Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were some of the most popular triple threats in Hollywood, starring in several wonderful musicals during the golden age of Hollywood. They were charming, beautiful, and most importantly, incredibly talented dancers. But, since their movies were typically he said/she said comedies of errors, the pair had supporting characters to provide screwball antics, plot twists, and support to the leads.

Actors Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore were the best at strengthening the comedy in Fred and Ginger movies. They had great comedic chemistry, often trading bits of dialogue centered on perplexed confusion and misunderstanding. Both actors could portray flabbergasted, with Horton often as a comedy foil and Blore in a hilarious offended huff.

Over the course of his career, Horton appeared in over 175 movies and TV shows. He was born on March 18, 1886 in Brooklyn, NY, and attended several institutions of higher education, including Oberlin College, Brooklyn Polytechnic, and Columbia University. In 1906 his stage career began, singing and dancing in vaudeville performances and on Broadway. His career in films started in 1922 with Too Much Business, followed by his first leading role in 1925’s Beggar on Horseback.

He perfected the double take comedic device with a conspiratorial smile and nod before comprehension would dawn and his features would transition to express dismay, inciting plenty of laughs among audiences. Because of his comedic talents, he perfected character actor abilities in supporting roles.

Blore was born on December 23, 1887 in Finchley, Middlesex, England. In his late teens he worked as an insurance agent and gained acting experience by working in theater in Australia, then in 1923 he moved to the United States and started acting on Broadway. He and Fred Astaire worked together on stage in the musical Gay Divorce, which formulated their working relationship.

Blore appeared in nearly 90 movies and TV shows over the course of 35 years, starting with the short A Night Out and a Day In in 1920. He worked with Astaire and Rogers more than any other supporting actor, appearing in five of their ten films. He was great at expressing skepticism and flummoxed irritation to crack up audiences.

Horton and Blore starred in three Fred and Ginger movies together, starting with 1934’s The Gay Divorcee. Rogers stars as a woman seeking a divorce who falls for a performer that she thinks was hired to pose as her lover. Horton played Rogers’ bumbling, incompetent lawyer and Blore was a waiter who has the crucial information about the adulterer husband.

A year later they worked together in Top Hat, a screwball comedy in which Astaire tries to woo Rogers, who thinks he’s married to her friend. Blore and Horton share more screen time in this one with Blore playing Horton’s valet. Horton displays his talent for animated confusion as he panics over his wife’s suggestions that she knows he’s been up to something while Blore appears annoyed at his frantic employer.

Their last Fred and Ginger movie was 1937’s Shall We Dance in which Rogers and Astaire are dancers whose budding romance is hampered with complications as rumors circulate that they are already married. Horton’s turn as the bumbling ballet company owner is hilariously filled with panic. Blore works at the hotel where they are staying, getting more and more annoyed by the shenanigans of the guests. The pair share a few hilarious moments of confusion when they meet each other and later when Blore’s character calls Horton to get him out of jail but somehow it turns into spelling bee.

After these appearances, Horton was also in comedies like Arsenic and Old Lace, Pocketful of Miracles, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and in Cold Turkey, his final role, he communicated using only facial expressions. He was the narrator of Fractured Fairy Tales in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, played Uncle Ned in the Dennis the Menace TV show, and appeared alongside Vincent Price’s Egghead in an episode of Batman. Horton died from cancer on September 29, 1970 at the age of 84.

Some of Blore’s other memorable work came in The Sky’s the Limit, It’s Love I’m After, The Lady Eve, Road to Zanzibar, and several Lone Wolf movies as Jamison the butler. He died of a heart attack on March 2, 1959 at age 71.

Blore and Horton may have been supporting characters and even bit players in movies with Astaire and Rogers, but they managed to elevate the comedy through well crafted expressions and physicality. They may not have played the song and dance men, but they certainly were entertaining.