ref>

== Career ==
=== 1925–1929: Vaudeville and Broadway ===
[[File:Ginger Rogers and the Redheads advertisement - Yale Theater, TX (1926).png|thumb|left|Advertisement for Ginger Rogers and the Redheads]]
Rogers's entertainment career began when the traveling [[vaudeville]] act of [[Eddie Foy]] came to Fort Worth and needed a quick stand-in. In 1925 the 14-year-old entered and won a [[Charleston (dance)|Charleston dance]] contest; the prize allowed her to tour as Ginger Rogers and the Redheads for six months on the [[Orpheum Circuit]].<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAzP__xv7CkC&q=ginger+rogers+charleston+dance+contest&pg=PA150| title=The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances: Outrage at Couple Dancing in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries| last=Knowles| first=Mark| date=2009-06-08| publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5360-3|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite magazine| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K04EAAAAMBAJ&q=house+where+ginger+rogers+born&pg=PA62| title=She Adds New Chapter to Her Success Story| date=1942-03-02| pages=60–65| magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]]|publisher=Time, Inc.| language=en}}</ref> In 1926, the group performed at an 18-month-old theater called [[The Craterian]] in [[Medford, Oregon]]. This theater honored her years later by changing its name to the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater.<ref>{{cite web| title=Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater| url=http://www.oregon.com/attractions/craterian-ginger-rogers-theater| website=Oregon.com| first=Patrick| last=Johnson| access-date=August 25, 2019}}</ref> When the M.G.M film ''[[The Barrier (1926 film)|The Barrier]]'' premiered in [[San Bernardino, California|San Bernardino]], California, in February 1926, Rogers's vaudeville act was featured. The local newspaper commented, "Clever little Ginger Rogers showed why she won the Texas state championship as a Charleston dancer."<ref>"World Premiere of Picture Viewed by Thousands Here - 'The Barrier' Voted Mighty Spectacle, Vaudeville Fine," ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', Monday 1 March 1926, Volume LVIII, Number 1, page 6.</ref>

At 17, Rogers married Jack Culpepper, a singer/dancer/comedian/recording artist of the day who worked under the name [[Jack Pepper]] (according to Ginger's autobiography and ''Life'' magazine, she knew Culpepper when she was a child, as her cousin's boyfriend).<ref name=":1"/> They formed a short-lived vaudeville double act known as "Ginger and Pepper". The marriage was over within a year, and she went back to touring with her mother.<ref name=":1" /> When the tour got to New York City, she stayed, getting radio singing jobs. She made her Broadway debut in the musical ''[[Top Speed (musical)|Top Speed]]'', which opened at [[Chanin's 46th Street Theatre]] on [[Christmas]] Day, 1929<ref>{{cite book|first1=Dan|last1=Dietz|title=The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]]|year=2019|isbn=9781442245280|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRmGDwAAQBAJ|chapter=Top Speed|pages=557–558}}</ref> following the musical's premiere in Philadelphia at the [[Chestnut Street Opera House]] on November 13, 1929.<ref>{{cite news|title="Top Speed" New Musical Comedy|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|date=November 13, 1929|page= 4}}</ref>

Within two weeks of the  New York opening of ''Top Speed'', Rogers was chosen to star on Broadway in ''[[Girl Crazy]]'' by [[George Gershwin]] and [[Ira Gershwin]]. Fred Astaire was hired to help the dancers with their choreography. Her appearance in ''Girl Crazy'' made her an overnight star at the age of 19.<ref>{{cite web | title=Happy Birthday, Ginger Rogers: The Original Dancing Queen | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/happy-birthday-ginger-rogers-the-original-dancing-queen-70878/#:~:text=At%20the%20tender%20age%20of,Follow%20the%20Fleet%20(1936) }}</ref>

