| Patricia Kennedy Lawford | |
|---|---|
| Born | Patricia Kennedy May 6, 1924 Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | September 17, 2006 (aged 82) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Socialite |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Spouse | Peter Lawford (1954–1966; divorced) |
| Children | Christopher Kennedy Lawford, Sydney Maleia Kennedy Lawford, Victoria Francis Lawford, Robin Elizabeth Lawford |
Patricia "Pat" Kennedy Lawford (May 6, 1924 – September 17, 2006) was an American socialite and the sixth of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald, sister to President John F. Kennedy, Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy.
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 was.
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."[1] However, because she was a woman in the very conservative 1950s, she was restricted to working as production assistant on patriotic and religious productions such as singer Kate Smith's radio program and Father Peyton's "Family Rosary Crusade".
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She met British actor Peter Lawford through her sister Eunice in the 1940s. They met again in 1949, and again in 1953. 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, two weeks before her thirtieth birthday. They settled in Santa Monica, California, and often socialized with the actress Judy Garland and her family. Garland gave birth to her son Joseph at the same hospital and on the same day Patricia gave birth to her son Christopher. Patricia made a cameo appearance on her husband's NBC sitcom, Dear Phoebe, which aired during the 1954-1955 television season.
Despite the glamorous persona Peter presented, their relationship suffered strains as early as their brief 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, extramarital affairs, and gradual addiction to drugs. Shortly after JFK'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.
The couple had four children:
After her divorce, Patricia Kennedy battled alcoholism and suffered from tongue cancer. She worked with the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, as well as with the National Center on Addiction, and was a founder of the National Committee for the Literary Arts, for which she arranged a series of author lectures and scholarships.
Patricia Kennedy died at the age of 82 on September 17, 2006 in her Manhattan home from pneumonia. She was survived by her four children and 10 grandchildren, as well as, at the time, her sisters Eunice and Jean, and her brother Edward. She was buried in Southampton Cemetery.[2]