Frances Gershwin Godowsky; Sister of Composer

Frances "Frankie" Gershwin Godowsky, 92, painter and singer who tried out her brothers' songs before the public heard them. She began performing as a child, dancing in shows on Tin Pan Alley. She also sang in a few Broadway productions in the 1920s, but spent most of her life helping her famous brothers, composer George and lyricist Ira Gershwin. She was usually the first to sing their songs, trying them out in George's Manhattan apartment. George and Frances became a popular performing team at New York parties. When she accompanied him to Europe in 1928, she so impressed Cole Porter that he designed a Paris nightclub show in which she could sing Gershwin numbers. She rejected several professional offers and returned to New York, where she married Leopold Godowsky Jr. She painted well-received oils and acrylics, and late in life resumed singing publicly. In 1975 Godowsky recorded the album "Frances Sings for George and Ira." On Monday in New York City.