Measurements: 34-23 1/2-34 1/2 (late 1950s), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
One of the celebrities whose picture Anne Frank placed on the wall of her bedroom in the "Secret Annex" while in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam, Holland.
Related to Random House publisher and "What's My Line?" (1950) panelist Bennett Cerf through marriage, when he married Ginger's cousin Phyllis Fraser, who later became known as Phyllis Cerf.
Replaced Judy Garland in the film The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) after Garland was suspended from MGM due to her tardiness.
Salary for 1938, $219,500.
She and Fred Astaire acted in 10 movies together: The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), Carefree (1938), Flying Down to Rio (1933), Follow the Fleet (1936), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Shall We Dance (1937), The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Swing Time (1936) and Top Hat (1935)
She didn't drink: she had her very own ice cream soda fountain
She first introduced the song "The Continental" in The Gay Divorcee (1934) and it went on to be the first song that won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
She made her final public appearance on 3/18/95 (just five weeks before her death) when she received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award.
She owned a lingerie factory in Rock Island Tennessee, called Form Fit Rogers.
She was a radical right-wing Republican, a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a Christian Scientist and a vocal supporter of the Hollywood blacklist.
She was of Welsh and Scottish heritage.
Sort-of cousin of Rita Hayworth. Ginger's aunt married Rita's uncle.
The well-known quote often attributed to her--"My first picture was [Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman (1940)]. It was my mother who made all those films with Fred Astaire"--was actually fabricated for a 1966 article in "Films In Review".
Turned down Donna Reed's role in It's a Wonderful Life (1946).
Turned down lead roles in To Each His Own (1946) and The Snake Pit (1948). Both of these roles went on to be played to great acclaim by Olivia de Havilland.
Was a Christian Scientist.
Was a life-long Republican.
Was asked to replace Judy Garland in both Harlow (1965/II) and Valley of the Dolls (1967). She turned down "Dolls" because she hated the script; she did, however, accept Harlow (1965/II). She played Jean Harlow's mother and, unlike the movie, garnered good reviews. The film was made in only eight days.
Was badly affected by illness in her last years after suffering two strokes that had left her wheelchair-bound and visibly overweight, while her voice had become a shrunken rasp.