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Home , An American in Paris, Embraceable You, George Gershwin, Girl Crazy, Ira Gershwin, I Got Rhythm

George Gershwin Born 26, 1898 in , New York Died 11, 1937 in ,

George Gershwin began his musical training at age 13. "Swanee," popularized by in 1919, brought Gershwin his first real fame. In 1924, when George teamed up with his older brother Ira, "the Gershwin’s" became the dominant Broadway songwriters, creating brisk, infectious rhythm numbers and affectingly poignant ballads, invariably fashioning the words to fit the melodies with a "glove like" fidelity. This extraordinary collaboration led to a succession of musical comedies, among them Lady, Be Good! (1924), Oh, Kay! (1926), (1927), Strike Up the Band (1927 & 1930), (1930) and (1931), the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize. Over the years, Gershwin songs have also been used in numerous films including Shall We Dance (1937), A Damsel in Distress (1937) and An American in (1951). Later years produced the award winning stage musicals My One and Only (1983) and (1992) which ran four years on Broadway.

Starting with his early days as a of songs, Gershwin had ambitions to compose serious . (1924) caught the public's fancy and opened a new era in American music. Many feel that the in F (1925) is Gershwin's finest orchestral work. Others opt for his (1928) or his for and orchestra.

The Gershwin’s' and Bess (co written with DuBose and and ) was the Gershwin brothers' most ambitious undertaking, tightly integrating unforgettable songs with dramatic incident. The Gershwin’s' opened its Broadway run on 10, 1935. The had major revivals in 1942, 1952, 1976 and 1983 and toured the world. It was made into a major motion picture by in 1959. 's highly acclaimed production opened in the West End of in 2006 and the Gershwin’s’ Porgy and Bess starring Audra McDonald opened on Broadway in 2012.

In 1937, George Gershwin was at the height of his career. It was in Hollywood, while he was working on the score of The Goldwyn , that George Gershwin collapsed and died of a brain tumor; he was not quite 39 years old.

Ira Gershwin Born 6, 1896 in New York, New York Died 17, 1983 in Beverly Hills, California

Ira Gershwin, was the first songwriter to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize. In 1917 The Evening Sun published his first song (You Throw All The Rice You Desire But Please Friends, Throw No Shoes). Four years later Ira enjoyed his first major stage success, , written with another Broadway newcomer, . In 1924 Ira and his brother, George, created the smash hit Lady Be Good and went on to continue their remarkable collaboration through a dozen major stage scores, producing such standards as , The Man I Love, S' Wonderful, , , But Not For Me and others far too numerous to mention.

During his long career, Ira also enjoyed productive collaborations with such songwriters as , , , Burton Lane and , with whom he created his greatest song hit of any one year, And Far Away.