Actor, born in London, England, UK. The son of a British World War 1 hero, Sir Sydney Turing Lawford, he spent an itinerant childhood, eventually settling in the USA with his parents. He became an American citizen in 1960. An arm injury sustained as a child kept him out of World War 2, and he went to Hollywood where he gained a contract with MGM, starring in his first major film, A Yank at Eton in 1942. Among many later films are The White Cliffs of Dover (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), Two Sisters from Boston (1946), It Happened in Brooklyn (1947), the musical Good News (1947), and Little Women (1949). His television work included the successful series The Thin Man (19579). He earned a reputation for fast living and was a member of the Hollywood Rat Pack along with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Sammy Davis, Jr. Married four times, his first wife was Patricia Kennedy (19242006), sister of President John F Kennedy. Their son is the actor Christopher Lawford (1955 ).
Peter Sydney Lawford (September 7, 1923 – December 24, 1984) was a British-born Hollywood actor, member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to President John F.
Biography
Early life
Born in London, England, the son of British World War I hero Sir Sydney Turing Lawford and the former May Somerville Bunny, he spent his early childhood in France and began acting at a young age. At that time, Hollywood was infatuated with heroic Englishmen and as war movies were being churned out by the dozens and American actors volunteered or were drafted for the war, Lawford put his talents to work "stateside".
Career
Prior to the war Lawford had gained a contract position with the MGM studios.
Lawford's first major movie role was A Yank At Eton (1942). Lawford also made Son Of Lassie (1945) and won a Modern Screen Magazine readers' poll as the most popular actor in Hollywood.
Lawford's busiest year as an actor was 1946, when two of his films opened within days of each other: Cluny Brown (1946) and Two Sisters From Boston (1946). Lawford received rave reviews for his work in the film while Sinatra's were lukewarm. Lawford later admitted that the most terrifying experience of his career was the first musical number he performed (the Jitterbug).
Lawford was given other important roles in MGM films over the next few years, such as On An Island With You (1948), Easter Parade (1948) and Little Women (1949 film) (1949). His first marriage was to Patricia Kennedy Lawford, sister of future President John F. Lawford became an American citizen in 1960, in time to vote for his brother-in-law in the presidential elections. Lawford, along with other members of the "Rat Pack," helped campaign for Kennedy and the Democratic Party.
Personal life
Lawford had a reputation as a ladies' man and was reported to have had many affairs with famous ladies of film, 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, to name a few. It has been said that in another time and place Lawford and Dandridge would have been married, but in the racially-intolerant 1950s this was not an option, and would have meant an end to both of their careers. Lawford introduced Marilyn Monroe as she stepped out to sing her famous Happy Birthday, Mr. President song in Madison Square Garden in May of 1962. The Kennedy family distanced itself from Lawford as his antics increasingly proved embarrassing. Patricia Kennedy Lawford eventually divorced him in 1966 due to his alcoholism and infidelity.
Lawford was very close to Frank Sinatra for a number of years, appearing in several Rat Pack movies and stage acts. Sinatra, however, threatened him with bodily harm when he learned that Lawford had lunch with Ava Gardner, Sinatra's primary love interest at the time. 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 ultimately broke off the friendship after Lawford refused to act as a go-between for Sinatra and President Kennedy after their association had become controversial (Sinatra's alleged mob ties, even if based more on rumor than fact, made White House image guardians unhappy). Sinatra's feelings were such that once, when he learned Lawford was in the audience he was about to perform for, he refused to come out until Lawford and his wife were removed from the premises. Lawford and Sinatra never spoke again, though Lawford maintained a good friendship with Rat-Pack-pal Sammy Davis, Jr..
Later in life, Lawford fell into drug and alcohol abuse. Lawford was reduced to doing television guest shots on such shows as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Profiles in Courage (tv series), The Wild Wild West, I Spy, The Name Of The Game, The Virginian, Bewitched, The Patty Duke Show, The Doris Day Show, Hawaii Five-O, The Jeffersons, Fantasy Island and The Love Boat.
Lawford married his second wife, Mary Rowan, daughter of comedian Dan Rowan, in 1971 when she was in her twenties. According to his son, the actor Christopher Lawford, talking on Larry King's CNN talk-show on September 27, 2005, none of the Rat Pack members attended the funeral, though a number of the Lawford/Kennedy cousins came. Due to a dispute between his widow and the cemetery, his remains were removed and then scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California by his widow, Patricia Seaton Lawford, who invited the "National Enquirer" tabloid along to photograph the event.
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