Peter Lawford

Birth Name:

Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford

Birth Date:

September 7, 1923

Birth Place:

London, England

Death Date:

December 24, 1984

Place of Death:

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California

Age:

Cause of Death:

Cardiac Arrest brought on by kidney and liver failure due to substance abuse

Cemetery Name:

Cremated

Claim to Fame:

Show Business

Associates:

At age 25, Lawford was one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood and a symbol of glamour and romance. By the end of his life, he was heavily addicted to drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, kinky sex and so broke that he didn't think twice about selling out Liz Taylor to the tabloids for $15,000. But one secret he did take to his grave is the part he played in the events surrounding the 1962 death of Marilyn Monroe, who carried on clandestine affairs with Lawford's onetime brothers-in-law, Jack and Bobby Kennedy. It was Lawford, who married into the Kennedy family in 1954, who introduced Jack Kennedy to Monroe; it was Lawford who cleaned up the actress` apartment after she apparently killed herself to make sure nothing remained to link her with the Kennedys and result in a politically disastrous scandal.

Fun Fact

As his appetite for young girls and sadomasochist sex increased, his marriage to Pat Kennedy foundered because of his infidelities and the fact that he was unable to fit in with the Kennedy clan. Ironically, it was Jack Kennedy who inadvertently brought about the end of Lawford`s friendship with another man he greatly admired – Frank Sinatra. A member of the Rat Pack with Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. Dean Martin and Joey Bishop, when JFK changed his mind about staying at Sinatra’s home in Palm Springs during a trip to California, Sinatra (who had installed a helicopter pad in anticipation of the president`s arrival) blamed the hapless Lawford for the disappointment and shunned him ever after. Ironically it was Sinatra’s ties to the Mob that prevent JFK from staying at the singer’s home.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Cremated

, ,

North America

Grave Location:

Ashes were released at Marina Del Rey, California into the Pacific Ocean

Grave Location Description

Interesting to note that several publications still list Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary as his final resting place when in fact his remains were evicted due to non-payment of the funeral bill.