(1997) "Fred Astaire’s daughter, Ava, says she is “saddened that after his (Fred’s) wonderful career he was sold to the devil.” The “devil” in this case is the

(1997) "Fred Astaire’s daughter, Ava, says she is “saddened that after his (Fred’s) wonderful career he was sold to the devil.” The “devil” in this case is the Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner. Fred is appearing in commercials in which his dancing props (a mop from “Easter Parade” and a coat rack in “Royal Wedding”) have been computerized and substituted with vacuum cleaners. The blurbs have already appeared in (very costly) spots on the Super Bowl and more are to come" (the reason it was permitted is because his widow was ok with it - she drew the line at "putting words in his mouth", but a vacuum cleaner in his hands was ok by her) https://variety.com/1997/voices/columns/astaire-won-t-deal-with-the-devil-1117863031/ https://variety.com/1997/voices/columns/astaire-won-t-deal-w...