=== 1929–1933: Early film roles ===
[[File:42nd-Street-Merkel-Keeler-Rogers.jpg|thumb|[[Una Merkel]], [[Ruby Keeler]], and Ginger Rogers in ''[[42nd Street (film)|42nd Street]]'' (1933)]]
Rogers's first movie roles were in a trio of short films made in 1929: ''Night in the Dormitory'', ''A Day of a Man of Affairs'', and ''Campus Sweethearts''. In 1930, [[Paramount Pictures]] signed her to a seven-year contract.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Rogers soon got herself out of the Paramount contract—under which she had made five feature films at [[Kaufman Astoria Studios|Astoria Studios]] in [[Astoria, Queens]]—and moved with her mother to Hollywood. When she got to California, she signed a three-picture deal with [[Pathé Exchange]]. Two of her pictures at Pathé were ''[[Suicide Fleet]]'' (1931) and ''[[Carnival Boat]]'' (1932) in which she played opposite future [[Hopalong Cassidy]] star [[William Boyd (actor)|William Boyd]]. Rogers also made feature films for Warner Bros., Monogram, and Fox in 1932, and was named one of 15 [[WAMPAS Baby Stars]]. She then made a significant breakthrough as Anytime Annie in the [[Warner Bros.]] film ''[[42nd Street (film)|42nd Street]]'' (1933). She went on to make a series of films at Warner Bros., most notably in ''[[Gold Diggers of 1933]],'' in which her solo, "We're in the Money", included a memorable verse in [[Pig Latin]]. She then moved to [[RKO Studios]], was put under contract and with Astaire started work on ''[[Flying Down to Rio]]'', a picture starring [[Dolores del Río]] and [[Gene Raymond]]. Rogers and Astaire "stole the show",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Scott S. |date=2023-03-23 |title=Ginger Rogers Worked Smart To Become Top-Paid Performer |url=https://www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/ginger-rogers-worked-smart-to-become-a-star-of-screen-and-stage/ |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=[[Investor's Business Daily]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grotell |first=David |date=2011 |editor-last=Epstein |editor-first=Joseph |editor2-last=Levinson |editor2-first=Peter J. |title=The Fine Art of Understatement: Fred Astaire Onscreen and Off |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29777240 |journal=[[Dance Chronicle]] |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=166–174 |doi=10.1080/01472526.2011.549002 |jstor=29777240 |issn=0147-2526|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Flying Down to Rio (1933) poster, Dutch {{!}} Original Film Posters Online {{!}} Collectibles |url=https://www.sothebys.com/buy/e399a0d9-346e-427a-876a-cf84a04fce4a/lots/f691b84e-8cf5-4d41-82af-b326eb69ddb9 |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=[[Sotheby's]] |language=en}}</ref> an industry term for outshining the billed stars.

=== 1933–1939: Partnership with Astaire ===
Rogers was known for her partnership with [[Fred Astaire]]. Together, from 1933 to 1939, they made nine musical films at RKO: ''[[Flying Down to Rio]]'' (1933), ''[[The Gay Divorcee]]'' (1934), ''[[Roberta (1935 film)|Roberta]]'' (1935), ''[[Top Hat]]'' (1935), ''[[Follow the Fleet]]'' (1936), ''[[Swing Time (film)|Swing Time]]'' (1936), ''[[Shall We Dance (1937 film)|Shall We Dance]]'' (1937), ''[[Carefree (film)|Carefree]]'' (1938), and ''[[The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle]]'' (1939). ''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]]'' (1949) was produced later at MGM. They revolutionized the Hollywood musical by introducing dance routines of unprecedented elegance and virtuosity with sweeping long shots set to songs specially composed for them by the greatest popular song composers of the day. One such composer was [[Cole Porter]] with [[Night and Day (song)|"Night and Day"]], a song Astaire sang to Rogers with the line "... you are the one" in two of their movies, being particularly poignant in their last pairing of ''The Barkleys of Broadway.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}''

[[File:fredginger.jpg|thumb|left|Rogers with her frequent co-star [[Fred Astaire]] in the film ''[[Roberta (1935 film)|Roberta]]'' (1935)]]

[[Arlene Croce]], [[Hermes Pan]], Hannah Hyam, and [[John Mueller]] all consider Rogers to have been Astaire's finest dance partner, principally because of her ability to combine dancing skills, natural beauty, and exceptional abilities as a dramatic actress and comedian, thus truly complementing Astaire, a peerless dancer. The resulting song and dance partnership enjoyed a unique credibility in the eyes of audiences.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Of the [[Fred Astaire's solo and partnered dances|33 partnered dances]] Rogers performed with Astaire, Croce and Mueller have highlighted the infectious spontaneity of her performances in the comic numbers "[[I'll Be Hard to Handle]]" from ''Roberta'', "[[I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket]]" from ''Follow the Fleet'', and "[[Pick Yourself Up]]" from ''Swing Time''. They also point to the use Astaire made of her remarkably flexible back in classic romantic dances such as "[[Smoke Gets in Your Eyes]]" from ''Roberta'', "[[Cheek to Cheek]]" from ''Top Hat'', and "[[Let's Face the Music and Dance]]" from ''Follow the Fleet''.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Although the dance routines were choreographed by Astaire and his collaborator [[Hermes Pan (choreographer)|Hermes Pan]], both have testified to her consummate professionalism, even during periods of intense strain, as she tried to juggle her many other contractual film commitments with the punishing rehearsal schedules of Astaire, who made at most two films in any one year. In 1986, shortly before his death, Astaire remarked, "All the girls I ever danced with thought they couldn't do it, but of course they could. So they always cried. All except Ginger. No, no, Ginger never cried".<ref>{{cite web| last=Crowther| first=Linnea| title=Ginger Never Cried| website=[[Legacy.com]]| url=http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/article/ginger-never-cried| access-date=August 26, 2019| year=2013}}</ref>

