Peter Sydney Vaughn Aylen (September 7, 1923 –
December 24, 1984), better known as
Peter Lawford,
was an
English actor, member of the
"
Rat Pack," and brother-in-law to President
John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted
in later years for his off-screen activities as a
celebrity than for his acting. In his earlier
professional years (late 1930s through the 1950s) he had a strong
presence in popular culture and starred in a number of highly
acclaimed films.
Early life
Born in
London
, he was the son of English World War I veteran Sir Sydney Turing Barlow
Lawford and May Somerville Bunny. At the time of his
birth, May Somerville Bunny was married to Captain Ernest Vaughn
Aylen. After his birth, Bunny confessed to Aylen that the child was
not his and he promptly divorced her. Sir Sydney Lawford and Bunny
were married in September 1924.
Lawford spent his early childhood in France
and owing to
his family's travels, was never formally educated.
In
America, Sir Sydney and Lady Lawford were treated as royalty among
the well-to-do in their new neighborhood of Palm Beach,
Florida
, and were always invited to events and social
occasions. However, they lost whatever source of money they
had when war was declared by the UK in 1939.
At the age of 14, Lawford severely injured his right arm when it
went through a glass door. The injury left his arm disfigured which
he later learned to hide. The injury was considered damaging enough
to keep him from entering
World War II,
but this turn of fate was probably the greatest boon to his career.
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
Films
Prior to World War II, Lawford had gained a contract position with
the
MGM studios. Once he signed with MGM, his
mother, Lady May, insisted that studio head
Louis B. Mayer
pay her a salary as her son's personal assistant. Mayer declined.
Lady Lawford responded by claiming her son to be "a bummer" and
that he needed to be "supervised." When Lawford learned of his
mother's actions their relationship was never the same.
Lawford's first movie role was at age seven in the film
Poor
Old Bill. Eight years later, he made his Hollywood debut in a
minor part in
Lord Jeff. His first major movie role was
A Yank At Eton (1942), where he played a
snobbish bully opposite
Mickey
Rooney. The picture was a smash hit, and Lawford's performance
was widely praised. Lawford also made uncredited appearances as an
RAF pilot in
Mrs.
Miniver (1942) and as a sailor in
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
(1943). He won even greater acclaim for his performance in
The White
Cliffs Of Dover (1944), in which he played a young soldier
in World War II. MGM gave him another important role in
The Picture
of Dorian Gray (1945). 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 had become a major
star.
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). With heartthrobs such as
Clark Gable and stalwarts like
James Stewart off to war, Lawford was
recognized as
the romantic lead on the MGM lot. He
appeared with
Frank Sinatra for the
first time in the musical
It
Happened in Brooklyn (1947). 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). He also made his first comedy that
same year:
My Brother Talks To Horses (1947). It was in
the musical
Good News
(1947) that he won his greatest acclaim as a performer, holding his
own against other cast members with far more training in song and
dance.
Lawford was given other important roles in MGM films over the next
few years, including
On an Island with You (1948),
Easter Parade
(1948),
Little
Women (1949), and
It Should Happen to You (1954).
The casino caper
Ocean’s
Eleven (1960) was a project Lawford first brought to
Sinatra's attention. It became the first film to feature the
so-called "Rat Pack" of Sinatra,
Dean
Martin,
Sammy Davis Jr.,
Joey Bishop and Lawford.
Later films included
The
Longest Day (1962), and a role as a United States senator
in
Advise and
Consent (1962). In 1963, Lawford produced his first film,
Johnny Cool, starring
Henry
Silva and
Elizabeth
Montgomery. He would go on to produce the 1965
Patty Duke film
Billie, and his two
films with fellow
Rat Pack member
Sammy Davis, Jr.:
Salt and Pepper and
One More Time.
Television
Lawford made his television debut in a guest starring role on the
anthology series
General
Electric Theater in 1953. The following year, he starred
as a
newspaper advice-to-the-lovelorn
colunnist named Bill Hastings in the short-lived
NBC series
Dear
Phoebe with
Marcia
Henderson and
Charles Lane.
From 1957 to 1959, Lawford co-starred with
Phyllis Kirk in
The Thin Man, an NBC series
based on 1930s films
of the same
name.
Lawford also guest starred on various television series including
Schlitz Playhouse of
Stars,
Bob Hope Presents the
Chrysler Theatre,
Alfred Hitchcock Presents,
The Wild Wild West,
The Virginian,
Bewitched,
The Love Boat, and
Fantasy Island. Besides guest spots, he
also guest-starred on variety shows such as
The Judy Garland Show and
Rowan & Martin's
Laugh-In, and game shows
What's My Line?,
Password, and
Pyramid.
Personal life
His first marriage, in 1954, was to
Patricia Kennedy, sister of then-US
Senator
John F. Kennedy. They had
four children; actor
Christopher
Kennedy Lawford, and daughters Sydney Maleia Kennedy Lawford,
Victoria Francis Lawford, and Robin Elizabeth Lawford.
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. Sinatra
famously dubbed him "Brother-in-Lawford" at this time. Lawford and
Kennedy divorced in 1966.
Lawford married his second wife, Mary Rowan, the daughter of
comedian
Dan Rowan, in October 1971 when
she was 21. Rowan and Lawford separated two years later and
divorced in January 1975. In June 1976, he married aspiring actress
Deborah Gould. Lawford and Gould separated two months after
marrying and divorced in 1977. During his separation from Gould,
Lawford met Patricia Seaton who would become his fourth and final
wife in July 1984.
Death
Lawford
died in at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los
Angeles
on Christmas Eve 1984
of cardiac arrest complicated by
kidney and liver failure. His body was cremated and the ashes were
interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park
Cemetery
. Owing to a dispute between his widow and the
cemetery, Lawford's ashes were removed and scattered in the
Pacific
Ocean
off the coast of California by his widow, Patricia
Seaton Lawford, who invited the National Enquirer" tabloid
to photograph the event. Westwood Village Memorial Park
still has, as of 2006, a plaque bearing Lawford's name. It is not
known if any ashes remain at the site.
For his
contribution to the television industry, Peter Lawford has a star
on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame
located at 6920 Hollywood Blvd.
In popular culture
Lawford was portrayed by Scottish actor
Angus Macfadyen in
The Rat Pack, a 1998
made-for-television movie about the group of entertainers.
Selected filmography
References
Further reading
- The Peter Lawford Story, by
Patricia Seaton Lawford, New
York
, Carroll and Graf Publishers, 1988, ISBN
0-515-10264-4.
- Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets, by James
Spada, New York, Bantam Books, 1991, ISBN 0-553-07185-8.
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