Editing Fred Astaire (section)

=== Interests and beliefs ===
Intensely private, Astaire was rarely seen on the Hollywood social scene. Instead, he devoted his spare time to his family and his hobbies, which included horse racing, playing the drums, songwriting, and golfing. He was good friends with [[David Niven]], [[Randolph Scott]], [[Clark Gable]] and [[Gregory Peck]]. Niven described him as "a pixie—timid, always warm-hearted, with a penchant for schoolboy jokes." In 1946, his horse [[Triplicate (horse)|Triplicate]] won the [[Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes|Hollywood Gold Cup]] and [[San Juan Capistrano Handicap]]. He remained physically active well into his eighties. He took up [[skateboarding]] in his late seventies and was awarded a life membership in the National Skateboard Society.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Engvalson |first=Audrey |date=2024-09-04 |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/audreyworboys/wild-facts-about-old-hollywood-stars |title=17 Amazing Facts About Old Hollywood Stars |work=[[BuzzFeed]]}}</ref> At 78, he broke his left wrist while skateboarding in his driveway.<ref>(Thomas p. 301) Astaire was awarded a life membership in the National Skateboard Society (Satchell p. 221). He remarked, "Gene Kelly warned me not to be a damned fool, but I'd seen the things those kids got up to on television doing all sorts of tricks. What a routine I could have worked up for a film sequence if they had existed a few years ago. Anyway, I was practicing in my driveway." (Satchell p. 221)</ref>

Always immaculately turned out, Astaire and [[Cary Grant]] were called "the best-dressed actor[s] in American movies".<ref name="schwarz20070102">{{cite news |last=Schwarz |first=Benjamin |date=January–February 2007 |title=Becoming Cary Grant |newspaper=[[The Atlantic]] |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/01/becoming-cary-grant/5548/ |access-date=January 18, 2011}}</ref> Astaire remained a male fashion icon even into his later years, eschewing his trademark top hat, white tie, and tails, which he hated.<ref>Astaire, Steps in Time, p. 8: "At the risk of disillusionment, I must admit that I don't like top hats, white ties and tails.</ref> Instead, he favored a breezy casual style of tailored sport jackets, colored shirts, and slacks—the latter usually held up by the distinctive use of an old tie or silk scarf in place of a belt.

Astaire was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and a charter member of the Hollywood Republican Committee.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1947-10-20 |title=Film Notables Open Drive for G.O.P. President |pages=8 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>