Steve LaurentA king among the easy-listening crooners who rose to fame in the 1950s and '60s as one half of the duo Steve and Eydie, died Thursday at the age of 88. Lawrence died at his home in Los Angeles, and the cause of death was complications from Alzheimer's disease, according to a family spokeswoman, Susan DuBow.
Lawrence's Alzheimer's diagnosis had finally ended his touring career in 2019, after a run in the public eye that spanned six and a half decades.
Lawrence was preceded in death in 2013 by his wife, Eydie Gormé, with whom he enjoyed almost unprecedented success as an artist couple at their peak as touring artists and television stars in the 50s, 60s and 70s. The couple continued to tour together until 2009.
“My father was an inspiration to so many people,” his son, David Lawrence, 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 incredibly talented wife. I am so lucky to have had him as a father and so proud to be his son. I hope his contributions to the entertainment industry will be remembered for many years to come. »
Appreciations of Lawrence from friends and contemporaries began pouring in Thursday. “Another longtime friend has transitioned,” Dionne Warwick said. “Steve has now joined his true love, his wife Eydie, and is resting comfortably in the arms of our Heavenly Father. My most sincere condolences go to his two sons and his many friends.
With or without Gormé, Lawrence has been a Grammy, Emmy winner and Tony nominee, the latest nod coming for his portrayal of Sammy Glick in a Broadway production of “What Makes Sammy Run” in 1964. He chose a New York drama. Critics' Circle Award for this same role, which extended to 504 performances of the show.
One of Lawrence's signature songs as a performer on television and in Las Vegas nightclubs was “I've Gotta Be Me”. The song originated in a Broadway musical he and Gormé starred in together, “Golden Rainbow,” in 1968.
As a solo artist, Lawrence had one song that reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962, the Goffin-King composition “Go Away Little Girl” (later re-popularized in the '70s by Donny Osmond) . In total, he recorded 33 songs between 1952 and 1966, five of which made the Billboard top 10.
In an interview, Lawrence explained why he never turned to rock 'n' roll, despite his maturity as a recording artist during the early rock era. “It didn’t appeal to me as much,” he told the website. Classicbands.com. “I grew up in a time when music was written by Irving Berlin and Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers and Lorenzt Hart and Sammy Cahn and Julie Stein. These people, I felt close to what they wrote because it was much more melodic. It's like clever words that were written. Overall, these people were bright, educated, or extremely gifted.
As a couple, Steve and Eydie had less chart success, landing only four songs in the charts, none of which were major hits – yet their chart statistics give little indication of the the couple's omnipresence as television personalities.
The duo's joint success began with their first appearances on “The Tonight Show,” when it was managed by Steve Allen in 1954. The duo also had their own summer replacement series, “The Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé Show,” on NBC in 1958.
Despite the strength of their professional and personal lives, Lawrence regularly worked without Gormé, both as an actor and as a singer. His film roles included roles in “The Blues Brothers,” its sequel “Blues Brothers 2000,” and “Stand Up and Be Counted.” On television in his later decades, he appeared as Fran Drescher's father in the final season of “The Nanny,” as well as in “Two and a Half Men” and “Hardcastle and McCormick.” Other previous roles included roles in “Police Story,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Night Gallery.”
Lawrence appreciated the irony of sometimes gaining greater fame among certain demographics for his small roles than for his singing. “Eydie and I had gigs booked in Japan – they didn’t know us by face. They say, “Oh, “Blues Brothers”!…Maury Sline. It was my name.
But at least among older generations in the United States, Lawrence and Gormé were best known for their appearances – separately or together – as themselves, on the variety series hosted by Carole BurnettEd Sullivan, Judy Garland and Flip Wilson on prime-time game shows like “What's My Line?” »
Among his many appearances with Burnett, Lawrence told Larry King that he was “an irregular regular.” I've probably done more guest photos on this show than anyone…I knew Carol. We were friends in New York. And we've always had a very good working relationship, a good personal relationship. And we had a great comedic relationship. Carol and I have done a takeoff of almost every movie from the '30s, '40s and '50s. …A lot of young people who come to our concerts, some of them are shocked to learn that I sing. I mean, they know me from Carol Burnett's syndicated comedy shows.
In 1984, Lawrence took on a TV hosting role for the first time since his black-and-white days, opposite Don Rickles in “Foul-Ups, Bleeps and Blunders,” which ran for two seasons on ABC.
Lawrence, the son of a cantor, was born Sidney Liebowitz in Brooklyn on July 8, 1935. His association with Steve Allen actually predates that personality taking over “The Tonight Show,” as he and Gormé initially met the host when he presided over a local late-night show in New York in 1953, a year before it became a national platform.
The couple married in Las Vegas in 1957 and remained married until his death 56 years later. During an appearance on The Larry King Show in 2003, the two singers recalled seeing each other perform at the El Rancho Hotel in Vegas and, according to Lawrence, “She said, 'If you don't marry me now it's over.' You have two days. …She told me, you know. So finally, I said, OK, and I went down to get the blood drawn. We got married and after two days I went on my honeymoon with Steve Allen to Cuba.
Lawrence insisted his wife was the better singer of the two: “The burden really was on Eydie. She has the most extraordinary range. I mean, this woman is like the Yma Sumac of the Bronx…. It has three octaves. I mean, she could sing with me, with Andy Williams, Placido Domingo. She could sing with just about anyone. But, Gorme protests, “I really, really always thought it was the other way around. I swear to god.”
Lawrence admitted that he owned pipes himself. “I have a bigger palette than normal because I started out as an altar boy,” he explained. “My father was a cantor. And when you sing religious music… in pop music, it's usually written in octave and third or octave and fifth. And religious music is written – you are everywhere, so the intonation is different.
Of his range, Lawrence also said, “Tony Bennett told me, 'I'll give you $100 for your low marks.' I said, 'I'll give it back to you for your high notes.'
The couple found Emmy love for a trio of tribute specials produced in the 1980s, honoring George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin.
In the 1990s, they embarked with their old friend Frank Sinatra on one of his last tours.
Although the couple resisted rock 'n' roll, they still did a campy rendition of a grunge classic. “Disney came to us,” Lawrence said, “to do a 'Loungapalooza' type album, and they asked us to do a song made popular by Soundgarden, a heavy metal rock band. And they sent the CD and said… “We want you to do it your way.” We did it – “Black Hole Sun”.
Of their relationship, Lawrence said: “I am very grateful that Eydie and I not only have a great love, (but) a great friendship. I think a relationship works or it doesn't… I also think it takes work, if you both feel like there's something valuable in it… We're married people, you know? We fight, and one of the best shows we ever had was right after an argument in the locker room.
Their son, David, himself an Emmy-nominated composer, had recently produced a documentary about his parents, “Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme: Memories of My Mother and Father,” which premiered in December on PBS.
In addition to David, Lawrence is survived by his daughter-in-law Faye, his granddaughter Mabel and his brother Bernie. Another son, Michael, died at age 23 in 1986.
The funeral will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to an association fighting Alzheimer's disease. here.