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Born Jacob Gershowitz on September 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York, to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, he showed musical talent early, playing popular and classical pieces by ear on his brother Ira's piano. In 1913, he left school to pursue music, composing for Tin Pan Alley. By 1919, he had his first hit, "Swanee," and his first Broadway show, "La, La, Lucille." In 1924, he composed "Rhapsody in Blue" in under three weeks, initially for Paul Whiteman's small swing band and later orchestrated by Ferde Grofé. The following year came "Concerto in F," and in 1926, the musical "Oh, Kay!" featuring the song "Someone to Watch Over Me." His success continued with "Funny Face" (1927), the tone poem "An American in Paris" (1928), "Girl Crazy" (1929), "Of Thee I Sing" (1931)—the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize—and the groundbreaking American opera "Porgy and Bess" (1935). He relocated to Hollywood, where Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performed his songs. In 1937, he fell in love with Paulette Goddard, then married to Charlie Chaplin, but she refused to leave Chaplin for him. When he became ill that June, it was initially attributed to stress. A month later, he died of a brain tumor, five hours after an unsuccessful surgery to remove it. Funeral services were held in both Hollywood and New York.
