Vernon and Irene Castle
Quick Facts
Vernon Castle
- Original name: Vernon Blythe
- Born: May 2, 1887, Norwich, Norfolk, England
- Died: February 15, 1918, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Irene Castle
- Original name: Irene Foote
- Born: April 17, 1893, New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
- Died: January 25, 1969, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Vernon and Irene Castle were an American husband-and-wife dancing team, famous as the originators of the one-step and the turkey trot.
Vernon and Irene were married in 1911 and as dance partners became famous worldwide. They popularized such dances as the glide, the castle polka, the castle walk, the hesitation waltz, the maxixe, the tango, and the bunny hug.
They wrote Modern Dancing (1914) together, and after Vernon was killed in an aviation accident while training cadets to pilot planes during World War I, Irene wrote My Husband (1919). In 1939 a motion picture starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, was released, and in 1958 Irene published Castles in the Air.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
Citation Information
Article Title:
Vernon and Irene Castle
Website Name:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published:
12 June 2026
Access Date:
November 14, 2026