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Today is Ginger Rogers' 115th birthday. Born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri, on July 16, 1911, she began her entertainment career as a teenager, performing in a travelling vaudeville act. In 1930, she became an overnight star with a lead role in the Broadway musical Girl Crazy by George and Ira Gershwin. Her success on the stage soon led to a contract with Paramount Pictures, and she made her feature film debut in Monta Bell's Young Man of Manhattan (1930). Dissatisfied with the parts she was given, she moved to RKO and was put to work with Fred Astaire in Flying Down to Rio (1933), which started a highly successful partnership between the two stars. In their ten films together, they redefined the movie musical with their graceful performances and memorable dance routines. Beyond musicals, Rogers proved her versatility as a dramatic actress, winning an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Kitty Foyle (1940).

Today is Katharine Hepburn 's 119th birthday. From her motion picture debut in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) to iconic performances in such films as Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), The African Queen (1951), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and On Golden Pond (1981), she had a career like no other. She won four Academy Awards, the most out of any other performer, and got nominated for eight more. She was intelligent, headstrong, independent and outspoken, at a time when women were generally regarded as being the opposite. She was always unapologetically herself; there were no airs about her, no pretense, no façade. She was always just Kate. This is her life in photos. At the age of four, in 1911.   With fellow Bryn Mawr students Margaret Barker (left) and Elizabeth Stewart (middle) in a production of A. A. Milne's The Truth About Blayds , in April 1927.    In costume for the Broadway play The Lake , in November 1934.    With Ginge...

Ginger Rogers at the beach with her pet dog (1936) Clara Bow in front of her Malibu beachfront home (c. 1926)   Bette Davis at a beach in Southern California (c. 1932)   Cary Grant and Randolph Scott at their home in Santa Monica (1935)   Natalie Wood and Hugh O'Brien at the Thalians Beach Ball in Malibu (July 15, 1956)   Ava Gardner at the beach (c. 1945)   Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman at the pool (c. 1940)   Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. at Catalina Beach (May 20, 1929)  

Esther Pressman, Kay Gordon, Bonita Barker, Dorothy Thompson and Dene Myles in a Christmas publicity shot for Paramount Pictures (December 1935).  Boris Karloff and Ginger Rogers at a Christmas party in Los Angeles in December 1932.   Priscilla Lane besides a Christmas tree with a armful of presents (1941).   George Burns and Gracie Allen with their two adopted children, Ronnie and Sandra Jean, at home during Christmas (December 1939)   Cyd Charisse in a Christmas publicity shot (1947).   Butch Jenkins and Lassie in a Christmas publicity shot (December 1947).   Deanna Durbin decorating a Christmas tree (December 1944).   Mara Alba, Anna May Wong and Alga Baclanova at a Christmas party given by the Foreign Correspondents Association (December 1932).   A Christmas parade at the Hollywood Boulevard (December 1941).     Merry Christmas, everyone!