Peter Lawford

Peter Sydney Lawford (September 7, 1923 – December 24, 1984) was a Hollywood actor and member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack," more noted for his off-screen activities than for his acting.

Born in London, the son of actor Sidney Lawford and his (eventual) wife, Mary Aylen, née Somerville, he spent his early childhood in France, and began acting as a child. He was the victim of sexual abuse several times in childhood. Also as a child he severely injured his arm when he put the arm through a door's glass pane. Doctors were able to save the arm, but the injury bothered him for many years. The arm injury kept him from being drafted into the armed forces for the Second World War. Prior to the war, Lawford had a gained a contract position with the MGM studios. Lawford's first major movie role was A Yank At Eton (1942). He played a snobby bully opposite Mickey Rooney. The picture was a smash hit and Lawford's performance was widely praised. He won even greater kudos for his performance in The White Cliffs Of Dover (1944). He played a young soldier in World War II. MGM gave the young actor another important role in The Picture Of Dorian Gray (1945). Lawford's father also had a role in the film. Lawford also made Son Of Lassie (1945) and won a Modern Screen magazine readers poll as the most popular actor in Hollywood. His fan mail jumped to thousands of letters a week. Lawford's busiest year as an actor was in 1946 when two of his films opened within days of each other Cluny Brown (1946) and Two Sisters From Boston (1946). Lawford was recognized as the romantic lead on the MGM lot. Lawford appeared with Frank Sinatra for the first time in the musical It Happened In Brooklyn (1947). Lawford later admitted the most terrifying experience of his career was the first musical number he performed. Lawford also made his first comedy that same year My Brother Talks To Horses (1947). It was in Good News (1947) that Lawford won his greatest acclaim as an actor. He also got to dance and sing as well and held his own against the other cast. Lawford was given other important roles in MGM films the next few years such as On An Island With You (1948), Easter Parade (1948) and Little Women (1949).

Lawford became an American citizen in 1960, in time to vote for his brother-in-law John F. Kennedy. Lawford, along with the other members of the Rat Pack helped to campaign for Kennedy and the Democratic party.

He married four times. He married his first wife, Patricia Kennedy, sister to President John F. Kennedy, in 1954. They had four children, including actor Christopher Lawford. They divorced in 1966. He married his second wife, Mary Rowan, daughter of Dan Rowan, in 1971. They divorced in 1975. He married his third wife, Deborah Gould in 1976. They divorced in 1977. His fourth wife, whom he married in 1984, was Patricia Seaton. Lawford had a reputation as a ladies man and was reported to have had many affairs with famous ladies of movies, song, and politics including Ava Gardner, June Allyson, Lana Turner, Janet Leigh, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Dandridge, Lucille Ball, Anne Baxter, Judy Holliday, Gina Lollobrigida, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Lee Remick, Nancy Reagan, and Elizabeth Taylor just to name a few.

He and his brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy are reported to have visited Marilyn Monroe on the day she died, although this is not known for sure.

After the death of John F. Kennedy, Lawford and Patricia divorced. Since that time, the Kennedy family had distanced itself from Lawford as his antics proved to be an embarassment.

Lawford was close to Frank Sinatra for a number of years. However Sinatra had threatened him with bodily harm when he learned that Lawford had lunch with Ava Gardner. Lawford's friends managed to convince Sinatra that nothing was going on between Gardner and Lawford. But Sinatra refused to speak with Lawford for a number of years. The two were later reconciled, but Sinatra later permanently broke off the friendship. Sinatra's feelings were such that once when he learned that Peter Lawford was in the audience he was about to perform in front of that he refused to come out until Lawford and his wife were removed from the audience.

Later in life, Lawford had fallen into drug and alcohol abuse. Such abuse, plus strained relationships with others, and financial difficulties caused a great deal of strain on his already fragile health. Lawford was reduced to doing television guest shots on such shows as Fantasy Island, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Profiles In Courage, The Wild Wild West, I Spy, The Name Of The Game, The Jeffersons, The Love Boat, The Virginian, Bewitched, The Patty Duke Show, The Doris Day Show, and Hawaii Five-O. Besides sitcoms, he also guest starred on variety shows such The Judy Garland Show and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and game shows such as What's My Line?, Password, and Pyramid.

Lawford died in Los Angeles in 1984 of liver and kidney disease. He was cremated on Christmas Day of 1984, and was then originally buried in L.A. at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. His original burial location was near that of Marilyn Monroe. Because of a dispute between the family and the cemetery his remains were removed and then scattered in the Pacific.

Filmography

• Poor Old Bill (1930)
• A Gentleman of Paris (1931)
• Lord Jeff (1938)
• Mrs. Miniver (1942)
• Eagle Squadron (1942)
• A Yank at Eton (1942)
• Thunder Birds (1942)
• Junior Army (1942)
• Random Harvest (1942)
• Immortal Sergeant (1943)
• London Blackout Murders (1943)
• Assignment in Brittany (1943)
• The Purple V (1943)
• Pilot #5 (1943)
• The Sky's the Limit (1943)
• The Man from Down Under (1943)
• Above Suspicion (1943)
• Someone to Remember (1943)
• West Side Kid (1943)
• Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
• Corvette K-225 (1943)
• Paris After Dark (1943)
• Sahara (1943)
• Flesh and Fantasy (1943)
• Girl Crazy (1943)
• The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
• The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
• The Canterville Ghost (1944)
• Mrs. Parkington (1944)
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
• Son of Lassie (1945)
• Ziegfeld Follies (1946) (voice)
• ] (1946)
• Cluny Brown (1946)
• It Happened in Brooklyn (1947)
• My Brother Talks to Horses (1947)
• Screen Snapshots: Out-of-This-World Series (1947) (short subject)
• Good News (1947)
• On an Island with You (1948)
• Easter Parade (1948)
• Julia Misbehaves (1948)
• Little Women (1949)
• The Red Danube (1949)
• Please Believe Me (1950)
• Royal Wedding (1951)
• Just This Once (1952)
• Kangaroo (1952)
• You for Me (1952)
• The Hour of 13 (1952)
• Rogue's March (1953)
• It Should Happen to You (1954)
• Never So Few (1959)
• Exodus (1960)
• Ocean's Eleven (1960)
• Pepe (1960) (cameo)
• Sergeants 3 (1962)
• Advise and Consent (1962)
• The Longest Day (1962)
• Dead Ringer (1964)
• Sylvia (1965)
• Harlow (1965)
• The Oscar (1966)
• A Man Called Adam (1966)
• Dead Run (1967)
• Salt and Pepper (1968)
• Skidoo (1968)
• Bunoa Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968)
• Walls of Sin (1969)
• Hook, Line & Sinker (1969)
• The April Fools (1969)
• Togetherness (1970)
• One More Time (1970)
• They Only Kill Their Masters (1972)
• Just One More Time (1974) (short subject)
• That's Entertainment! (1974)
• Rosebud (1975)
• Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
• Angels' Brigade (1979)
• Gypsy Angels (1980)
• Body and Soul (1981)
• Where Is Parsifal? (1983)de:Peter Lawford

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