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LAWFORD Peter

 
Peter Sidney Ernest Aylen Lawford.

 
Date of birth : September 7, 1923, London.

Date of death : December 25, 1984, Los Angeles.

 

Portrait ,,,,

 

Addresses

* 1942 : 11045 Ophir Drive, Los Angeles

* 1950 : 11591 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles

* 1954 : 625 Ocean Front, Palisades Beach Road, Santa Monica; tel GL 11 860.

This 20 rooms-house, Spanish styled, had been built by the head of the MGM, Louis B.Mayer in 1926. 
The Lawfords purchased it in 1954.

The house had many renovations but the rotunda has remained intact. 

,,,;,          

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* 1976 : 1006 Cory Avenue, Los Angeles.

Profession actor ;;

 

Story

His parents were Sir Sidney Turing Barlow Lawford (November 16, 1865, England-February 15, 1953, England)

() and May Sommerville Bunny (November 4, 1883, England-January 23, 1972, Los

Angeles)().

Native to England, he spent his childhood in France.

He became American citizen on April 22, 1960 ().

 

In 1938 he arrived in Hollywood and played in about 50 movies (minor parts)() and was mostly known for having been a member of the Rat Pack, and for his wedding with Patricia Kennedy.

 
He played with Frank Sinatra in "It Happened in Brooklyn" (1947), appeared in "Easter Parade" (1948) with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, and was the guest of many TV shows. 

He met Marilyn in 1950, at the MGM on the set of "Hometown Story" (1951) in which she played.

 
On April 24, 1954, he married Patricia Kennedy:

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,,

They had 4 children : ;;;.

* Christopher (March 29, 1955, California-September 4, 2018, Canada)(;,

;,)

* Sydney Meliea (born on August 25, 1956, California)(;;;

;;)

* Victoria Francis (born on November 4, 1958, California)(;;)

* Robin Elisabeth (born on July 2, 1961, California)(,;;

;;;)

 

;;;;


Party at their home, 1961 

-,-,




They divorced on February 1, 1966.

With his friends of the Rat Pack ,,,;

On January 20, 1961, he attended John Kennedy's inauguration .

 

When John and Robert Kennedy went to Los Angeles, they often stayed at Lawfords home

, and the Lawfords stayed sometimes at Hyannis Port.

Most of the attested meetings between Marilyn and the Kennedys brothers took place in this house.

The rare times when Marilyn appeared publicly with the Kennedys, Lawford was present.

In 1960, the first time, during the party given in the honor of John Kennedy to celebrate the end of the Democratic Convention.

On June 7, 1961, Dean Martin's birthday party at the Las Vegas Sand's -,

.

On May 19, 1962, Lawford announced Marilyn's appearance on the stage of the Madison Square Garden,for John Kennedy's birthday 

backstage -
  
on stage 

,,-,,,,

 
At the Cal Neva Lodge, week-end of July 27 to 29, 1962 

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The conspiracy theory to explain Marilyn's death put Lawford in the middle of the events. His house on the beach had been bugged, which could have allowed to record the proof of sexual relations between Marilyn and John Kennedy, in order to harm the Kennedys.

Most of the biographers agree to say that Marilyn went to Lawford 's house on August 4, 1962, for a walk on the beach with Eunice Murray.

Later Lawford invited her to dinner with some friends. He called back shortly before 8.00 PM to convince her to join them. She seemed drugged and he began to worry.

From then on , 2 versions exist : 

          - according to Donald Spoto, Lawford told about his worries to his friend Milton Ebbins

(), then to Marilyn's lawyer Milton Rudin, and tried to make sure that someone would go to check on what was going on. He didn't go himself to avoid any scandal in case of serious event.

         - according to the partisans of the conspiracy theory, he went to Marilyn's home with Robert Kennedy and was one of the protagonists of the murder and/or cleaned the place up to make disappear clues before the arrival of the police.

 

On August 12, 1962, cruise in Maine, on the "Manitou" with John Kennedy and Pat Newcomb 

,

 

In 1962 shooting of a publicity with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin ,,

 

On November 25, 1963, he attended JFK's funerals ,,

With Elizabeth Taylor 

On October 30, 1971, he married Mary Ann Rowan (daughter of actor Dan Rowan) in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

,,; separated since April 1973, they divorced in January 1975. 
 

In 1974, he attended a TV program "Marilyn Remembered" on ABC Télévision ,

.

With John Lennon 

On June 25, 1976 he married Deborah Lee Gould (born January 25, 1957, Florida) in Arlington, Virginia, and

divorced in 1977 ,;.

He married Patricia Seaton on July 5, 1984 ,,,.

 

At the end of a deeply tragic life, he was alone, despised by the movie industry, pushed back by the Kennedy family and ignored by his friends. Though, he had remained loyal towards John Kennedy and hadn't changed his version of the facts of August 4,1962 when Marilyn died, the many times he had been interviewed.

His health undermined by alcohol and drug, he died of a heart attck on Christmas Eve 1984, aged 61

().


He was burried at the Westwood Memorial Park .

 

His last wife, Patricia Seaton and his children couldn't agree about who would pay his grave maintenance, and Patricia Seaton decided to exhume Peter Lawford's body. He was cremated on May 25, 1988 and his ashes dispersed in the Pacific Ocean.

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