George Gershwin - Legacy and Honors

Legacy and Honors

• The 1945 biographical film Rhapsody in Blue starred Robert Alda as George Gershwin.
• George Gershwin was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
• The Gershwin Theatre on Broadway is named after George and Ira.
• The George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Musical Achievement Award was established by UCLA to honor the brothers for their contribution to music and for their gift to UCLA of the fight song "Strike Up the Band for UCLA." Past winners have included Angela Lansbury (1988), Ray Charles (1991), Mel Torme (1994), Bernadette Peters (1995), Frank Sinatra (2000), Stevie Wonder (2002), k.d. lang (2003), James Taylor (2004), Babyface (2005), Burt Bacharach (2006), Quincy Jones (2007), Lionel Richie (2008) and Julie Andrews (2009).
• The Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to George and Ira Gershwin in 1985. Only three other songwriting recipients, George M. Cohan, Harry Chapin and Irving Berlin, have had the honor of receiving this award.
• In Brooklyn, George Gershwin Junior High School 166 is named after him.