Museum of the City of New York

Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York, Theatrical Personalities Files

Here are the four Gershwin siblings, Ira, Frances, George and Arthur at the time of their father, Morris’s death in 1932.

 

Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York, Theatrical Personalities Files

George with Ginger Rogers on the set of the film, Shall We Dance, possibly discussing the song, They All Laughed.

 

Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York, Theatrical Personalities Files

Fred and Adele Astaire first met George at Remick’s, the music publisher, where he was working as a song plugger and they were looking for new songs for their vaudeville act.  They talked about one day working on a show together, and their dream came true in 1924 with the show, Lady, Be Good! and again, in 1927 with Funny Face.  These shows were produced on Broadway and in London.  When Fred and Adele returned to New York from London, George would take them to see all the new Broadway shows.

My grandmother saw the Astaires in London and being a massive fan of Fred Astaire, I asked her what he was like on stage but she simply said “Adele was wonderful.”

 

Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York, Theatrical Personalities Files

George is with actress, June Lang at a skating party given by Ginger Rogers.  The caption implies that he was reluctant to skate, which is surprising as he was a roller skating champion as a boy.  However, given the date of 28 March 1937, it is likely that he was not feeling well.  Another possibility could be that his mood was reflected in the song written in his manuscript tune book on this exact date – I Can’t Be Bothered Now!

 

Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York, Theatrical Personalities Files

The photo on the right is my favourite one of George, but it was great to find another photo taken at the same time, even though this newspaper article is announcing his death.