Castle, Vernon, and Irene Foote

Castle, Vernon (Vernon Castle Blythe) 1887–1918, and Irene Foote, 1893–1969, husband-and-wife dance team. Vernon Castle was an English dancer, who studied civil engineering before turning to the stage and making his debut in 1907. In 1911, he married Irene Foote, b. New Rochelle, N.Y. In Paris in 1912 their versions of such dances as the "Texas Tommy" and the "Grizzly Bear" brought them fame. The team originated the "Castle walk," the one-step, and the "hesitation" waltz, and Irene Castle introduced bobbed hair and the slim, boyish figure to the ballroom and the world of fashion. Castle was a pilot during World War I and was killed during a training mission in Texas.

Bibliography

See I. Castle, Castles in the Air (1958).