Steve Lawrence

This is about the singer/actor. For other uses, see Steve Lawrence (disambiguation). Steve Lawrence (born July 8, 1935) is an American singer, perhaps best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé. The two have appeared together since appearing regularly on Steve Allen's The Tonight Show in the mid-1950s.[1][2]

Biography

Lawrence was born Sidney Liebowitz to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Anna Gelb and Max Leibowitz, a cantor and house painter. He and Gormé married on December 29, 1957 at the El Rancho Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had two sons, the younger of whom, Michael, died unexpectedly in 1986 of ventricular fibrillation resulting from an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 23. His other son is David Nessim Lawrence, who composed the score for High School Musical. In the late 1950s, Lawrence was drafted into the Army and served as the official vocal soloist with The United States Army Band (Pershing's Own) in Washington, D.C.

Lawrence is an actor as well, appearing in guest roles on television shows in every decade since the 1950s, in shows such as The Carol Burnett Show, Night Gallery, Police Story, Murder, She Wrote, Gilmore Girls, and CSI. In the 1960s Lawrence was the star of a variety show called The Steve Lawrence Show, "the last television show in black and white on CBS". Lawrence also appeared in the last season of The Nanny as Fran's never-before-seen father, Morty Fine.

In 1980, Lawrence was introduced to a new generation of fans with his memorable portrayal of blackmailed manager Maury Sline in the hit movie The Blues Brothers with John Belushi.

Lawrence has been awarded a Drama Critics Circle Award and a Tony Award nomination for his performance of What Makes Sammy Run on Broadway, and two Emmy Awards -one for production-for Steve & Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin, which altogether won seven Emmys.

With Gormé, he has been the recipient of two Emmys for Our Love is Here to Stay, a tribute to George and Ira Gershwin; a "Best Performance By a Vocal Duo or Group" Grammy Award for We Got Us; a Film Advisory Board's Award of Excellence and a Television Critics Circle Award for From This Moment On, a tribute to Cole Porter. He and Gormé appeared together in the flop Broadway musical Golden Rainbow, the painful gestation of which is chronicled in unflattering detail in William Goldman's 1968 book The Season.

The duo have also won a Las Vegas Entertainment Award for "Musical Variety Act of the Year" four times, three of them consecutively. They have been honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 1995 were the recipients of an Ella Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Singers, a non-profit organization that helps professional singers with counseling and financial assistance.