Childhood

Morris and Rose Gershwin

From left: Ira, Francis, George, and Arthur Gershwin

George Gershwin was born on September 26, 1898, to Morris and Rose Gershwin. Gershwin grew up in New York with his three siblings, his older brother Ira, younger brother Arthur, and younger sister Frances. Many people claim that George grew up poor; his mother is quoted in David Ewen’s biography The Life and Journey of George Gershwin as saying, “‘There was always money for piano lessons… My husband always made enough money to take care of the family’” (29). It also helped that both Morris and Rose were children of wealthy homes. Morris’s father invented a model gun and sold it to the Tsar whereas Rose’s father was a prosperous furrier. During George’s childhood, his father switched jobs often and insisted that he live close to work. This resulted in the Gershwin family moving numerous times. Ira Gershwin calculated that between 1900 and 1917, the family lived in at least 28 different apartments in New York and Brooklyn.

George age 10

In his early years, George did not take interest in music, but instead was very active. He enjoyed playing games such as street hockey and punch ball and was named the “roller-skating champion of Forsyth Street” (Ewen 39). His temperament was similar to his mother’s: headstrong, insistent, and restless, which brought about many conflicts between the pair as he grew up. Gershwin also never cared for school and his grades were barely high enough to pass. Gershwin was ten years old before he took any kind of interest in music at all (Ewen 29-42).