RIP Sidney Leibowitz aka Steve Lawrence

[madaboutharry]

May his memory be a blessing.

Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935) is an American singer and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his late wife Eydie Gormé, billed as “Steve and Eydie.” The two first appeared together as regulars on Tonight Starring Steve Allen in 1954 until Gormé’s retirement in 2009. She died August 10, 2013.

Steve Lawrence was born as Sidney Liebowitz in the Brooklyn borough of New York City to Jewish parents, Max, a cantor in the Bronx, and Helen. He attended Thomas Jefferson High School.

Lawrence and Gormé married on December 29, 1957, at the El Rancho Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had two sons together. David Nessim Lawrence (b. 1960) is an ASCAP Award-winning composer who composed the score for “High School Musical.” Michael Robert Lawrence (1962–1986) died suddenly from ventricular fibrillation resulting from an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of twenty-three. Michael was an assistant editor for a television show at the time of his death and was apparently healthy despite a previous diagnosis of slight arrhythmia. Gormé and Lawrence were in Steve LawrenceWhat Makes Sammy Run?Atlanta, Georgia, at the time of Michael’s death, having performed at the Fox Theater the night before. Upon learning of the death, family friend Frank Sinatra sent his private plane to fly the couple to New York to meet David, who was attending school at the time. Following their son’s death, Gormé and Lawrence took a year off before touring again.

In June 2019, Lawrence was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

https://brooklynjewish.org/explore-brooklyn/brooklyn-jewish-celebrities/steve-lawrence/

My parents, while on a vacation in Las.Vegas in the 1960's, met Steve and Eydie in an elevator at The Sands. They were making out. (Steve and Eydie were making out) My parents said they were super nice. My dad loved to tell that story.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. Awww... loved reading your parents' story!

My father was a big fan of Edye's, and I remember my mother buying Steve's single Little Blue Eyes when I was a kid.