What Was Peter Lawford's Net Worth?
Peter Lawford was an English actor and producer who had a net worth of $1 million at the time of his death in 1984. That's the same as around $3 million in today's dollars after adjusting for inflation. A member of the "Rat Pack," Peter Lawford was married to Patricia Kennedy from 1954 to 1966, making him the brother-in-law of President John F. Kennedy, United States attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator Edward Kennedy.
Peter had more than 120 acting credits to his name, including the films "The Canterville Ghost" (1944), "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945), "Easter Parade" (1948), "Little Women" (1949), "Ocean's 11" (1960), "Exodus" (1960), "A Man Called Adam" (1966), "Hook, Line & Sinker" (1969), and "Rosebud" (1975) and the television series "Dear Phoebe" (1954–1955), "The Thin Man" (1957–1959), "The Doris Day Show" (1971–1973), and "Fantasy Island" (1977–1982). Lawford also served as an executive producer on the films "Johnny Cool" (1963), "Billie" (1965), and "One More Time" (1970). Peter received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television in 1960. Lawford died of cardiac arrest on Christmas Eve 1984 at the age of 61.
Early Life
Peter Lawford was born Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen on September 7, 1923, in London, England. He was the son of May Sommerville Bunny and Lieutenant General Sir Sydney Turing Barlow Lawford, KBE, and at the time of his birth, both of his parents were married to other people. Both couples got divorced after May told her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Ernest Vaughn Aylen DSO, that Peter wasn't his child. May and Sydney married around a year after Peter's birth. Peter's uncle Ernest Lawford was married to the daughter of the Scottish 14th Earl of Eglinton, and his aunt Ethel Turner Lawford wed the son of the 1st Baron Avebury. Peter's family traveled frequently, and he didn't receive a formal education. His early years were spent in France, and he was educated by tutors and governesses. Lawford also took ballet and tennis lessons.
According to his mother, "In the beginning, 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." At the age of 7, Lawford appeared in his first film, the 1931 British comedy "Poor Old Bill," and that year he also had an uncredited role in the crime drama "A Gentleman of Paris." When he was 14 years old, Peter's right arm went through a glass door and was seriously injured. Lawford suffered irreversible nerve damage that compromised the use of his hand and his forearm. His parents had hoped that he would go into the military, but the injury made him unable to follow that career trajectory, so he decided to pursue an acting career instead.
(Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Career
In 1938, Peter was discovered by a talent scout while travelling through Hollywood. After a screen test, he was cast in the film "Lord Jeff." Lawford then appeared in films such as "Eagle Squadron" (1942), "A Yank at Eton" (1942), "Someone to Remember" (1943), "The West Side Kid" (1943), "The White Cliffs of Dover" (1944), "The Canterville Ghost" (1944), "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945), "Son of Lassie" (1945), "It Happened in Brooklyn" (1947), "Easter Parade" (1948), and "Little Women" (1949). He starred as Bill Hastings on "Dear Phoebe" (1954–1955) and Nick Charles on "The Thin Man" (1957–1959), which both aired on NBC.
In the '50s, Peter also appeared in the films "Please Believe Me" (1950), "Royal Wedding" (1951), "Just This Once" (1952), "Rogue's March" (1953), "It Should Happen to You" (1954), and "Sincerely, Willis Wayde" (1956), followed by "Exodus" (1960), "Advise & Consent" (1962), "The Longest Day" (1962), "Dead Ringer" (1964), "Sylvia" (1965), "Harlow" (1965), "A Man Called Adam" (1966), "Skidoo" (1968), and "Hook, Line & Sinker" (1969) in the '60s. He also co-starred with fellow "Rat Pack" members Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and Joey Bishop in 1960's "Ocean's 11." In 1971, Lawford starred in the title role in the TV movie "Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You" and began playing Dr. Peter Lawrence on the CBS sitcom "The Doris Day Show." He appeared in the films "Togetherness" (1970), "They Only Kill Their Masters" (1972), "That's Entertainment!" (1974), "Rosebud" (1975), "Angels Revenge" (1979), and "Body and Soul" (1981), and he narrated the NBC series "Highcliffe Manor" (1979). Peter's final film was the 1984 British comedy "Where Is Parsifal?"
Personal Life
Peter married Patricia Kennedy on April 24, 1954, and they welcomed son Christopher (born 1955) and daughters Sydney (born 1956), Victoria (born 1958), and Robin (born 1961) before divorcing in February 1966.
Lawford became an American citizen in 1960, making it possible for him to vote for his brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy, in the presidential election, and he and other "Rat Pack" members campaigned for JFK.
Peter was married to Mary Rowan from October 1971 to early 1975 and to Deborah Gould from June 1976 to 1977. At the time of Lawford's death in December 1984, he had been married to his fourth wife, Patricia Seaton, for less than six months.
Peter dated Marilyn Monroe in the early '50s, and he later introduced her to JFK. Monroe and Lawford remained friends until the end of Marilyn's life, and it is believed that he was the last person to speak to her. After Monroe's death, Lawford told the police that he had spoken to her on the phone that night and that Marilyn had ended the call by saying, "Say good-bye to Pat, say good-bye to Jack, and say good-bye to yourself, because you're a nice guy."
In the 1991 James Spada book "Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets," private investigator Fred Otash claimed that Lawford came to his house shortly after Monroe's death and asked him to look for incriminating evidence at Monroe's LA home. Otash said that Lawford told him that he had "been to her house to 'clean up,' and had removed what incriminating evidence he could find" in an effort to prevent people from finding out about her affairs with Jack and Bobby Kennedy but was worried that he hadn't found everything.
Death
On December 24, 1984, Peter passed away from cardiac arrest at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at the age of 61. In his later years, he suffered from liver and kidney failure due to substance abuse. Lawford was cremated, and his remains were interred at L.A.'s Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. His ashes were removed in 1988 because of a dispute between Patricia and the cemetery, and they were scattered over the Pacific Ocean. Patricia invited the tabloid the "National Enquirer" to document the event.
Real Estate
When Lawford and Kennedy were married, they owned a home in Palm Springs, California. The home was designed by William Krisel, and "Cottages & Gardens" magazine described it as "a glorious display of intact retro glamour that has nevertheless been carefully updated and modernized." The home went on the market for $2.75 million in 2020.
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