GEORGE GERSHWIN - DOCUMENT SIGNED 09/30/1936 CO-SIGNED BY: IRA GERSHWIN - HFSID 286059

TAX DOCUMENT REVEALS THAT GEORGE GERSHWIN GOT 60% AND IRA GERSHWIN RECEIVED 40% FROM THEIR COLLABORATIONS


GEORGE GERSHWIN and IRA GERSHWIN. Carbon Typed Document Signed: "George Gershwin" and "Ira Gershwin", 1p, 8½x13. Los Angeles, California, 1936 September 30. In part: "GEORGE GERSHWIN and IRA GERSHWIN each, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: That he is one of the parties to the written agreement dated July 29, 1936, executed by and between RKO STUDIOS, INC. and GEORGE GERSHWIN and IRA GERSHWIN, under the terms and conditions of which the said George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin are employed by the said RKO Studios, Inc. and under the terms and conditions of which thecompensation payable to the said George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin is paid to them jointly, without any allocation between them. That under the terms and conditions of an agreement existing between the said George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin all compensation received by them pursuant to the terms and conditions of said contract, has been and will be divided and allocated between them in the ratio of sixty per cent (60%) to the said George Gershwin and forty per cent (40%) to the said Ira Gershwin…That this affidavit is made and delivered to the said RKO Studios, Inc. in order that the said RKO Studios, Inc. may withhold the tax payable pursuant to said act, upon the basis of the allocation of the income payable to affiants pursuant to said contract as herein represented." Countersigned: "J.M. Hartke" as Notary Public. On May 7, 1937, RKO released Shall We Dance?, the seventh Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical. GEORGE GERSHWIN, who died at 38 two months later, on July 11, 1937, of a brain tumor, received his only Academy Award nomination (posthumously) for the song "They Can't Take That Away From Me" from Shall We Dance? It was also the first nomination for his brother, IRA GERSHWIN. Ira was later nominated for collaborations with Jerome Kern in 1944 and Harold Arlen in 1954. On November 19, 1937, RKO released A Damsel in Distress, scored by George with lyrics by Ira, starring Fred Astaire, George Burns and Gracie Allen. Lightly creased. Staple holes at upper blank margin. Lightly worn at horizontal folds. Top line has been underlined with red ink and there is a red check mark (unknown hand). Overall, fine condition.