1019 North Roxbury Drive
In August 1936, George, Ira and Leonore flew to California from Newark. They took a suite at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel until Leonore found a beautiful house to rent, Hollywood-Spanish in design at 1019 North Roxbury Drive.
They were there to work on a new Astaire/Rogers film, eventually called Shall We Dance. George and Ira found this much less pressured than writing for Broadway. They wrote several songs while waiting for a script and so had lots of spare time for socialising as many of their friends were already in Los Angeles – Jerome Kern, Sam Behrman, Moss Hart, Oscar Levant, Harpo Marx, Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg and George’s new friend and tennis partner, Arnold Schoenberg.
Visiting this address was a dream come true for me and I must thank Doug Galloway of Hollywood Classic Tours for making a special stop there. I believe this is not the original house but it’s such a beautiful area it is easy to see why the Gershwins loved it there so much.
1021 North Roxbury Drive
In 1941, after working on Lady In The Dark, Ira bought the house next door at 1021 North Roxbury Drive. Ira loved being at home, reading and writing. His friends would visit him for late night poker parties, especially his two favourite collaborators, Harry Warren and Harold Arlen.
Hollywood Bowl
On 8 September 1937, there was a George Gershwin Memorial Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Performers included Al Jolson, Fred Astaire and Todd Duncan. Jose Iturbi played the Rhapsody in Blue, Oscar Levant played the Concerto in F and Otto Klemperer conducted an orchestral arrangement of Prelude No 2. The event was relayed by CBS to a worldwide audience.
The Biltmore Hotel
Ira and Leonore attended the ninth Annual Awards of Merit Presentation dinner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on 4 March 1937.
Leonore is at the bottom left corner and Ira is third down on the right.
I was lucky enough to stay in this beautiful hotel and play one of its stunning pianos.
Gershwin in New York 