(born Dec. 6, 1896, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Aug.
17, 1983, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. lyricist, brother of the composer George Gershwin. He briefly attended City College of New York, then did odd jobs until his brother asked him to write lyrics for his melodies; their first collaboration was “The Real American Folk Song,” in the musical Ladies First (1918). The renowned Gershwin partnership resulted in such idiomatic and ingenious songs as “'S Wonderful,” “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” “Summertime,” and “It Ain't Necessarily So.” After his brother's death Ira collaborated on a number of musicals, including Lady in the Dark with Kurt Weill (1940), Cover Girl with Jerome Kern (1944), and A Star Is Born with Harold Arlen (1954).
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