Matinee Classics - Peter Lawford Biography & Filmography

Peter Lawford ACTOR

PHOTOS

PETER LAWFORD BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Peter Lawford was born on September 7th, 1923 in London, England with the birth name Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen. His father was actor, Sidney Turing Barlow Lawford and his mother was May Aylen. He was raised for most of his childhood in Paris and from a young age he developed an interest in acting. He never went to public school and received all his early years education through private tutors. He made his acting debut at the age of seven in the English film, "Poor Old Bill" (1930).

He soon relocated to the United States and signed a contract with MGM studios. He began appearing on the big screen in such films as, "Lord Jeff" (1938), "A Yank at Eton" (1942), "Mrs. Miniver" (1942), "Thunder Birds" (1942), "Junior Army" (1942) and "Sherlock Holmes Faces Death" (1943).

Soon Lawford continued to taker on more prominent roles in such films as, "The White Cliffs of Dover" (1944), "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945) and "Son of Lassie" (1945).

When World War II occurred he was able to avoid the draft due to an injured arm that he had suffered years ago in his childhood. It was this incident that actually helped his acting career take of. Many desired male actors were drafted and he was able to take on the roles that could have quite possibly gone to other more well known actors.

Soon he was adding such film credits to his resume as, "Good News" (1947), "My Brother Talks to Horses" (1947), "It Happened in Brooklyn" (1947), "On an Island with You" (1948), "Easter Parade" (1948) starring Judy Garland, "Little Woman" (1949) and "Royal Wedding" (1951).

Peter Lawford soon became known as part of the "Rat Pack" along with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop and his popularity continued to increase gaining a large fan base. He did not slow down in his career and continued to add such film credits as, "It Should Happen to You" (1954), "Never So Few" (1959), "Ocean's 11" (1960) starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., "The Longest Day" (1962) starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda just to name a few and "Advise & Consent" (1962).

Along with his film work he also appeared on a number of television series such as, "General Electric Theater", "The Thin Man", "The Doris Day Show", "The Wild Wild West", "The Virginian", "Fantasy island", "The Love Boat" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".

Not only was he a talented actor he also partnered with his manager, Milt Ebbins to form his own production company called, Chrislaw Productions and they produced such films as, "Johnny Cool", "Billie", "Salt and Pepper" and "One More Time".

Some of his more recent roles were in, "They Only Kill Their Masters" (1972) and the television series, "Hawaii Five-O", "Supertrain" and "The Jeffersons".

He married a total of four times throughout his lifetime. His first wife was Patricia Kennedy (President John F. Kennedy's sister) whom he wed in 1954 and after having four children this marriage came to an end in 1966. He then married Mary Rowan in 1971 however by 1975 this marriage had also come to an end. His third wife was Deborah Gould but only from 1976 through 1977. He then chose to marry yet again for a fourth time to Patricia Seaton in July 1984 and then just a couple months later on December 24th, 1984 he passed away in Los Angeles, California after suffering from liver and kidney disease. His remains were cremated and interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Filmography

1984 Where Is Parsifal?

1977-1982 Fantasy Island

1981 The Jeffersons

1981 Body and Soul

1980 Gypsy Angels

1979 Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women

1979 Supertrain

1979 Highcliffe Manor

1979 The Love Boat

1979 Angels' Brigade

1978 Hawaii Five-O