Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford (né Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary Variety, 26 December 1984.
He was a member of the "Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of U.S. president John F. Kennedy and senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy. From the 1940s to the 1960s, he was a well-known celebrity and starred in a number of highly acclaimed films. In later years, he was noted more for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting; it was said that he became "famous for being famous".
Early life Born in London in 1923, Lawford was the only child of Lieutenant General Sir Sydney Turing Barlow Lawford, KBE (1865–1953) and May Sommerville Bunny (1883–1972). At the time of his birth, his mother was married to Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Ernest Vaughn Aylen DSO, one of Sir Sydney's officers, while his father was married to Muriel Williams. At the time, May and Ernest Aylen were living apart. May confessed to Aylen that the child was not his, a revelation that resulted in a double divorce. Sydney and May wed in September 1924 after their divorces were finalised and when their son was one year old.
Lawford's family was connected to the British aristocracy through his uncle Ernest Lawford's wife (a daughter of the Scottish 14th Earl of Eglinton) as well as his aunt Ethel Turner Lawford (who married a son of the 1st Baron Avebury). His aunt, Jessie Bruce Lawford, another of his father's sisters, was the second wife of the Hon Hartley Williams, senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court of the colony of Victoria, Australia. A relative, through his mother, was Australian artist Rupert Bunny.
Early childhood He spent his early childhood in France and, owing to his family's travels, was never formally educated. Instead, he was schooled by governesses and tutors, and his education included tennis and ballet lessons.
"In the beginning," his mother observed, "he had no homework. When he was older he had Spanish, German and music added to his studies. He read only selected books: English fairy stories, English and French classics; no crime stories. Having studied Peter for so long, I decided he was quite unfitted for any career except art, so I cut Latin, Algebra, high mathematics and substituted dramatics instead."
Because of the widely varying national and religious backgrounds of his tutors, Lawford "attended various services in churches, cathedrals, synagogues and for some time was an usher in a Christian Science Sunday School...."
Around 1930, aged seven, he made his acting debut in the English film Poor Old Bill. He also had an uncredited bit in A Gentleman of Paris (1931).PETER LAWFORD: ENGLAND'S YOUNGEST FILM STAR. The Bystander; London Vol. 109, Iss. 1417, (11 Feb 1931): 262.
Accident At the age of 14, Lawford severely injured his right arm in an accident when it went through a glass door. Irreversible nerve damage severely compromised the use of his forearm and hand, which he later learned to conceal. The injury resulted in his being unable to follow a military career as his parents had hoped. Instead, Lawford pursued a career as an actor, a decision that resulted in one of his aunts refusing to leave him her considerable fortune, as she had originally planned.
Career Early career
In 1938, Lawford was travelling through Hollywood when he was spotted by a talent scout. He was screen tested and made his Hollywood debut in a minor part in the film Lord Jeff starring Freddie Bartholomew.
Lawford and his family were living in Florida at the start of World War II, resulting in their assets, which were in Britain at the time, being frozen. He took a job parking cars and saved enough money to return to Hollywood, where he worked as a theatre usher until he began to get film work.Van Atta, Burr. Peter Lawford Is Dead; Actor on Film and TV Philadelphia Inquirer; date=25 December 1984: A1. Subscription required.
Extra work and bit parts The advent of World War II saw an increase in British war stories and Lawford found himself in demand playing military personnel, albeit usually in uncredited parts. He is briefly seen in Mrs. Miniver (1942) and , both times as pilots.
Lawford's first featured role in a major film production was in A Yank at Eton (1942), starring Mickey Rooney, in which Lawford played a snobbish bully. It was very popular at the box office.
Lawford was a cadet in Thunder Birds: Soldiers of the Air (1942) and Junior Army (1942) (starring Bartholomew), a soldier in , , and London Blackout Murders (1943) (directed by George Sherman), and a navigator in Assignment in Brittany (1943). He had a billed part in The Purple V (1943).The LIFE STORY of Peter LAWFORD. Picture Show; London Vol. 51, Iss. 1309, (22 Feb 1947): 12.
At Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lawford appeared as a student in , a soldier in Pilot #5 (1943), a naval commander in (with Fred Astaire), and an Australian in The Man from Down Under (1943). He had a minor role at Republic's Someone to Remember (1943) and The West Side Kid (1943), the latter directed by Sherman.
Lawford played a soldier in Sahara (1943) and sailors in Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) and Corvette K-225 (1943). He was a Frenchman in Paris After Dark (1943) and Flesh and Fantasy (1943), and was a student in MGM's and .The Life Story of PETER LAWFORD. Picture Show; London Vol. 62, Iss. 1617, (27 Mar 1954): 12.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Though he had been appearing in small roles at MGM, Lawford's career stepped up a notch when he was signed to a long-term contract with the studio in June 1943. MGM signed him with a specific role in mind: , in which he played a young soldier during the Second World War.
Lawford had a small role in and Mrs. Parkington (1944), playing a suitor of Greer Garson. MGM gave him another important role in .
Lawford's first leading role came in Son of Lassie (1945), a big hit. According to Filmink "Metro used Lawford mostly in one of two ways. First, as a handsome male prop for female stars in musicals" and "second male lead in supporting bigger stars, playing best friends, love rivals, etc."