John Mueller summed up Rogers's abilities as: "Rogers was outstanding among Astaire's partners, not because she was superior to others as a dancer, but, because, as a skilled, intuitive actress, she was cagey enough to realize that acting did not stop when dancing began&nbsp;... the reason so many women have fantasized about dancing with Fred Astaire is that Ginger Rogers conveyed the impression that dancing with him is the most thrilling experience imaginable".<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I_wjtqH6YvsC&q=rogers+conveyed+impression|title=Fred Astaire| last=Epstein| first=Joseph| date=May 29, 2012| publisher=Yale University Press| isbn=978-0-300-17352-9| page=133}}</ref>

According to Raymond Rohauer, curator at the New York Gallery of Modern Art, Astaire gave Rogers this salute: "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."<ref>''Ginger: Salute to a Star'', Dick Richards, p. 162</ref>

In a 1976 episode of the popular British talk-show ''[[Parkinson (TV series)|Parkinson]]'' (Season 5, Episode 24), host [[Michael Parkinson]] asked Astaire who his favorite dancing partner was. Astaire answered, "Excuse me, I must say Ginger was certainly the one. You know, the most effective partner I ever had. Everyone knows."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/everyone-else-who-danced-with-me-looked-wrong-why-ginger-rogers-was-the-one-for-fred-astaire/|title='Everyone else who danced with me looked wrong!' - why Ginger Rogers was the one for Fred Astaire|date=June 8, 2018}}</ref>

After 15 months apart and with RKO facing bankruptcy, the studio paired Fred and Ginger for another movie titled ''Carefree'', but it lost money. Next came ''The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle,'' based on a true story, but the serious plot and tragic ending resulted in the worst box-office receipts of any of their films. This was driven not by diminished popularity, but by the hard 1930s economic reality. The production costs of musicals, always significantly greater than regular features, continued to increase at a much faster rate than admissions.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

=== 1933–1939: Success in non-musicals ===
[[File: Ginger Rogers Argentinean Magazine AD 2.jpg|thumb|Rogers in 1937]]

Both before and immediately after her dancing and acting partnership with Fred Astaire ended, Rogers starred in a number of successful nonmusical films. ''[[Stage Door]]'' (1937) demonstrated her dramatic capacity, as the loquacious yet vulnerable girl next door and tough-minded theatrical hopeful, opposite [[Katharine Hepburn]]. Successful comedies included ''[[Vivacious Lady]]'' (1938) with [[James Stewart]], ''[[Fifth Avenue Girl]]'' (1939), where she played an out-of-work girl sucked into the lives of a wealthy family, and ''[[Bachelor Mother]]'' (1939), with [[David Niven]], in which she played a shop girl who is falsely thought to have abandoned her baby.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://prod.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1088/bachelor-mother|title=Bachelor Mother|website=prod.tcm.com}}</ref>

In 1934, Rogers sued [[Sylvia of Hollywood]] for $100K for defamation. The fitness guru and radio personality had claimed that Rogers was on her radio show when, in fact, she was not.<ref>Interview Suit Begun By Actress: Screen Player Asks Damages, ''Los Angeles Times'', March 24, 1934.</ref>

On March 5, 1939, Rogers starred in "Single Party Going East", an episode of ''[[Silver Theater (radio program)|Silver Theater]]'' on [[CBS]] radio.<ref>{{cite news| title=Virovai Is Guest| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2108716/st_ginger_rogers/| newspaper=The Nebraska State Journal| date=March 5, 1939| page=36| via=Newspapers.com| access-date=March 31, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>

=== 1940–1949: Career peak and reuniting with Astaire ===
[[Image:Kitty foyle - life magazine.jpg|thumbnail|alt=Rogers as her character Kitty Foyle on the cover of ''Life''|A [[trailer (film)|trailer]] for ''[[Kitty Foyle (film)|Kitty Foyle]]'' depicting Rogers' cover appearance on ''Life'' magazine for her Oscar-winning 1940 role]]

In 1941 Rogers won the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] for her role in 1940's ''[[Kitty Foyle (film)|Kitty Foyle]]''. She enjoyed considerable success during the early 1940s, and was RKO's hottest property during this period. In ''[[Roxie Hart (film)|Roxie Hart]]'' (1942), based on the same play which later served as the template for the musical ''[[Chicago (musical)|Chicago]]'', Rogers played a wisecracking flapper in a love triangle on trial for the murder of her lover; set in the era of prohibition. Most of the film takes place in a women's jail.

