Actors - Peter Lawford

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	Actors - Peter Lawford

Peter Sydney Lawford (September 7, 1923 – December 24, 1984) was a Hollywood actor and member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack," more noted for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting.

Born in London, UK, the son of actor Sydney Turing Lawford and the former May Somerville Bunny, he spent his early childhood in France, and began acting as a child. He was the victim of sexual abuse several times in childhood. Also as a child he severely injured his arm when he put it through a door's glass pane. Doctors were able to save the arm, but the injury bothered him for many years. It kept him from being drafted into the armed forces for the Second World War.

Prior to the war, Lawford had a gained a contract position with the MGM studios. Lawford's first major movie role was A Yank At Eton (1942). He played a snobby bully opposite Mickey Rooney. The picture was a smash hit, and Lawford's performance was widely praised. He won even greater kudos for his performance in The White Cliffs Of Dover
(1944). He played a young soldier in World War II. MGM gave him another important role in The Picture of Dorian Gray
(1945). Lawford's father also had a role in the film. 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's busiest year as an actor was in 1946, when two of his films opened within days of each other: Cluny Brown (1946), and Two Sisters From Boston (1946). 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 later admitted that the most terrifying experience of his career was the first musical number he performed. He also made his first comedy that same year: My Brother Talks To Horses (1947). It was in Good News
(1947) that he won his greatest acclaim as an actor. He also got to dance and sing, and held his own against the other cast.

Lawford was given other important roles in MGM films over the next few years, such as On An Island With You (1948), Easter Parade
(1948) and Little Women (1949 film)
(1949).

Lawford became an American citizen in 1960, in time to vote for his brother-in-law John F. Kennedy in the presidential elections. Lawford, along with other members of the "Rat Pack," helped campaign for Kennedy and the Democratic party.

Lawford married four times. His first marriage was to Patricia Kennedy Lawford, sister of future President John F. Kennedy, in 1954. They had four children, including actor Christopher Lawford. They divorced in 1966 due to his alcoholism and infidelity. He married his second wife, Mary Rowan, daughter of Dan Rowan, in 1971. They divorced in 1975. He was married to his third wife, Deborah Gould from 1976-1977. His fourth wife, and widow, whom he married in 1984, was Patricia Seaton. Lawford had a reputation as a ladies' man and was reported to have had many affairs with famous ladies of movies, song, and politics including Ava Gardner, June Allyson, Lana Turner, Janet Leigh, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Dandridge, Lucille Ball, Anne Baxter, Judy Holliday, Gina Lollobrigida, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Lee Remick, Nancy Reagan, and Elizabeth Taylor just to name a few. Lawford introduced Marilyn Monroe before she sang her infamous Happy Birthday, Mr. President song.

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Actors - Peter Lawford

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