Erik Rhodes, Starred In Rogers-Astaire Films

OKLAHOMA CITY - Character actor Erik Rhodes, who twice shared the silver screen with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, has died at age 84.

Rhodes, who died Saturday at an Oklahoma City nursing home, played Italian characters in the Rogers-Astaire classics ``The Gay Divorcee,'' in 1934 and ``Top Hat'' in 1935.

Rhodes was born in El Reno, Okla., in 1906 and later moved to Oklahoma City, where he graduated from high school. He earned a modern languages degree in 1927,