In the melodrama ''[[Primrose Path (1940 film)|Primrose Path]]'' (1940), directed by [[Gregory La Cava]], she plays a character attempting to conceal being a prostitute's daughter being pressured into following the fate of her mother and grandmother. Further highlights of this period included ''[[Tom, Dick and Harry (1941 film)|Tom, Dick, and Harry]]'', a 1941 comedy in which she dreams of marrying three different men; ''[[I'll Be Seeing You (1944 film)|I'll Be Seeing You]]'' (1944), with [[Joseph Cotten]]; and [[Billy Wilder]]'s first Hollywood feature film: ''[[The Major and the Minor]]'' (1942), in which she played a down-on-her-luck woman who masquerades as a 12-year-old to get a cheap train ticket home and finds herself obliged to continue the ruse at a military academy. Rogers' mother, Lela, played her mother in the film.

[[File:Ginger Rogers by Virgil Apger, 1949.jpg|left|thumb|Ginger Rogers by Virgil Apger, 1949]]

After becoming a free agent, Rogers made hugely successful films with other studios in the mid-'40s, including ''[[Tender Comrade]]'' (1943), ''[[Lady in the Dark (film)|Lady in the Dark]]'' (1944), and ''[[Week-End at the Waldorf]]'' (1945), and became the highest-paid performer in Hollywood. However, by the end of the decade, her film career had peaked. [[Arthur Freed]] reunited her with Fred Astaire in ''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]]'' in 1949, when Judy Garland was unable to appear in the role that was to have reunited her with her ''[[Easter Parade (film)|Easter Parade]]'' co-star.

=== 1950–1987: Later career ===
[[File:Monkey Business trailer.JPG|thumb|Ginger Rogers in ''Monkey Business'' (1952) with ''(from left to right)'' [[Robert Cornthwaite (actor)|Robert Cornthwaite]], [[Cary Grant]], and [[Marilyn Monroe]]]]Rogers's film career entered a period of gradual decline in the 1950s, as parts for older actresses became more difficult to obtain, but she still scored with some solid movies. She starred in ''[[Storm Warning (1950 film)|Storm Warning]]'' (1950) with [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Doris Day]], a noir, anti-[[Ku Klux Klan]] film by Warner Bros. In 1952 Rogers starred in two comedies featuring [[Marilyn Monroe]], ''[[Monkey Business (1952 film)|Monkey Business]]'' with [[Cary Grant]], directed by [[Howard Hawks]], and ''[[We're Not Married!]].'' She followed those with a role in ''[[Dreamboat (film)|Dreamboat]]'' alongside [[Clifton Webb]], as his former onscreen partner in silent films who wanted to renew their association on television. She played the female lead in ''[[Tight Spot]]'' (1955), a mystery thriller, with [[Edward G. Robinson]]. After a series of unremarkable films, she scored a great popular success on Broadway in 1965, playing Dolly Levi in the long-running ''[[Hello, Dolly! (musical)|Hello, Dolly!]]''<ref>{{cite news| last=Chapin| first=Louis| title=Ginger Rogers' shining Dolly| newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]| date=August 25, 1965}}</ref>

[[File:David Burns-Ginger Rogers in Hello, Dolly!.jpg|thumb|right|[[David Burns (actor)|David Burns]] and Rogers in <br>''[[Hello, Dolly! (musical)|Hello, Dolly!]]'' on Broadway (1964) ]]
In later life, Rogers remained on good terms with Astaire; she presented him with a special [[Academy Award]] in 1950, and they were copresenters of individual Academy Awards in 1967, during which they elicited a standing ovation when they came on stage in an impromptu dance. In 1969, she had the lead role in another long-running popular production, ''[[Mame (musical)|Mame]]'', from the book by [[Jerome Lawrence]] and [[Robert Edwin Lee]], with music and lyrics by [[Jerry Herman]], at the [[Theatre Royal Drury Lane]] in the [[West End theatre|West End]] of [[London]], arriving for the role on the liner ''[[Queen Elizabeth 2]]'' from New York City. Her docking there occasioned the maximum of pomp and ceremony at [[Southampton]]. She became the highest-paid performer in the history of the West End up to that time. The production ran for 14 months and featured a royal command performance for [[Queen Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Dressed to Impress: A History // Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection | date=2025 | url=https://mhctc.missouri.edu/exhibitions/ginger-rogers-dressed-to-impress/history/#:~:text=From%201965%20to%201967%2C%20Rogers,Command%20Performance%20for%20Queen%20Elizabeth }}</ref>

