Christopher Lawford
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| Christopher Lawford | |
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| Born | Christopher Kennedy Lawford March 29, 1955 Santa Monica, California |
Christopher Kennedy Lawford (born March 29, 1955) is an American actor.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Personal life
Lawford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of actor Peter Lawford and Patricia "Pat" Kennedy. He is a nephew of John F. Kennedy, cousin-in-law of Arnold Schwarzenegger (appearing in two of his films, including Terminator 3). Lawford graduated from Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts[1]. He attended Tufts University, graduating with a B.A. in 1977. Following Tufts, he attended Fordham Law School and later transferred to Boston College Law School, where he received a J.D. in 1983. He is the author of Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption (William Morrow 2005, ISBN 0-06-073248-2), an autobiography.
Lawford married Jean Olsson (b. 1955) on November 17, 1984 in Bequia, West Indies. She is the daughter of Einar Valentine Olsson and Chae Ok Hee. They have three children: David Christopher Kennedy Lawford (b. May 24, 1987); Savannah Rose Lawford (b. February 13, 1990); and Matthew Valentine Lawford (b. February 27, 1995). They divorced in 2000. He is currently dating Russian actress Lana Antonova.[2]
[edit] Acting career
After many secondary roles in films for over a decade, he played a minor role in the 2000 film Thirteen Days, as Commander William Ecker of the US Navy. He first achieved extensive recognition in the role of Charlie Brent on the popular soap opera All My Children in the early 1990s, playing opposite Susan Lucci. He continues to make guest appearances in numerous TV shows and mostly secondary film roles.
Lawford made an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 to promote his movie Slipstream, written and directed by Anthony Hopkins.[3]
[edit] Insight on Castro
Lawford told Australian interviewers that he has been trying to make a film about the 1962 Cuban missile crisis from Cuba's perspective but that he has been stymied by the U.S. blockade.
Lawford told the Australian newspaper that he sat next to Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Havana during a 2001 screening of Thirteen Days, a film about the missile crisis. "It was incredible," he told the newspaper. "I went there and sat next to the guy my uncles were trying to kill. But President Castro believes if President Kennedy had lived, the embargo would have been lifted and they would have normalized relations." In a separate interview with the ABC, Lawford said Castro "got up at the end of the film and he said, 'You've made a great film, but you've ignored Cuba, now you have to make a film of what was happening here in Cuba during those thirteen days." Lawford said that he had returned to Cuba six times in an effort to do just that "but as you know we have an embargo against Cuba, which is one of the greatest foreign policy tragedies in the history of the United States."[4]
[edit] Awards and honors
Lawford supports Women in Recovery, Inc., a non-profit organization offering a live-in, 12-step program of rehabilitation for women in need, based in Venice, CA. This charity, which was founded by a longtime resident of Venice, Sister Ada Geraghty, annually honors those who've made a difference in helping women overcome substance abuse problems. Lawford was the 2006 honoree for Women in Recovery at their Gala; past honorees have included Jamie Lee Curtis, Angela Lansbury, and Anthony Hopkins.
[edit] References
- ^ Peter Lawford Was His Dad, Pat Kennedy His Mom, and Heroin His Undoing—now Christopher Lawford Is Back on Track : People.com
- ^ Double-edged sword of celebrity
- ^ "Who, Where and Wow!", Soap Opera Weekly, 2007-02-13, p. 31.
- ^ Source: News Story from IMDB news briefings.
