Some of the more popular dances were waltz, fox-trot, tango, rhumba, cha-cha and other forms of ballroom dancing. Hollywood, of course, just had to cash in on all this dancing craze.

The King of the Ballroom then was Fred Astaire. He was this very slim chap who seemed to "float" rather than walk like the rest of us mortals.

Astaire didn't score high in the acting category, nor did he feature prominently in the looks department.

He could just dance, dance and dance some more. Whenever, anyone talked about dancing, Fred Astaire's name would be mentioned.

When Astaire was born, some angels must have attached some invisible wings to his ankles because he could glide, slide, and slip across tables, chairs, kitchen floor and other flat surfaces with great finesse.

At his prime, Astaire had no equal. Yes, there was Gene Kelly but Kelly didn't possess the kind of grace that was part of Astaire's persona. Astaire made it look easy. Darn! Too easy.

Those of us who are born with two left feet look clumsy even when we are sitting down. Fred Astaire was every woman's dream dance partner.

To be dancing with Astaire is akin to having breakfast with God at his palatial home.

Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart's wife, once told Michael Parkinson, the British talk show host, that she was once asked by Astaire to dance. But when they got to the dance floor, he just shuffled his feet to her utter frustration.

This strange behaviour on the part of Astaire went on for many long minutes. Later when the music had died down, Bacall confronted Astaire as to why he was "stiff like a block of wood".

Astaire replied that he was scared of Bogie. Apparently, Bogie had a formidable reputation and Bacall was that time was the belle of the evening wherever she went. Talk of "Chicken Dancing Feet".

Astaire's famous dancing partner on the screen was Ginger Rogers. It seemed to everyone who had eyes at that time that Rogers was the only woman who could match Astaire step for step.

 She was really good. I can testify to that because I have seen a number of those dances which she did with Astaire.

George Balanchine or Georgi Melitonovich Balanchivadze, one of the founders of American ballet and also one of the foremost dancers of the 20th century, as well as Rudolf Nureyev, one of the finest male dancers of the last century to come out of Russia, both said that Fred Astaire was the greatest dancer of the 20th century.

I really don't know if Astaire is deemed worthy of such praise but he certainly for some years the undisputable Emperor of the Ballroom.

 Astaire's influence as a result of his TV and cinema appearances so governed the developments in musicals that he eventually starred in 31 of these dance musicals himself.

Astaire was born on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska. His birth name is Frederick Austerlitz. His dad was a Catholic immigrant from Austria. His mother who had Jewish connections came from a Lutheran German home.

When the future dancing icon was six years old, he and his sister Adele adopted the name of Astaire for their vaudeville performance. According to rumours, the surname Astaire belonged to one of their uncles.

When the roaring 20s descended, Fred and Adele appeared on Broadway in American and stage shows in England. Their partnership only came to an end when Adele married Lord Charles Cavendish in 1932.

Astaire went on to greater success in Hollywood, but not before being described by a Hollywood bigwig as "can't act, slightly bald, also dances". Astaire found himself partnering Joan Crawford in 1933 in the movie Dancing Lady.

That same year, he found himself acting with Ginger Rogers in Flying Down to Rio. After the public had seen the two in action, it was with a united voice that Astaire be seen with Rogers in future musicals.

Subsequently, the Astaire-Rogers combination saw the production of 10 musicals. Some of the notable films were The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937) and Carefree (1938).

Any person with a modicum of knowledge of dancing will notice from Astaire's performances on the dance floor that the man was very light on his feet.

He had perfect control of his body and his sense of rhythm was second to none. His timing, through vigorous training, was dead-on, so much so that almost all his on-screen partners were in awe of him.

However, there was almost no sense of being strained on the dance floor. Astaire made it all look like it was a whole lot of fun.

 And it was, too, especially when he knew where to place his feet and how to counter-balance his hands and body at the same time.

As for Ginger Rogers, Astaire later told an interviewer that the actress actually wasn't much of a dancer in the beginning. Astaire commented that she couldn't tap dance and she couldn't do a lot of important things.

But what Rogers was good at was "faking it all". In fact, according to the king dancer, she improvised a great deal. Her plus points were that she had talent and style.

As time went by, Ginger Rogers transformed herself from being above average to beyond excellent.

Surprisingly, even though Astaire was never really known for his singing abilities, history will note that some of Hollywood's most memorable songs were sung by him.

These were Night and Day, Cheek To Cheek, Isn't It A Lovely Day, Let's Face The Music And Dance, Change Partners, The Way You Look Tonight, They Can't Take That Away From Me, One For My Baby, This Heart Of Mine, The Sky's The Limit and Something's Gotta Give.

Astaire's last musical was Finian's Rainbow in 1968. Even though he continued to act in the 70s in films like That's Entertainment and The Towering Inferno, his glory days were already behind him.

His last movie was Ghost Story in 1981. That same year, the American Film Industry present Fred Astaire with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Fred Astaire was married twice. The first time in 1933 to Phyllis Porter with whom he had two children, a boy, Fred Jr and a girl, Ava. In 1980, he married for the second time to Robyn Smith, an actress who later became a champion jockey.

Astaire died of pneumonia in 1987 at the age of 88. One of his last requests was to let the public know that he was grateful for all their support through the years.

Astaire had many admirers in his lifetime, some of them were legends themselves. They were celebrities like Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, Gregory Hines, Gene Kelly, Margot Fonteyn and Bob Fosse.

I think I shall count my father as one of his biggest fans, too. My dad was an above average dancer himself, so he knew very well the great dancers of his time.

Today, 19 years after Astaire's passing, the memory of this fantastic and unique character with the magic feet is gradually fading away.

However, those of us who know him, continue to remember him fondly for the numerous musicals which had brought much cheer and joy to our lives, long after the music was over.