[[File:Ginger and Lela Rogers with President Truman.png|thumb|left|Former President [[Harry S. Truman]] flanked by Ginger Rogers (on the right) and [[Lela E. Rogers|Lela Rogers]] (Ginger's mother) at the 1964 Ginger Rogers Day celebration]]
From the 1950s onward, Rogers made occasional appearances on television, even substituting for a vacationing [[Hal March]] on ''[[The $64,000 Question]]''. In the later years of her career, she made guest appearances in three different series by [[Aaron Spelling]]: ''[[The Love Boat]]'' (1979), ''[[Glitter (American TV series)|Glitter]]'' (1984), and ''[[Hotel (American TV series)|Hotel]]'' (1987), which was her final screen appearance as an actress. In 1985, Rogers fulfilled a long-standing wish to direct when she directed the musical ''[[Babes in Arms]]'' off-Broadway in [[Tarrytown, New York]], at 74 years old. It was produced by Michael Lipton and Robert Kennedy of Kennedy Lipton Productions. The production starred Broadway talents Donna Theodore, Carleton Carpenter, James Brennan, [[Randy Skinner]], [[Karen Ziemba]], Dwight Edwards, and Kim Morgan. It is also noted in her autobiography ''Ginger, My Story''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://prod.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/164119%7C61650/Ginger-Rogers|title=Ginger Rogers|website=prod.tcm.com}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2022}}
[[File:Film star Ginger Rogers and her husband 1950s.jpg|thumb|Rogers with [[Jacques Bergerac]] in the 1950s]]
Rogers, an only child, maintained a close relationship with her mother, Lela Rogers, throughout her life. Lela, a newspaper reporter, scriptwriter, and movie producer, was one of the first women to enlist in the [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]], was a founder of the successful "Hollywood Playhouse" for aspiring actors and actresses on the RKO set, and a founder of the [[Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Kendall| first=Elizabeth| title=The Runaway Bride: Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1930s| year=2002| publisher=Cooper Square Press| isbn=0-8154-1199-5| page=97}}</ref> Rogers was a lifelong member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] and campaigned for [[Thomas Dewey]] in the [[1944 United States presidential election|1944 presidential election]], [[Barry Goldwater]] in the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 presidential election]] and [[Ronald Reagan]] in the [[1966 California gubernatorial election]].<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfHXAAAAQBAJ&q=ginger%20rogers | title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics| isbn=9781107650282| last1=Critchlow| first1=Donald T.| date=2013|pages=191| publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfHXAAAAQBAJ&q=wallace%20beery | title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics| isbn=9781107650282| last1=Critchlow| first1=Donald T.| date=2013-10-21| publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>American Flint - Volume 54, 1964</ref> She was a strong opponent of [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], speaking out against both him and his New Deal proposals. She was a member of the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dar.org/archives/dazzling-daughters|title=Dazzling Daughters|website=Daughters of the American Revolution}}</ref>

Rogers and her mother had a very close professional relationship. Lela Rogers was credited with pivotal contributions to her daughter's early successes in New York City and in Hollywood, and gave her much assistance in contract negotiations with RKO. She also wrote a children's mystery book with her daughter as the central character.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://leonardmaltin.com/flashback-meeting-ginger-rogers/|title=Flashback: Meeting Ginger Rogers| last=Friedman| first=Drew| date=2017-05-03| website=Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy| language=en-US| access-date=2019-01-03}}</ref>

=== Marriages ===
Rogers married and divorced five times. She did not have children.

On March 29, 1929, Rogers married for the first time at age 17 to her dancing partner [[Jack Pepper]] (real name Edward Jackson Culpepper). They divorced in 1931, having separated soon after the wedding. Rogers dated [[Mervyn LeRoy]] in 1932, but they ended the relationship and remained friends until his death in 1987. In 1934, she married actor [[Lew Ayres]] (1908–96). They divorced six years later in 1940. In 1943, Rogers married her third husband, [[Jack Briggs (actor)|Jack Briggs]], who was a U.S. Marine, before divorcing in 1950. In 1953, she married [[Jacques Bergerac]], a French actor 16 years her junior, whom she met on a trip to Paris. A lawyer in France, he came to Hollywood with her and became an actor. They divorced in 1957. Her fifth and final husband was director and producer [[William Marshall (bandleader)|William Marshall]]. They married in 1961 and divorced in 1970, after his bouts with alcohol and the financial collapse of their joint film production company in Jamaica.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Faris |first=Jocelyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iujEEAAAQBAJ |title=Ginger Rogers: A Bio-Bibliography |date=1994-03-14 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-36976-6 |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Ginger Rogers 1993.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Rogers in 1993]]

=== Friendships ===
Rogers was lifelong friends with actresses [[Lucille Ball]] and [[Bette Davis]]. She appeared with Ball in an episode of ''[[Here's Lucy]]'' on November 22, 1971, in which Rogers danced the [[Charleston (dance)|Charleston]] for the first time in many years. Rogers starred in one of the earliest films co-directed and co-scripted by a woman, [[Wanda Tuchock]]'s ''Finishing School'' (1934). Rogers maintained a close friendship with her cousin, writer/socialite [[Phyllis Fraser]], the wife of [[Random House]] publisher [[Bennett Cerf]]. [[Rita Hayworth]]'s maternal uncle, [[Vinton Hayworth]], was married to Rogers's maternal aunt, Jean Owens.

