Israel Gershowitz
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2,071
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Published
4
Film credits
13
Books
4
Awards
Ira Gershwin won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical Of Thee I Sing, co-written with his brother George Gershwin and collaborators. He wrote lyrics for hundreds of songs including I Got Rhythm, Embraceable You, and Someone to Watch Over Me. He contributed to Broadway shows like Lady Be Good and Porgy and Bess. He received a Grammy Trustees Award and a Congressional Gold Medal. Gershwin died in 1983 at age 86.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Ira Gershwin — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Ira Gershwin by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Ira Gershwin — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Ira Gershwin was born Israel Gershowitz on December 6, 1896 in New York City to Rose Bruskina and Morris Gershwine. The oldest of four children, he had a younger brother George Gershwin, a composer. He attended Townsend Harris Hall and City College of New York. His early jobs included newspaper columnist and work for a touring carnival before moving into musical theater.
Gershwin’s Broadway breakthrough came with Two Little Girls in Blue in 1921, written under the pseudonym Arthur Francis. He then collaborated extensively with his brother George, creating songs for Lady Be Good 1924, Funny Face 1927, and Girl Crazy 1930. Their musical Of Thee I Sing won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1932. Gershwin also wrote lyrics for Porgy and Bess 1935, which included I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’ and It Ain’t Necessarily So. After George’s death, he continued writing for stage and film, working with composers like Kurt Weill on Lady in the Dark 1941. His songs have been covered by many artists and remain standards.
In 1926, Ira Gershwin married Leonore Strunsky, and they remained together until his death in 1983. He served as best man at the wedding of Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland, and was godfather to their daughter Liza Minnelli, who was named after his song Liza All the Clouds’ll Roll Away. His younger brother George predeceased him in 1937. Gershwin mentored singer Michael Feinstein, who helped preserve his legacy. He was also close to his other siblings, Arthur and Frances.
Ira Gershwin’s lyrics defined the Great American Songbook. He and his brother George received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1970. He received the Grammy Trustees Award in 1986 and the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously in 1998. His musical Lady in the Dark was revived in London in 1997, winning the Evening Standard Theatre Award. Gershwin is remembered for his witty, sophisticated lyrics that paired with his brother’s melodies, creating enduring songs like I Got Rhythm, Embraceable You, and They Can’t Take That Away from Me.
Browse the complete filmography of Ira Gershwin — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Ira Gershwin — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Ira Gershwin's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
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A wall of memorable lines from Ira Gershwin — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Given a Fondness for Music, a Feeling for Rhyme, a Sense of Whimsy and Humor, an Eye for the Unbalanced Sentence, an Ear for the Current Phrase, and the Ability to Imagine Oneself a Performer Trying to Put Over the Number in Progress Given All This, I Still Would Say It Takes Four or Five Years Collaborating with Knowledgeable Composers to Become a Well Rounded Lyricist.
I Read a Book About the Occupation of Denmark. the Author Told All About How the Nazis Would Do Their Regular Propaganda Broadcasts on the Radio, with the Fanfares and the Music, and Whenever They’d Finished Doing Their Regular Stuff, the Underground Radio Would Come on Immediately Afterward and Play ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’.
A Career of Lyric Writing Isn’t One That Anyone Can Muscle in On; That If the Lyricist Who Lasts Isn’t a W.S. Gilbert He Is at Least Literate and Conscientious; That Even When His Words at Times Sound Like Something off the Cuff, Lots of Hard Work and Exper9ience Have Made Them So.
I Guess I’ve Always Considered Perfection, or as Close as I Can Come to It, My Armor. and I Know That Even If the Lyric Failed I Had Done My Very Best.
It Sounds Like a Pompous Word but George Inspired Me. He Was Always Full of New Ideas, and He Was so Good a Musician That I Could Do Things with Lyrics That I Couldn’t Do with Just a Songwriter. I’m Not Just Interested in Writing Songs. I Like to Do Things with a Twist Things That You Might Call Artistic.
You Know, I Always Avoided George When I Could Because He Would Ask Me What I Was Doing, Tell Me to Get Busy, and All That…I Always Felt That If George Hadn’t Been My Brother and Pushed Me into Lyric Writing, I’d Have Been Contented to Be a Bookkeeper.
Lyrics Are Written up to Public Taste, and That’s a High Target… the Words Mustn’t Be Precious or Condescending…A Writer Can’t Get Away with the ‘Blue/you’ Sort of Stuff Any Longer…A Good Lyric Should Be Rhymed Conversation.
Lyric Writing, Like Tea Tasting and Hitting the Chimes for Half Hour Station Announcements, Has Become a Profession. a Precarious Profession, No Doubt in That the East Side Marriage Broker Has as yet Put No Valuation On, One That Is Looked Down on as a Racket in Some Literary Fields, but One Which Nevertheless Requires a Certain Dexterity with Words and a Feeling for Music on the One Hand, and on the Other, the Infinite Patience of the Gem Setter, Compatibility with the Composer and an Understanding of the Various Personalities in the Cast.
Little-known facts about Ira Gershwin — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Served as best man at the wedding of Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland. The couple named their daughter Liza Minnelli after Gershwin’s song Liza All the Clouds’ll Roll Away.
Acted as mentor to singer Michael Feinstein, who later became a prominent archivist of Gershwin’s work.
Married Leonore Strunsky, who was known as Leonore Gershwin, from September 1926 until his death.
Awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7083 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, commemorating his recording work.
Won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical Of Thee I Sing, collaborating with George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, and his brother George Gershwin.
His musical Lady in the Dark was performed at the Royal National Theatre, Lyttelton, and nominated for the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best New Musical of the 1997 season.
Older brother of composer George Gershwin; he was born four years earlier in 1896.
The musical Porgy and Bess, co-written with George, was nominated for the 2011 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Production of a Musical Large at the Court Theatre in Chicago.
His musical Lady in the Dark was awarded the 1997 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical.
The musical Crazy for You, featuring Gershwin songs, was nominated for a 2017 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Large Musical Production at Chicago’s Drury Lane Productions Theatre.
Served as godfather to Liza Minnelli, daughter of Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland.
Mentioned by name in the Burton Lane-Ralph Freed song How About You? 1941.
Biography included in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Volume One 1981-1985, pages 317-320, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1998.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Ira Gershwin.
Celebrities similar to Ira Gershwin — same craft, ranked by reach.
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