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Born on this day in 1896, Adele Astaire, dancer, stage actress and singer. Starting on Broadway at the age of nine, Adele developed a successful career with her younger brother, Fred Astaire.
The Astaires achieved their Broadway breakthrough in 1917 where Adele also developed as a comedienne. The siblings arrived in Britain during the 1920s and performed in the West End. There, they rubbed shoulders with the nobility.
In 1932, after a 27-year partnership with her brother, Adele retired from the stage to marry Lord Charles Arthur Francis Cavendish. Following his death in 1944, Adele remarried and returned to the United States, although she did spend her summers at Lismore Castle, Ireland, on the Cavendish estate. Adele’s second husband, Kingman Douglass, was briefly the assistant director of the CIA.