=== Religion ===
Rogers was raised a Christian Scientist and remained a lifelong adherent. [[Christian Science]] was a topic she discussed at length in her autobiography.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.reelclassics.com/Actresses/Ginger/ginger-article4.htm| title=From the Archives: Final step: Ginger Rogers, 1911-1995| first=Matt| last=Zoller| website=Reel Classics}}</ref> Rogers's mother died in 1977. She remained at the 4-Rs (Rogers' Rogue River Ranch) until 1990. When the property was sold, Rogers moved to nearby Medford, Oregon.

=== Interests ===
Rogers was a talented tennis player, and entered the 1950 [[US Open (tennis)|US Open]]. However, she and [[Frank Shields]] were knocked out of the mixed doubles competition in the first round.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/280948778/ |title=Ginger Rogers, Shields Ousted |work=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]] |date=August 31, 1950 |page=27 |url-access=subscription |via=[[newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

===Notable final appearances===
The city of [[Independence, Missouri]] designated the birthplace of Ginger Rogers a Historic Landmark property in 1994. That July 16, Ginger and her secretary, Roberta Olden, appeared at there a Ginger Rogers' Day celebration presented by the city, where plaque was affixed and Rogers signed over 2,000 autographs, one of her last public appearances.

The home was purchased in 2016 by Three Trails Cottages, which restored, then transformed it into a museum dedicated to Ginger Rogers and her mother Lela. Open seasonally until 2019, it contained memorabilia, magazines, movie posters, and many items from the ranch the pair owned, and hosted numerous events.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.examiner.net/news/20190810/ginger-rogers-home-in-independence-set-to-close|title=Ginger Rogers home in Independence set to close|last=Genet|first=Mike|website=The Examiner of East Jackson County|language=en|date=August 10, 2019|access-date=2020-01-20|archive-date=November 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191129053439/https://www.examiner.net/news/20190810/ginger-rogers-home-in-independence-set-to-close|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Rogers made her last public appearance on March 18, 1995, when she received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award. For many years, Rogers regularly supported, and held in-person presentations, at the [[Craterian Theater]], in Medford, where she had performed in 1926 as a vaudevillian. The theater was comprehensively restored in 1997 and posthumously renamed in her honor as the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

== Death ==
[[File:Ginger Rogers Grave.JPG|thumb|Grave of Ginger Rogers at [[Oakwood Memorial Park]]]]
Rogers spent winters in [[Rancho Mirage, California|Rancho Mirage]] and summers in Medford, Oregon. She died at her Rancho Mirage home on April 25, 1995, from a heart attack at the age of 83.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Flint|first=Peter B.|date=1995-04-26|title=Ginger Rogers, Who Danced With Astaire and Won an Oscar for Drama, Dies at 83|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/26/obituaries/ginger-rogers-who-danced-with-astaire-and-won-an-oscar-for-drama-dies-at-83.html|access-date=2020-05-27|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She was cremated and her ashes interred with her mother [[Lela E. Rogers|Lela Emogene]] in [[Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery]] in Chatsworth, California.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMBQDwAAQBAJ&q=ginger+rogers+interred&pg=PT181| title=Dancing With a Star: The Maxine Barrat Story| last=Baggelaar| first=Kristin| date=December 17, 2012| publisher=Midnight Marquee & BearManor Media| isbn=978-1936168279| language=en}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
* Likenesses of Astaire and Rogers, apparently painted over from the "Cheek to Cheek" dance in ''Top Hat'', are in the "[[Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds]]" section of [[The Beatles]] film ''[[Yellow Submarine (film)|Yellow Submarine]]'' (1968).
* Rogers's image is one of many famous women's images of the 1930s and 1940s featured on the bedroom wall in the [[Anne Frank House]] in [[Amsterdam]], a gallery of magazine cuttings pasted on the wall created by [[Anne Frank|Anne]] and her sister [[Margot Frank|Margot]] while hiding from the [[Nazis]]. When the house became a museum, the gallery the Frank sisters created was preserved under glass.
* ''Ginger The Musical'' by Robert Kennedy and Paul Becker which Ginger Rogers approved and was to direct on Broadway the year of her death was in negotiations as late as the 2016–17 Broadway season. Marshall Mason directed its first production in 2001 starring Donna McKechnie and Nili Bassman and was choreographed by Randy Skinner.
* Rogers was the heroine of a novel, ''Ginger Rogers and the Riddle of the Scarlet Cloak'' (1942, by Lela E. Rogers), in which "the heroine has the same name and appearance as the famous actress, but has no connection ... it is as though the famous actress has stepped into an alternate reality in which she is an ordinary person." It is part of a series known as "Whitman Authorized Editions", 16 books published between 1941 and 1947 that featured a film actress as heroine.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.series-books.com/whitman/whitman.html| title=Whitman Authorized Editions for Girls| website=Witman Publishing}}</ref>
* The [[Dancing House]] in [[Prague]], sometimes known as Ginger and Fred, designed by the [[Croats|Croatian]]-Czech architect [[Vlado Milunić]] in cooperation with [[Canadians|Canadian]]-American architect [[Frank Gehry]] and inspired by the dancing of Astaire and Rogers.
* In the 1981 film ''[[Pennies from Heaven (1981 film)|Pennies from Heaven]]'', [[Bernadette Peters]]'s character dances with [[Steve Martin]]'s as they watch Fred and Ginger's "Let's Face the Music and Dance" sequence from 1936's ''Follow the Fleet'', using it as their inspiration.
* [[Federico Fellini]]'s film ''[[Ginger and Fred]]'' centers on two aging Italian impersonators of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Rogers sued the production and the distributor when the film was released in the U.S. for misappropriation and infringement of her public personality. Her claims were dismissed.  According to the judgment, the film only obliquely related to Astaire and her.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Ginger Rogers v Alberto Grimaldi, Mgm/ua Entertainment Co., and Peaproduzioni Europee Associate, S.r.l. |vol=875 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=994 |url=https://secondcircuit.lexroll.com/rogers-v-grimaldi-875-f-2d-994-2nd-cir-1989/| pinpoint= |court=2nd Cir. |date=May 5, 1989}}</ref>
* Rogers was among the sixteen Golden Age Hollywood stars referenced in the bridge of [[Madonna]]'s 1990 single "[[Vogue (Madonna song)|Vogue]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pak |first1=Eudie |title=The Hollywood Icons Featured in Madonna's Song "Vogue" |url=https://www.biography.com/news/madonna-vogue-celebrities-rap |website=Biography |date=February 21, 2020 |publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC |access-date=19 January 2021}}</ref>
* Rogers is the namesake of the [[Buck (cocktail)#Variations|Ginger Rogers]], a cocktail containing gin, ginger, and mint.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nPDDFthkE4C&pg=PT190 | title=Let's Bring Back: The Cocktail Edition: A Compendium of Impish, Romantic, Amusing, and Occasionally Appalling Potations from Bygone Eras | isbn=9781452121284 | last1=Blume | first1=Lesley M. M. | date=9 April 2013 | publisher=Chronicle Books }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ginger Rogers Cocktail|url=https://imbibemagazine.com/ginger-rogers-cocktail/|last=Imbibe|date=2015-09-15|website=Imbibe Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ginger Rogers Cocktail Recipe|url=https://punchdrink.com/recipes/ginger-rogers/ |website=PUNCH|language=en|access-date=2020-05-16}}</ref>
* Rogers was the subject of a quotation summarizing women's capacity to achieve that is popular among feminists: "Rogers did everything [Astaire] did, backwards . . . and in high heels." The quote comes from a 1982 ''[[Frank and Ernest (comic strip)|Frank and Ernest]]'' [[comic strip]] by [[Bob Thaves]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gingerrogers.com/about/quotes.html|title=Ginger Rogers Official Website :: About Ginger Rogers :: QUOTES|website=www.gingerrogers.com}}</ref>
* A [[musical play|musical]] about the life of Rogers, entitled ''Backwards in High Heels'', premiered in Florida in early 2007.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jones |first=Kenneth |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/107055.html |title=Sold Out Florida Stage Run of Ginger Rogers Musical Gets Added Performances |journal=[[Playbill]] |url-status=dead |date=April 4, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829103915/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/107055.html |archive-date=2007-08-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.theatermania.com/shows/los-angeles/backwards-in-high-heels-the-ginger-musical_164260| title=Backwards In High Heels: The Ginger Musical| website=TheaterMania}}</ref>

