Peter Lawford

English-American actor Peter Lawford (1923-1984) is mainly known as a member of the Rat Pack from which he was later banned due to an argument with Frank Sinatra and as the husband of Patricia Kennedy. Although he was never considered a very important actor, he has played in many famous films. He also appeared frequently on television. He was the first one to kiss Elizabeth Taylor and, according to him, the last one to speak to Marilyn Monroe before she died.


Vintage card. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Peter Lawford, Laddie and Lassie.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, no. C. 190, part of Kwatta collector cards' album C series, numberrs 99-196. Photo: MGM. Lassie and Peter Lawford in Son of Lassie (S. Sylvan Simon, 1945).


Belgian card by Kwatta, Bois-d'Haine, no. C. 161. Photo: M.G.M. June Allyson and Peter Lawford in Good News (Charles Walters, 1947).


Belgian card by Kwatta, Bois-d'Haine, no. C. 310. Photo: M.G.M. Peter Lawford and Janet Leigh in The Red Danube (George Sidney, 1949).


Belgian card by Kwatta, Bois-d'Haine, no. C. 297. Photo: M.G.M. Peter Lawford in Please Believe Me (Norman Taurog, 1950).

Son of Lassie

Peter Lawford was born Peter Sydney Vaughn Aylen in London in 1923. He was the son of Lieutenant General Sir Sidney Lawford and his wife May. His parents married when he was one year old, which is why his mother's surname appears on his birth certificate.

He spent his childhood with his parents in France and therefore learnt French rather than English. Lawford later also became fluent in Spanish and Italian. He first appeared in front of the camera at the age of seven in the British film Poor Old Bill (Monty Banks, 1931).

In 1938, he played a supporting role in the drama Lord Jeff (Sam Wood, 1938) alongside child stars Freddie Bartholomew and Mickey Rooney, his first film in America. At the beginning of the 1940s, Lawford signed his first studio contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he was only given small roles in the early years.

A serious arm injury that Lawford suffered when he ran into a glass door at the age of 14 prevented him from serving in the Second World War. His breakthrough came with his roles in the Irene Dunne drama The White Cliffs of Dover (Clarence Brown, 1944) and the literary adaptation The Picture of Dorian Gray (Albert Lewin, 1945) as David Stone.

Lawford had his first leading role in the Lassie film Son of Lassie (S. Sylvan Simon, 1945). In 1946, he appeared in Ernst Lubitsch's comedy Cluny Brown and Henry Koster's musical Two Sisters from Boston in major roles. He played alongside Fred Astaire in the films Easter Parade (Charles Walters, 1948) and Royal Wedding (Stanley Donen, 1951).


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, no. W 225. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.


Vintage autograph card.


Vintage postcard by PEB.


Dutch postcard by Takken 't Sticht, no. AX 337. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois-d'Haine. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Young lovers from good families

Peter Lawford usually played young lovers at MGM, often from good families, for example as Theodore Laurence in Little Women (Mervyn LeRoy, 1949), the film version of the novel by Louisa May Alcott. He was known in particular for his light-hearted and romantic roles.

As a result, Lawford became a household name, but never one of Hollywood's biggest stars. After the end of his contract with MGM, he turned to other roles and played more on television, including the leading role in the television series The Thin Man between 1957 and 1959.

At the end of the 1950s, he became a member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack, which led to more roles. He played the playboy Jimmy Foster in Ocean's Eleven (Lewis Milestone, 1960).

In his later career, he turned to character roles and appeared in several television productions, including a recurring supporting role in the television series The Doris Day Show (1971-1973) with Doris Day.

His later films include The April Fools (Stuart Rosenberg, 1969) with Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve, and Rosebud (Otto Preminger, 1975), although he also made a few third-rate films. His last role was in the British comedy Where Is Parsifal? (Henry Helman, 1984) alongside Tony Curtis.


Belgian postcard, no. 1151. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Peter Lawford and Esther Williams in On an Island with You (Richard Thorpe, 1948).


Belgian postcard. Photo: M.G.M. Jimmy Durante, Peter Lawford, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse, Ricardo Montalban and Xavier Cugat in On an Island with You (Richard Thorpe, 1948).


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.I., Merksem (Anvers / Antwerpen). Photo: M.G.M., 1950. With Vera Ellen.


Dutch postcard by Fotoarchief Film en Toneel, no. 3528. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Esther Williams and Peter Lawford in On an Island with You (Richard Thorpe, 1948).


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 966. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, and Sarah Churchill in Royal Wedding (Stanley Donen, 1951).

Marilyn Monroe's last words

Peter Lawford was known for his colourful, sometimes turbulent private life. He married Patricia Kennedy, John F. Kennedy's sister, in 1954 and thus became a member of the Kennedy family. They had four children together, including the actor Christopher Lawford (1955-2018). The marriage ended in divorce in 1966.

Lawford and the Rat Pack around Frank Sinatra also supported Kennedy in his election campaigns. Lawford is said to have significantly supported the close personal relationship between the two Kennedy brothers John F. and Robert Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe, whom he had known well since the early 1950s. Marilyn Monroe exchanged her last words with Lawford during a telephone call on the night of 4 August 1962, when she died.

After divorcing the Kennedy daughter, Lawford married Mary Rowan, 27 years his junior and daughter of comedian Dan Rowan, in 1971. The marriage lasted until 1975, after which he went down the aisle twice more, once with Debora Gould (1977-1978, divorced) and a few months before his death with Patricia Seaton.

The friendship between him and Sinatra suffered for years because he had an affair with Sinatra's wife Ava Gardner and Sinatra considered this to be the reason for his separation from Gardner. Lawford had various more or less serious affairs with stars such as June Allyson, Lana Turner and Kim Novak. Before his marriage to Patricia Kennedy, he had a relationship with the African-American actress Dorothy Dandridge.

Peter Lawford was addicted to alcohol for many years, which affected both his health and his professional career from the 1970s onwards. In 1984, Lawford died from kidney and liver failure in Los Angeles. He was 61. In 2018, his 63-year-old son Christopher Lawford also died of a heart attack.


Belgian postcard, no. 152. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Peter Lawford in Kangaroo (Lewis Milestone, 1952).


Swedish postcard by Forlag Torsten G. Ericson, Hälsingborg, no. AX 408. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.


Vintage postcard, no. AX 119. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.


British postcard in the The People series by Show Parade Picture Service, London, no. P. 1066. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


Dutch postcard by van Leer's Fotodrukindustrie N.V., Amsterdam, no. 31. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/193. Photo: Terb Agency. Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Frank Sinatra.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb.