December 29: Steve and Eydie

Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé married each other in Las Vegas on this date in 1957. Lawrence, born Sidney Leibowitz in Brooklyn in 1935, had a huge solo hit in 1962 with “Go Away, Little Girl,” written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, which sold more than a million records; Gormé, born Edith Garmezano to Sephardic parents in the Bronx in 1928, was a big-band singer and had a huge hit in 1963 with “Blame It on the Bossa Nova,” written by Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, which also sold more than a million records. Gormé was fluent in Spanish and Ladino, and worked for a while as a UN translator. She met Steve Lawrence when they were both booked on The Tonight Show, hosted by Steve Allen. As a duo, they appeared regularly on the Carol Burnett Show, and as a bawdy, quarrelsome, and adorable night club act. Gormé died on August 10^th of this year, just six days before her 85^th birthday. To see their wedding newsreel, look below. To see them singing a tribute to Gershwin, look below that. “Eydie has been my partner onstage and in life for more than 55 years. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and even more the first time I heard her sing. While my personal loss is unimaginable, the world has lost one of the greatest pop vocalists of all time.”—Steve Lawrence