== Filmography ==
{{Main|Ginger Rogers filmography}}

== Awards and nominations ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Association
!Category
!Work
!Result
!Ref.
|-
|1926
|Texas State Charleston Championship
|{{N/a}}
|{{N/a}}
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=Dressed to Impress: A History // Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection |url=https://mhctc.missouri.edu/exhibitions/ginger-rogers-dressed-to-impress/history/ |access-date=2025-08-25 |website=[[University of Missouri]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[13th Academy Awards|1941]]
|[[Academy Awards]]
|[[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
|[[Kitty Foyle (film)|''Kitty Foyle'']]
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-10-05 |title=The 13th Academy Awards {{!}} 1941 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1941 |access-date=2025-08-25 |website=www.oscars.org |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|[[Hollywood Women's Press Club]]
|[[Golden Apple Award|Sour Apple Award (Least Cooperative Actress)]] 
|{{N/a}}
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Film |title=Golden Apple Sour Apple Award Winners |url=https://www.ranker.com/list/golden-apple-sour-apple-award-winners/ranker-film |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=Ranker |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|[[10th Golden Globe Awards|1953]]
|[[Golden Globe Awards]]
|[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]]
|[[Monkey Business (1952 film)|''Monkey Business'']]
|{{Nominated}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ginger Rogers |url=https://goldenglobes.com/person/ginger-rogers/ |access-date=2025-08-25 |website=Golden Globes |language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
|1960
|[[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]
|[[List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame|Star - Motion Pictures]]
|{{N/a}}
|{{Honored}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chad |date=2019-10-25 |title=Ginger Rogers |url=https://walkoffame.com/ginger-rogers/ |access-date=2025-08-25 |website=[[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
|1967
|[[Photoplay]] Awards
|Special Editor's Award
|[[Hello, Dolly! (musical)|''Hello, Dolly!'']]
|{{Won}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=MERV GRIFFIN SHOW, THE: 45TH GOLD MEDAL PHOTOPLAY AWARDS, THE |url=https://www.atvaudio.com/ata_search.php?keywords=MERV+GRIFFIN+SHOW,+THE:+45TH+GOLD+MEDAL+PHOTOPLAY+AWARDS,+THE |access-date=2025-08-25 |website=www.atvaudio.com}}</ref>
|-
|1992
|[[Kennedy Center Honors]]
|Lifetime Achievement Award
|{{N/a}}
|{{Honored}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ginger Rogers {{!}} EBSCO Research Starters |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/ginger-rogers |access-date=2025-08-25 |website=[[EBSCO Information Services|EBSCO]] |language=en}}</ref>
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Film}}
* [[List of actors with Academy Award nominations]]
* [[List of dancers]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book| first=Fred| last=Astaire| title=Steps in Time |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYYUnU9lcdwC&q=steps+in+time| date=August 5, 2008| publisher=Harper Collins| edition=reprint| isbn=978-0061567568| url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite book| author-link=Arlene Croce| last=Croce| first=Arlene| title=The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book| publisher=Vintage Books| year=1977| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kC0UAQAAIAAJ&q=editions%3A61_gDePcyvEC| edition=reprint| isbn=978-0394724768| url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite book| first=Jocelyn| last=Faris| title=Ginger Rogers – a Bio-Bibliography| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BouxUlFDgc4C&q=Ginger+Rogers+%E2%80%93+a+Bio-Bibliography&pg=PT4| publisher=Greenwood Press| year=1994| isbn=978-0313291777}}
* {{cite book| first=Hannah| last=Hyam| title=Fred and Ginger – The Astaire-Rogers Partnership 1934–1938| publisher=Pen Press Publications| location=Brighton| year=2007| isbn=978-1-905621-96-5}}
* {{cite book| author-link=John Mueller| last=Mueller| first=John| title=Astaire Dancing – The Musical Films of Fred Astaire| publisher=Hamish Hamilton| year=1986| isbn=978-0241117491}}
* {{cite book| first=Ginger| last=Rogers| title=Ginger: My Story| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yntZAAAAMAAJ&q=editions:Cv0d9DxbXWgC| location=Toronto| publisher=Harper Collins, Canada| year=1991| isbn=978-0060183080}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{AFI person | 61650-Ginger-Rogers | Ginger Rogers }}
* {{IMDb name|1677}}
* {{TCMDb name | 164119%7C61650 }}
* {{IBDB name}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724072809/http://todflet.users.sonic.net/ginger_rogers_appreciations.html Ginger Rogers – Appreciations]
* [http://www.reelclassics.com/Actresses/Ginger/ginger.htm Ginger Rogers biography from Reel Classics]
* [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1DC143AF933A15753C1A967958260 John Mueller's 1991 ''New York Times'' review of ''Ginger: My Story'']
* [http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/1255/ginger-rogers Photographs and literature]
* [https://www.owensrogersmuseum.com/ Owens-Rogers Museum in Independence, Missouri]

{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Ginger Rogers
|list =
{{Academy Award Best Actress|1940}}
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 1990s}}
}}
{{Fred and Ginger}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Ginger}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:20th Century Studios contract players]]
[[Category:Actresses from Rancho Mirage, California]]
[[Category:Actresses from Fort Worth, Texas]]
[[Category:Actresses from Kansas City, Missouri]]
[[Category:American ballroom dancers]]
[[Category:American Christian Scientists]]
[[Category:American female dancers]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American musical theatre actresses]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Welsh descent]]
[[Category:American stage actresses]]
[[Category:American tap dancers]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Burials at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:California Republicans]]
[[Category:Daughters of the American Revolution people]]
[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]
[[Category:Musicians from Kansas City, Missouri]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures contract players]]
[[Category:People from Independence, Missouri]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous actors]]
[[Category:RKO Pictures contract players]]
[[Category:Singers from California]]
[[Category:Singers from Missouri]]
[[Category:Singers from Texas]]
[[Category:Traditional pop music singers]]
[[Category:American vaudeville performers]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. contract players]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players]]
[[Category:MPAPAI members]]