Steve Lawrence

As a solo artist and in a duo with his wife Eydie Gorme, Steve Lawrence enjoyed a successful singing career that stretched well past half a century. He placed hits in the bestseller charts for over 25 years and used that as the basis for becoming a nightclub and concert headliner. Starting out in the post-swing, pre-rock & roll era of the early '50s, he maintained his support for traditional pop, which found him bucking popular musical trends for much of his career. But in his maturity he could claim to be the handpicked successor to Frank Sinatra as the music's standard-bearer. Along the way, he also found time to write songs, act in films, star in Broadway musicals, and produce Emmy-winning television specials as well as hosting a few TV series. Lawrence was born Sidney Leibowitz in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn on July 8, 1935. His father, Max Leibowitz, a house painter, was also a cantor, and Lawrence first demonstrated his talent for singing at synagogue as a child. When he reached puberty and his voice changed, he gave up singing for a few years, but during that time he studied music, learning to play piano and saxophone. He also started writing and arranging songs. He went back to singing in high school and took lessons. He began going into Manhattan to haunt the song publishing companies located in the Brill Building, and he was soon being hired to sing on demonstration records. Taking the first names of two nephews, he changed his name to Steve Lawrence and successfully tried out for the amateur television series Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts in 1951, winning the show's first prize. He was still only 16 years old when Dewey Bergman of King Records, hearing one of his demos, decided to sign him to a record contract in April 1952. King released eight Steve...