Patricia Kennedy Lawford | |
|---|---|
 Kennedy in 1948 | |
| Born | Patricia Helen Kennedy (1924-05-06)May 6, 1924 Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | September 17, 2006(2006-09-17) (aged 82) New York City, U.S. |
| Burial place | Southampton Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Rosemont College |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingChristopher |
| Parents | |
| Family | Kennedy family |
Patricia Helen Lawford (néeKennedy; May 6, 1924 – September 17, 2006) was an American socialite. She was a sister of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, SenatorRobert F. Kennedy, and SenatorTed Kennedy, as well as a sister-in-law ofJacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Patricia wanted to be a film producer, a profession not readily open to young women in her time. She married English actorPeter Lawford in 1954, but they divorced in 1966.
Patricia Helen Kennedy was born on May 6, 1924, inBrookline, Massachusetts. She attended Roehampton Sacred Heart Convent School (nowWoldingham School) inLondon, and Maplehurst Sacred Heart Convent School inBronxville, New York. In 1945, she received a bachelor of arts degree fromRosemont College, where she was active in both directing and acting in theatrical productions.[1]
She was considered the most sophisticated, yet also the most introverted, of her parents' five daughters. Since childhood she had a fascination with travel andHollywood. In time, she 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 headingRKO Pictures. After graduating from Rosemont College, she decided to pursue her interest in theatrical activities.[citation needed]
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."[2]
She began working as an assistant inNBC's New York production department. She then moved to Hollywood to work as an assistant for singerKate Smith's radio program, and later for Father Peyton'sFamily Rosary Crusade.[1] When she was 22 years old, Patricia was the producer ofI Love to Eat, onNBC-TV; it was the first cooking program on network television.[3]
In her youth, Patricia befriendedRMSTitanic survivorEdith Rosenbaum, and made Rosenbaum godmother to her children.[4]
In addition to her work in show business, Patricia was a tireless supporter of her brothers' political campaigns. For John's congressional race in1946, she and her sisters and mother held a number of "tea parties" aroundBoston in which they discussed John's boyhood and hisWorld War II experience. During the1960 presidential campaign, Patricia traveled around the country speaking on her brother’s behalf, and she would later play an active role in the presidential races of her brothersRobert andTed.[1]
She met English actorPeter Lawford through her brother John in 1949. They courted briefly, and officially announced their engagement in February 1954. They married on April 24, 1954,[note 1][1] atSt. Thomas More Church in New York City, 12 days before her 30th birthday. They settled inSanta Monica, California, and had four children:Christopher Lawford (1955–2018), Sydney Maleia Lawford (b. 1956), Victoria Francis Lawford (b. 1958), and Robin Elizabeth Lawford (b. 1961). Patricia and Peter (who was a member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack") held lavish parties at their Malibu mansion during the 1950s and early 1960s with guests such asMarilyn Monroe.[5]
Despite the glamorous persona Lawford presented, their relationship suffered strains as early as their brief engagement. Lawford had difficulty adjusting to Kennedy's steadfastCatholicism and her family's larger-than-life image. Kennedy could not tolerate Lawford's heavy drinking, extramarital affairs, and gradual addiction to drugs. Shortly afterher brother Jack's death in 1963, she filed for a legal separation, and the couple officially divorced in February 1966. She never remarried.[citation needed]
After her divorce, Kennedy battled alcoholism, and suffered fromtongue cancer. She worked with theJohn 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.[1]
Kennedy died ofpneumonia aged 82 on September 17, 2006, in herManhattan home. She is buried inSouthampton Cemetery.[6]
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968 | ||
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