Patricia Kennedy Lawford

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For other persons named Patricia Kennedy, see Patricia Kennedy (disambiguation).

Patricia "Pat" Kennedy Lawford (May 6, 1924 – September 17, 2006) was an American socialite, the sixth child of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald. She was the younger sister of former president John F. Kennedy. She was born in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Considered the most sophisticated, yet also the most introverted, of her parents' five daughters, Pat since childhood had a fascination with travel and Hollywood. She in time would become a world traveler, so much so that as a young girl she was given assignments by the independent and foreign press to write of her travels. Her ongoing fascination with Hollywood was fueled by her father's stories and adventures there as a movie mogul heading RKO Pictures. After graduating from Rosemont College, she moved to Hollywood in hopes of becoming a movie producer and director like her father.

Her father apparently believed that she could do as much, once saying, "Pat is the one with head for business. She could really run this town if she put her mind to it." However, because she was a female in the very conservative 1950s, she was restricted to producing religious programs.

She met British actor Peter Lawford through her brother Jack, who had previously met Lawford at parties. They courted briefly and officially announced their engagement in February 1954. They married on April 24, 1954 at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Thomas More in New York City weeks before her 30th birthday. They settled in Santa Monica, California.

The couple had four children:

Christopher Lawford (born: March 29, 1955)
Sydney Maleia Lawford (born: 1956)
Victoria Francis Lawford (born: 1958)
Robin Elizabeth Lawford (born: 1961)

Despite the glamorous personae they presented, their marriage suffered strains early as far back as their engagement. Peter had difficulty adjusting to Pat's steadfast Catholicism and her family's larger-than-life image. Pat could not tolerate Peter's heavy drinking, extra-marital affairs, and slow addiction to drugs. Shortly after her brother's assassination, Pat filed for a legal separation, and the couple were officially divorced in 1966. In accordance with her religious beliefs, she never remarried.

Afterward, Patricia Kennedy Lawford battled her own alcohol addiction and suffered a bout with cancer. She worked with the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, as well as with the National Center on Addiction.

Lawford died at age 82 in her Manhattan home due to complications of pneumonia. She is survived by four children and 10 grandchildren. Mrs. Lawford is the second of Joe Kennedy's children to die of natural causes.