GEORGE GERSHWIN was born in Brooklyn in 1898, and began his musical training at 13. At 16 he quit high school to work for a music publisher, and soon was writing songs himself.
With his older brother, Ira, George created songs for numerous stage musicals, including Lady Be Good, Oh, Kay!, Strike Up the Band, Girl Crazy, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning Of Thee I Sing. George’s classical masterpieces include Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto in F, An American in Paris and Second Rhapsody. In the late '20s, George became fascinated by the DuBose Heyward novel, Porgy. The folk opera Porgy and Bess had its Broadway premiere in October of 1935 and included “Summertime,” which has become one of the most recorded songs in history. In 1937 George was at the height of his career, writing songs for Hollywood films with Ira, such as “A Foggy Day,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “Love Is Here to Stay,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” “Shall We Dance?,” “They All Laughed,” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” While working on the score of The Goldwyn Follies in Hollywood, he collapsed and died of a brain tumor. He was not quite 39 years old.
