Current:Home > MarketsSteve Lawrence, half of popular singing and comedy duo Steve & Eydie, dies at 88 -Elevate Profit Vision
Steve Lawrence, half of popular singing and comedy duo Steve & Eydie, dies at 88
View
Date:2025-04-12 11:48:04
NEW YORK — Steve Lawrence, a singer and top stage act who — with wife Eydie Gorme — comprised stage duo Steve & Eydie, has died.
He was 88. Lawrence, whose hits included "Go Away Little Girl," died Thursday from complications due to Alzheimer's disease, said Susan DuBow, a spokesperson for the family.
Lawrence and Gorme — or Steve & Eydie — were known for their frequent appearances on talk shows, in night clubs and on the stages of Las Vegas. The duo took inspiration from George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and other songwriters.
Soon after Elvis Presley and other rock music pioneers began to dominate radio and records, Lawrence and his wife were approached about changing their style.
"We had a chance to get in on the ground floor of rock 'n' roll," he recalled in a 1989 interview. "It was 1957 and everything was changing, but I wanted to be Sinatra, not Rick Nelson.
"Our audience knows we're not going to load up on heavy metal or set fire to the drummer — although on some nights we've talked about it," he joked.
He and Gorme had two sons, David, a composer, and Michael. Long troubled with heart problems, Michael died of heart failure in 1986 at age 23.
"My dad was an inspiration to so many people," his son, David, said in a statement. "But, to me, he was just this charming, handsome, hysterically funny guy who sang a lot. Sometimes alone and sometimes with his insanely talented wife. I am so lucky to have had him as a father and so proud to be his son."
'Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts' TV show, 'Go Away Little Girl' helped launch Lawrence's career
Although Lawrence and Gorme were best known as a team, both also had huge solo hits just months apart in the early 1960s.
Lawrence scored first in 1962 with the achingly romantic ballad "Go Away Little Girl," written by the Brill Building songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Gorme matched his success the following year with "Blame It on the Bossa Nova," a bouncy tune about a dance craze of the time that was written by Brill hitmakers Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.
By the 1970s, Lawrence and his wife were a top draw in Las Vegas casinos and nightclubs across the country. They also appeared regularly on television, making specials and guesting on various shows.
In the 1980s, when Vegas cut down on headline acts and nightclubs became scarcer, the pair switched to auditoriums and drew large audiences.
"People come with a general idea of what they're going to get with us," Lawrence said in 1989. "It's like a product. They buy a certain cereal and they know what to expect from that package."
Lawrence launched his professional singing career at age 15. After two failed auditions for "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" TV show, he was accepted on the third try, going on to win the competition and the prize of appearing on Godfrey's popular daytime radio show for a week.
King Records, impressed by the teenager's strong, two-octave voice, signed him to a contract. His first record, "Poinciana," sold more than 100,000 copies, and his high school allowed him to skip classes to promote it with out-of-town singing dates.
Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme met on NBC's 'Tonight' show
After several guest appearances on Steve Allen's television show, Lawrence was hired as a regular. When the program became NBC's "Tonight" in 1954, he went with it, singing and exchanging quips with Allen. The series set the pattern for the long-running "The Tonight Show."
"I think Steve Allen was the biggest thing that happened to me," said Lawrence, who stayed with the show's host for five years, honing his comedic skills and attracting a wide audience with his singing. "Every night I was called upon to do something different. In its own way it was better than vaudeville."
Early in the series' run, a young singer named Eydie Gorme joined the cast. After singing together for four years, she and Lawrence were married in 1957.
Until Gorme's death in 2013, they remained popular, whether working together in concert or making separate TV appearances.
His reasoning: "If we did television together all the time, why should anyone go see us in a club?"
He appeared in such shows as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Gilmore Girls," "Diagnosis Murder" and "The Nanny."
He and his wife did star together in "The Steve Lawrence-Eydie Gorme Show" in 1958 and Lawrence had his own series, "The Steve Lawrence Show," in 1965.
He also made stage appearances without Gorme, including a starring role in a 1962 summer stock version of "Pal Joey." He made it to Broadway in 1964 — and earned a Tony Award nomination — in the musical "What Makes Sammy Run?" based on Budd Schulberg's classic novel about a New York hustler who claws his way to the top of the entertainment world.
Lawrence also had a few character roles in movies, most notably "Stand Up and Be Counted," "Blues Brothers 2000," "The Lonely Guy" and "The Yards."
Born Sidney Liebowitz in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, Lawrence was the son of a Jewish cantor who worked as a house painter. He began singing in his father's synagogue choir at 8, moving on to bars and clubs by his mid-teens. He took his name from the first names of two nephews.
Contributing: Bob Thomas, The Associated Press
veryGood! (152)
Related
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Under $200 Spring Wedding Dresses That Will Make You The Best-Dressed Guest
- A man led police on a car chase, drove off a 100-foot cliff on Long Island and survived
- Morgan Wallen arrested on felony charges in Nashville after allegedly throwing chair from bar rooftop
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- On National Beer Day 2024, the US is drinking more Modelo than Bud Light as NA brews rise
- Donald Trump asks appeals court to intervene in last-minute bid to delay hush-money criminal case
- Israel has told White House that IDF troops will have rest and refit, NSC's John Kirby says
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Missouri to carry out execution of Brian Dorsey after Gov. Mike Parson denies clemency
Ranking
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Delta passengers get engaged mid-flight while seeing total solar eclipse from 30,000 feet
- Chaos dominates NBA playoff seedings race in last week of regular season
- When is the next total solar eclipse in the U.S. after today? See the paths for the 2044 and 2045 events
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- Maine’s governor and GOP lawmakers decry budget adjustment approved in weekend vote
- Dan Hurley will receive at least $1.8 million in bonuses with UConn's national title
- Contractor killed by aircraft propeller lost situational awareness when she was fatally struck, Air Force says
Recommendation
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Jonathan Majors sentenced to domestic violence program for assault, avoids jail time
The Daily Money: Hard times for dollar stores
Deceased infant, injured child found alone on Los Angeles freeway, reports say
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
Eva Mendes' Brother Carlo Mendez Shares What She and Ryan Gosling Are Like as Parents
Iowa-South Carolina NCAA championship game smashes TV ratings record for women's basketball
2024 CMT Music Awards celebrated country music Sunday night. Here's what to know for the show.