Lawford appeared in a Kathryn Grayson-June Allyson musical, Two Sisters from Boston (1946). At 20th Century-Fox, Ernst Lubitsch cast him in Cluny Brown (1946) where he was billed after Charles Boyer and Jennifer Jones. He won a Modern Screen magazine readers' poll as the most popular actor in Hollywood of 1946. His fan mail jumped to thousands of letters a week. With actors such as Clark Gable and James Stewart away at war, Lawford was recognised as a new romantic lead on the MGM lot.
Lawford starred in My Brother Talks to Horses (1947) along with Jackie Butch Jenkins. The film was an early work of Fred Zinnemann and was a box office disappointment. Lawford was reunited with Grayson in It Happened in Brooklyn (1947), which also starred Frank Sinatra. 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 in , the film musical he starred in alongside Allyson. He was lauded for the role in which he used an American accent.
He was Esther Williams' leading man in On an Island with You (1948) and supported Fred Astaire and Judy Garland in , a major hit, and Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon in Julia Misbehaves (1948).
In 1949, Lawford portrayed Laurie in MGM's version of alongside Allyson and Elizabeth Taylor. He was billed beneath Pidgeon and Ethel Barrymore in the anti-Communist The Red Danube (1949) and was one of Deborah Kerr's leading men in Please Believe Me (1950). Lawford was Jane Powell's love interest in with Fred Astaire and co-starred with Janet Leigh in . It has been argued that Lawford's career suffered from the departure of Louis B. Mayer from MGM in 1951 as Mayer was replaced by Dore Schary who did not use Lawford as well.
Fox borrowed him for , a melodrama shot in Australia with Maureen O'Hara. Reviewing this film, Filmink argued that "Lawford is a wet fish actor who could never really hold the screen in a heroic part (he was generally better as a leading man for a female star, or a second lead to a more charismatic male star)." But in Lawford’s defense, his character is totally emasculated in Kangaroo" from what it was in the original script.
Back at MGM, Lawford was top billed in some B films: You for Me (1953), a comedy, The Hour of 13 (1953), a thriller, and , a war film. At this point, in an effort to economize, MGM released Lawford and several other major stars and featured players from their contracts."Rogue's March", Turner Classic Monthly accessed 28 April 2015
Lawford's first film after leaving MGM was the Columbia Pictures romantic comedy, It Should Happen to You (1954), directed by George Cukor. Lawford starred alongside Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon, in his first major film role.
Television Lawford focused on television, guest starring on shows like General Electric Theater, Schlitz Playhouse, and The Ford Television Theatre. In 1954, Lawford married Patricia Kennedy, sister of Senator John F. Kennedy. Lawford would become an enthusiastic fundraiser for the Senator.
Lawford had a regular role on a TV sitcom, Dear Phoebe (1954–55) but the show only ran 32 episodes. When it ended he resumed guest starring on shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, Screen Directors Playhouse, Schlitz Playhouse again, Playhouse 90, Producers' Showcase (a version of Ruggles of Red Gap), several episodes of Studio 57, Climax! and Goodyear Theatre.
Lawford had another starring role on a TV series, The Thin Man (1957–59) with Phyllis Kirk, an NBC series from MGM based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett. It was more successful, running for 72 episodes.Peter Lawford Buys 'Thin Man' The Washington Post and Times-Herald 03 November 1958: B6.
Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack
In 1959, Sinatra invited Lawford to join the "Rat Pack" and also got him a role in Never So Few (1959). Peter Lawford and Sinatra appeared in Oceans 11 (1960). Lawford had been first told of the basic story of the film by director Gilbert Kay, who heard the idea from a gas station attendant. Lawford eventually bought the rights in 1958, imagining William Holden in the lead.pp.117–121 Levy, Shawn Rat Pack Confidential 1998 Fourth Estate Ltd Sinatra became interested in the idea, and a variety of writers worked on the project.
Lawford played a British soldier in the acclaimed Israeli-set drama for Otto Preminger and had a cameo in . In 1960, he became a U.S. citizen and assisted on his brother-in-law's successful presidential election.
He did a TV remake of The Farmer's Daughter (1962) with Lee Remick and was reunited with the Rat Pack in Sergeants 3 (1962).
Lawford played a Senator in Advise & Consent (1962) for Preminger and was Lord Lovat in , a war film with a star-studded cast.
Producer In 1961, Lawford and his manager Milt Ebbins formed Chrislaw Productions, which was named after Peter's son Christopher. It signed a three-year deal with United Artists to make three features and two TV series for $10 million. William Asher was to be executive producer. Their first project was to be a remake of the old silent film The Great Train Robbery. Half a million dollars instead went toward the 1963 action film Johnny Cool starring Henry Silva and Elizabeth Montgomery.Peter Lawford's 'Johnny Cool' The Christian Science Monitor 7 October 1963: 10. It also made the TV series The Patty Duke Show.
Lawford was Bette Davis's leading man in and guest starred on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Profiles in Courage (as General Alexander William Doniphan), Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre and Run for Your Life. He went on to produce the Patty Duke film and had supporting roles in two Carroll Baker movies, playing her fiancé both times: and Harlow (1965).