Today's Birthdays

one click shows all of today's celebrity birthdays

Browse All Birthdays

43,625    Actors
27,931    Actresses
4,867    Composers
7,058    Directors
842    Footballers
221    Racing drivers
925    Singers
9,111    Writers

Get FamousLikeMe on your website
One line of code gets FamousLikeMe on your website. Find out more.

Subscribe to Daily updates


Add to Google

privacy policy



Famous Like Me > Actress > C > Irene Castle

Profile of Irene Castle on Famous Like Me

 
Name: Irene Castle  
   
Also Know As:
   
Date of Birth: 17th April 1893
   
Place of Birth: New Rochelle, New York, USA
   
Profession: Actress
 
 
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia

Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers of the early 20th century. They are credited with both invigorating and dousing the popularity of "Modern Dances" at the time.

Vernon Castle (May 2, 1887 - February 15, 1918) was born William Vernon Blyth in Norwich, Norfolk, England. Irene Castle (April 17, 1893 - January 25, 1969) was born Irene Foote in New Rochelle, New York.

The Castles first got their fame in Paris dancing the new American dances the Turkey Trot and Grizzly Bear to make a few dollars. They took a newspaper article sent from Irene's mother about the new dances and faked their way through them. The Castles became a huge hit and continued dancing in Paris for a short time. When they returned home, their success was reported in the New York Times. They made their New York debut at a club called Louis Martin's in 1912.

They opened a dancing school in New York called Castle House. Here they led a busy life teaching the New York society the latest dance steps, often barely finishing in time to quickly run to one of their clubs to greet guests and dance in public, before running off to another club to do the same. They also were in constant demand for private lessons and appearances at fashionable parties where, despite their fame, they often found themselves treated as mere hired performers. If a rich client was too demanding, Vernon might quote a fee of a thousand dollars an hour for lessons (a fortune in 1914) and often got it.

The Castles made a dance movie called Social and Theatrical Dancing in 1909 (first Teaching film ) and wrote a couple of books, such as Modern Dancing in 1914, Castles in the Air (also made into a movie with Fred Astaire, Irene was a consultant), The Whirl of Life and My Husband.

Irene Castle became very fashionable in society, leading society ladies to copy Mrs. Castle's wardrobe and makeup. When she cut her hair short women across the nation did the same. The results made newspaper headlines and caused a panic in the hairdressing industry. The Castles also endorsed Victor Records and Victrolas, issuing records by the Castle House Orchestra, led by James Rheese Europe - a pioneering figure in African-American music.

Starting in 1914, the couple operated several dance clubs in the New York City area (Castle House, Castles By The Sea, Sans Souci and others), and toured with their dance routines. They also tried to lay claim to the creation of the Fox Trot dance. Vaudeville comedian Harry Fox gave his name to the dance, but the Castles undoubtedly refined and popularized it.

Vernon served as a pilot during World War I, and shortly after the war, died in an airplane crash near Fort Worth, Texas (where he was an airplane flight instructor) in 1918. Irene went on to star in about a dozen silent films, retiring from show business in the 1920s. She married three more times, to Robert Tremain (she divorced him after he stole her money), Frederic McLaughlin (she married him for his money, divorcing him after he beat her), and George Enzinger. She saw her stories about her life with Vernon made into a movie, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, in 1939. She served as a technical advisor on the film. Irene was also an active animal-rights activist and founded the dog shelter "Orphans of the Storm," which is still active.

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Irene Castle