Ira Gershwin Drama for "Of Thee I Sing". In 1988 UCLA established The George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Musical Achievement Award in recognition of the brothers' contribution to music, and for their gift to UCLA of the fight song "Strike Up the Band for UCLA". Recipients include Angela Lansbury (1988), Ray Charles (1991), Mel Tormé (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). Ira Gershwin was a joyous listener to the sounds of the modern world. "He had a
Ira Hall Ira Hall Ira Hall (2 February 1892 Martinsville, Indiana – 6 February 1987 Tarpon Springs, Florida) was an American racecar driver. Hall was later elected sheriff of Vigo County, Indiana. Though Hall had several starts in the Indianapolis 500, his greatest fame was gained on the dirt tracks of the Midwest, primarily Indiana and Illinois. He was widely recognized as one of the greatest dirt track drivers of his era, reportedly winning as many as 100 races in a season on what was known as "the suicide circuit." He was seriously injured in the fall of 1927 at George Rogers