Steve Lawrence

Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935) is an American singer, comedian and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as "Steve and Eydie", and for his performance as Maury Sline, the manager and friend of the main characters in The Blues Brothers. Steve and Eydie first appeared together as regulars on Tonight Starring Steve Allen in 1954 and continued performing as a duo until Gormé's retirement in 2009. Gormé died August 10, 2013. Early life Lawrence was born as Sidney Liebowitz to Jewish parents in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. His father, Max, was a cantor at the Brooklyn synagogue Beth Sholom Tomchei Harav. His mother, Helen, was a homemaker. He attended Thomas Jefferson High School. During his high school years, Lawrence earned some money after school singing for songwriters in the Brill Building. Career When he was 18 years old, Lawrence was hired by Steve Allen to be one of the singers on Allen's local New York City late night show on WNBC-TV in 1953, along with Eydie Gormé and Andy Williams. When the show got picked up by NBC to be seen on the national network, becoming The Tonight Show, Lawrence, Gormé and Williams stayed on until the program's end in 1957. In the late 1950s, Lawrence was drafted into the United States Army and served as the official vocal soloist with The United States Army Band "Pershing's Own" in Washington, D.C.