July 8: Singer Steve Lawrence is 78-years-old today.

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Steve Lawrence was born Sidney Liebowitz in Brooklyn, New York on July 8, 1935. Lawrence had success on the record charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s with such hits as "Go Away Little Girl" – which reached #1 in the U.S., "Pretty Blue Eyes," "Footsteps," "Portrait of My Love" and "Party Doll." "Go Away Little Girl" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

Steve and Eydie Gormé (who died on August 11, 2013) married on December 29, 1957 at the El Rancho Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Much of Lawrence’s musical career has centered on nightclubs and the musical stage. He is also an actor, appearing in guest roles on television shows in every decade since the 1950s, in shows such as The Danny Kaye Show, The Judy Garland Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Julie Andrews Hour, Night Gallery, The Flip Wilson Show, Police Story, Murder, She Wrote, Gilmore Girls, and CSI.

In the fall of 1965, Lawrence was briefly the star of a variety show called The Steve Lawrence Show, "the last television show in black and white on CBS.” He and Gormé appeared together in the Broadway musical Golden Rainbow, which ran from February 1968 until January 1969. Although the show was not a huge success, the show contained the memorable song "I've Gotta Be Me."

This song was originally sung by Lawrence at the end of the first act of the musical; Sammy Davis, Jr. would later record a version of the song that became a Top 40 hit in 1969.

In 1980, Lawrence was introduced to a new generation of fans with his portrayal of Maury Sline in The Blues Brothers. In 2000, he co-starred in The Yards as Arthur Mydanick.

Lawrence received a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and a Tony Award nomination for his performance as Sammy Glick in What Makes Sammy Run? on Broadway (1964), and two Emmy Awards, one for production for Steve & Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin.

With Gormé, he has been the recipient of two Emmies for Our Love is Here to Stay, a tribute to George and Ira Gershwin; a "Best Performance By a Vocal Duo or Group" Grammy Award for We Got Us; a Film Advisory Board's Award of Excellence and a Television Critics Circle Award for From This Moment On, a tribute to Cole Porter.

The duo has also won a Las Vegas Entertainment Award for "Musical Variety Act of the Year" four times, three of them consecutively. They have been honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 1995 were the recipients of an Ella Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Singers, a non-profit organization that helps professional singers with counseling and financial assistance.

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