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 Ira Gershwin: "A song without music is a lot like H2 without the O."
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    Gershwin (1896-1983) captivated audiences worldwide during the 1920s and 1930s with his provocative lyrics and librettos. His 1932 Pulitzer Prize was the first ever for a musical comedy. In the 1940s his lyrics enhanced the scores of several motion picture classics.
Ira Gershwin emerged as a master of musical comedy during the 1920s and 1930s, when vaudeville was golden. With his memorable lyrics, Gershwin charmed the audiences of stage and screen and inspired the most popular singing stars of America and Europe. He strummed heartstrings with his dazzling showstopping tunes and caused critics to notice an art form they had never before taken seriously. In collaboration with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, the elder Gershwin put lyrics to the scores of vaudeville revues and Broadway plays beginning in 1918. In 1932 he shared a Pulitzer Prize for the musical satire, "Of Thee I Sing," and he collaborated on light operas, including a libretto for the poignant "Porgy and Bess" in 1936. Ira Gershwin was born Israel Gershvin on Manhattan's East Side on December 6, 1896. His father, Morris (Moishe) Gershovitz, changed the family name to Gershvin sometime after emigrating from St. Petersburg, Russia. Gershwin's mother, Rosa Bruskin, also emigrated from Russia, just four years before she married Gershovitz. A refreshingly informal attitude permeated the Gershvin household that accounted for the variation of surnames between children and parents. Such informality overflowed into virtually every aspect of the Gershvins' lives. Indeed, Ira Gershwin went by the name "Izzy" as a child and always believed his proper name to be Isidore, until he applied for a passport in 1928 and learned his true given name. Gershwin was the oldest of four siblings. His brother, George, was two years younger, followed by another brother, Arthur, and a sister, Frances, who was born on Ira Gershwin's tenth birthday. His father changed jobs frequently and moved the family residence accordingly. Thus, Gershwin lived at dozens of addresses around New York City as a child. The children amused themselves by roller-skating and playing street games and, in adolescence, the boys frequented the billiard halls. Ira Gershwin attended P.S. 20 elementary school and Townsend Harris Hall. In 1914, he enrolled at City College of New York, but left two years later without a degree. He enrolled briefly in a pre-medical curriculum through the Columbia University extension system in 1918. During his college years, Gershwin held assorted odd jobs. He worked as a steam room attendant, a carnival helper, and a photographer's assistant. Gershwin, who aspired to be a writer, published early works under a variety of pseudonyms including Bruskin Gershwin, which was the name he affixed to his short story "The Shrine," when it appeared in February 1918 in SMART SET, an H.L. Mencken publication. His first published song was the whimsical "You May Throw All the Rice You Desire but Please Friends, Throw No Shoes." He published many of his earliest song lyrics under the pseudonym of Arthur Francis, a name that he contrived from a combination of the first names of his youngest brother and his only sister. He chose to conceal his identity because of his naturally retiring nature and to eliminate confusion between himself and his younger brother, George Gershwin, who came to prominence as a composer around the same time. In the early 1920s, Ira Gershwin's songwriting efforts became closely entwined with those of his brother. The two collaborated in earnest for over a decade, with Ira Gershwin writing lyrics for George Gershwin's musical scores. They wrote for vaudeville, as well as Broadway musicals, and operettas. Photo credit: Ira Gershwin. (Photofest) continue to page 2
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