George & Ira Gershwin

George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, NY on Sept. 26, 1898. He began his first musical training at age thirteen and at fifteen, left high school to work as a pianist and "song plugger" for a Tin Pan Alley music-publishing firm, Jerome H. Remick & Company, earning $15 a week. He was soon writing songs, which contained elements of both classical and jazz influences. He was one of the first composers to fuse jazz into popular songs. A few of his most popular compositions include, "An American in Paris", "Piano Concerto in F," "Rhapsody in Blue," and the opera, Porgy and Bess.

His collaboration with his brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin, is what really brought the Gershwin name to the forefront-dominating Broadway in the 1920's. His infectious tunes and Ira's poignant words led to a succession of 22 musical comedies including Lady Be Good, Oh, Kay!, Funny Face, Girl Crazy, and Of Thee I Sing, the first musical comedy to ever receive the Pulitzer Prize. At the height of his career in 1937, George Gershwin suddenly collapsed while working on The Goldwynn Follies in Hollywood. He died of a brain tumor on July 11, 1937-not quite 39 years old.