Steve Lawrence, a Grammy-winning singer and half of the pop duo Steve & Eydie, has died.
Lawrence died Thursday of issues as a consequence of Alzheimer’s illness, a publicist confirmed in a press release shared with The Occasions. He was 88.
“My Dad was an inspiration to so many individuals. However, to me, he was simply this charming, good-looking, hysterically humorous man who sang so much,” son David Lawrence stated in a press release. “Generally alone and typically together with his insanely gifted spouse. I’m so fortunate to have had him as a father and so proud to be his son. My hope is that his contributions to the leisure trade might be remembered for a few years to return.”
Lawrence was born in Brooklyn and began his profession at a younger age, successful Arthur Godfrey’s Expertise Scouts competitors at 16. A 12 months later, he met future spouse and singer Eydie Gormé on the famed Brill Constructing in New York — sparking a decades-long romance that blossomed into the musical duo referred to as Stevie & Eydie.
“She had her hair in a ponytail and her ponytail hit me in my face,” Lawrence recalled to The Occasions in 2014.
Earlier than Steve & Eydie turned identified for hits together with “We Bought Us” and “This May Be the Begin of One thing Massive,” Lawrence and Gormé turned buddies whereas acting on “The Tonight Present,” hosted by Steve Allen in 1953. They married in 1957 and continued making music collectively nicely into the late ‘70s.
In 1960, Steve & Eydie earned a Grammy for his or her first album, “We Bought Us,” which featured a swinging jazz quantity celebrating their unbreakable love.
One of many nation’s best-loved singing duos, Steve & Eydie additionally gained a number of Emmy Awards for starring in televised tributes to the Gershwins, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. The couple bought out Carnegie Corridor for a sequence of concert events within the Nineteen Eighties and toured with Frank Sinatra within the Nineteen Nineties.
Past Steve & Eydie, Lawrence additionally pursued a formidable solo profession that included his music, Broadway and TV appearances. He acquired a Tony nomination recognizing his efficiency as Sammy Glick in “What Makes Sammy Run?” from 1964 to 1965.
Years later, Steve & Eydie took middle stage as its singers starred in a Broadway manufacturing of “Golden Rainbow.”
Lawrence’s tv profession included a daily visitor spot on “The Carol Burnett Present” and roles on sequence together with “The Nanny,” “Scorching in Cleveland” and “Two and a Half Males.” He reunited with buddies Carl Reiner, Tim Conway and Garry Marshall for the latter.
He additionally confirmed his comedy chops as agent Maury Sline in 1980‘s “The Blues Brothers” and 1998‘s “Blues Brothers 2000.”
In 2014, Lawrence launched his album, “When You Come Again to Me Once more,” devoted to Gormé, who died Aug. 10, 2013, at age 84. He informed The Occasions that his spouse heard the album earlier than her dying and “thought it was terrific.”
He launched “When You Come Again to Me Once more” on Valentine’s Day.
“We have been hooked up on the hip — Steve-and-Eydie,” Lawrence stated in 2014. “It was like we have been one particular person — to be married that lengthy.”
Lawrence is survived by his son David; daughter-in-law Faye; granddaughter Mabel; brother Bernie; and nieces and nephews. His son Michael died in 1986.
A personal funeral will happen at a later date, however donations on Lawrence’s behalf may be made to the charity Alzheimer’s Los Angeles.
Deputy leisure and humanities editor Nate Jackson contributed to this report.
