Eydie Gormé
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Eydie Gormé (August 16, 1931) is a bilingual (English and Spanish) American singer who, with her husband Steve Lawrence, is credited heavily with helping to keep the classic American pop repertoire alive and well.
The couple's striking union of broad ballads and breezy swing has combined with the endurance of their marriage and their comic facility to make them American institutions---even though neither of the couple, as separate performers or together, has put a single into the American Top 40 since 1963.
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[edit] Early years
Gormé was born Edith Gormezano in Bronx, New York, and raised by her immigrant Sephardic Jewish parents. She graduated from William Howard Taft high school in 1946 (legendary film director Stanley Kubrick attended the school at the same time), and worked for the United Nations as a translator, using her fluency in the Spanish language.
She also hired out as a singer, working in the big bands of former Glenn Miller singer Tex Beneke as well as the lesser-known Tommy Tucker, before going on her own in 1952.
[edit] Tonight Show Start
She caught both her big break and her life partner when she and singer Steve Lawrence were booked to the original The Tonight Show, then hosted by Steve Allen. When they sang together, the legend goes, the industry buzzed about them from the morning after forward; indeed, Steve & Eydie (as they are usually referenced) became two of the only legitimate music stars to break out from 1950s television. (Rick Nelson, who strutted his stuff on his parents' hit situation comedy, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, was the other.)
[edit] Marriage
The couple were married in Las Vegas on December 29, 1957. They had two sons, one of whom predeceased them. They became famous on stage for their banter, which usually involved tart yet affectionate and sometimes bawdy references to their married life, which remains a feature of their stage style even now. (A typical exchange: Lawrence---"Baby, you're the only thing I've invested in that's doubled." Gormé---"Now you have to figure out how to make me split.")
[edit] Solo/Duo
Gormé enjoyed a few hit singles on her own, none selling bigger than 1963's "Blame It On The Bossa Nova," which was also her final foray into the Top 40 pop charts. Still, she won a Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance in 1967, for her version of "If He Walked Into My Life", from the stage musical Mame. Like her husband, Gormé has appeared on numerous television shows over the years, including The Carol Burnett Show and The Nanny. She and Lawrence appeared together on Broadway in the unsuccessful musical Golden Rainbow, the gestation of which is covered in very unflattering detail in William Goldman's 1968 book The Season.
In 1960, Gormé and Lawrence were awarded the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group for their song "We Got Us."
Since the 1970s, the couple has focused strictly on the American pop repertoire, recording several albums themed around individual American pop composers. As the 21st Century arrived, the normally indefatigable couple announced their plans to cut back on their touring, launching a "One More For The Road" tour in 2002.
[edit] Parenthood
Gormé and Lawrence had two sons, David -- who is a composer, and Michael, who died at age 23 in 1986.
