Gorme, Eydie

Gorme, Eydie (originally, Gormezano, Eydie) and Steve Lawrence (originally,

Sidney Leibowitz), one of the most durable and popular nightclub acts of the last half of the 20th century. Gorme, b. Bronx, N.Y., Aug. 16, 1931 was the daughter of Sephardic Jewish immigrants, a Sicilian tailor father and Turkish mother, and sang in the big bands of Tex Beneke and Tommy Tucker while attending N.Y/s City Coll. and working as an interpreter at the U.N. She would also hang out at the Brill Building, singing on occasional demo sessions. In 1953, she auditioned for a job as a singer on Steve Allen’s Tonight Show. While she had the voice and knew the repertoire, she was not the type they wanted. They were looking for a Marilyn Monroe, not a svelt Mediterranean. They hired her provisionally for two weeks; however, due to her success, she spent four years on the show. On the show, she was reunited with one of her Brill Building acquaintances, Steve Lawrence (b. Brooklyn, July 8, 1935). The son of a Brooklyn cantor, he started singing in the synagogue choir. As a boy tenor, Lawrence also did demo work at the Brill Building. At 16, he won an Arthur Godfrey television talent competition. By 1952, he was on the charts hitting #21 with a version of “Poinciana.” His H.S. principal had to give him time off to make appearances; he was only 17 at the time. By 1953, he was singing on The Tonight Show.

Gorme and Lawrence worked together on The To-night Show writing and singing. They also launched successful solo careers. In 1953, Lawrence followed up with “How Many Stars Have to Shine,” taking it to #26. In 1954, Gorme recorded the Broadway tune “Fini” with the Neal Hefti Orch. and took it to #19. In 1956, she reached #39 with another Broadway tune, ’Too Close for Comfort,” Lawrence took an even-less-ethnic-than-Harry-Belafonte version of “The Banana Boat Song” to #18 during the winter of 1957. While working on The Tonight Show, Gorme and Lawrence started dating. The day after Gorme hit the Top 40 with “Love Me Forever,” she and Lawrence were married, just before New Year’s, 1958. Paul Newman and Jo Anne Woodward, who were married on the same day in the same place, were witnesses. The song went to #24. The marriage lasted over 40 years.

In the spring of 1958, Lawrence recorded a light-weight remake of Buddy Knox’s rockabilly tune “Party Doll/7 The Knox tune topped the charts; Lawrence’s version only made #5. Around the same time, Gorme hit #11 with “You Need Hands,” That summer, they hosted a summer replacement for The Tonight Show. Then Lawrence got drafted, serving as the official vocalist for the U.S. Army Band.

Through the early 1960s, while still in the Army, Lawrence had a series of MOR Top Ten hits with “Pretty Blue Eyes” (#9, 1960), “Footsteps” (#7, 1960) and “Portrait of My Love” (#9,1961). Their album as a duo, We Got Us, won Best Performance by a Vocal Group (2 to 6) at the 3rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960. After his Army service, Lawrence topped both the pop and adult contemporary charts in 1963 with “Go Away Little Girl,” later a chart topper for Donny Osmond. Around the same time, Gorme was climbing the charts with her biggest hit, “Blame It on the Bossa Nova.” These hits represented the pinnacles of their careers. By this time, they were working together as Steve and Eydie, becoming a highly successful nightclub act in places like Las Vegas. Eventually, they became one of the select acts to sign up with the Desert Inn to play that hotel exclusively in exchange for stock options in the hotel.

Although it didn’t chart pop, Gorme won Best Vocal Performance, Female in 1966 at the 9th Annual Grammy Awards for the tune “If He Walked into My Life.” Both appeared on Broadway, Lawrence earning a Tony nomi-nation in the musical What Makes Sammy Run (1964-65) and the couple appearing in two years in the show Golden Rainbow (1968-70). Their 1975 television tribute to George Gershwin, Our Love Is Here to Stay, won two Emmy Awards. Their tribute to Irving Berlin three years later won seven. After over 40 years of performing together, they still sell out clubs nationwide. Gorme also continues to record solo, frequently in Spanish.

Discography

Steve and Eydie: S. & E. Sing the Golden Hits (1960); Two on the Aisle (1963); At the Movies (1963); That Holiday Feeling (1964); Together on Broadway (1967); Golden Rainbow (soundtrack; 1968); What It Was, Was Love (soundtrack; 1969); S. & E. & Friends Celebrate Gershwin (1979); We Got Us (1984); Alone Together (1989). Steve Lawrence: Here’s S. L (1958); Swing Softly with Me (1959); Portrait of My Love (1961); Winners! (1963); Academy Award Losers (1964); Everybody Knows (1964); S. L. Show (1965); What Makes Sammy Run? (soundtrack; 1965); Together on Broadway (1967); Golden Rainbow (soundtrack; 1968); Real True Lovin’ (1969); Pretty Blue Eyes (1985); All About Love (1987); Come Waltz with Me (1987); People Will Say We’re in Love (1987); S. L Deluxe (1987); Swinging West (1989); About That Girl (1991); Songs Everybody Knows (1991); S. L. Sound (1991). Eydie Gorme:E. Swings the Blues (1957); Delight (1957); E. G. Vamps the Roaring 20’s (1958); E. in Love (1958); Showstoppers (1958); Love Is a Season (1958); E. G. on Stage (1959); Come Sing with Me (1961); Blame It on the Bossa Nova (1963); Let the Good Times Roll (1963); Amor (1964), G. Country Style (1964); More Amor (1965); The Sound of Music (1965); Don’t Go to Strangers (1966); Softly, As I Leave You (1967); Tonight I’ll Say a Prayer (1970); Sings (1987); De Corazon a Corazon (1988); Canta en Espanol (1989); E. G. & Los Panchos (1989); Blanca Navidad (1990); Eso Es El Amor (1992); Muy Amigos T.H. (1993); Brillante (1994); 24 Grandes Candones (1994); Personalidad (1996); Corazon (1998), Eres Tu (1999).

—Hank Bordowitz