Patricia Kennedy Lawford

Patricia Helen Kennedy Lawford (May 6, 1924 – September 17, 2006) was an American socialite, and the sixth of nine children of Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. She was a sister of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator Ted Kennedy, as well as the sister-in-law of Jacqueline Kennedy. Patricia wanted to be a film producer, a profession not readily open to young women in her time. She married English actor Peter Lawford in 1954, but they divorced in 1966.

Early life
Patricia Helen Kennedy was born on May 6, 1924 in Brookline, Massachusetts. She attended Roehampton Sacred Heart Convent School (now Woldingham School) in London, and Maplehurst Sacred Heart Convent School in Bronxville, New York. In 1945, she received a bachelor of arts degree from Rosemont College, where she was active in both directing and acting in theatrical productions.

She was considered the most sophisticated, yet also the most introverted, of her parents' five daughters. Since childhood she had a fascination with travel and Hollywood. 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 heading RKO Pictures. After graduating from Rosemont College, she decided to pursue her interest in theatrical activities.

Career
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."

She began working as an assistant in NBC's New York production department. She then moved to Hollywood to work as an assistant for singer Kate Smith's radio program, and later for Father Peyton's Family Rosary Crusade. When she was 22 years old, Patricia was the producer of I Love to Eat, on NBC-TV; it was the first cooking program on network television.

In her youth, Patricia befriended RMS Titanic survivor Edith Rosenbaum, and made Rosenbaum godmother to her children.

Political involvement
In addition to her work in show business, Patricia was a tireless supporter of her brothers' political campaigns. For John's congressional race in 1946, she and her sisters and mother held a number of "tea parties" around Boston in which they discussed John's boyhood and his World War II experience. During the 1960 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 brothers Robert and Edward.

Personal life
She met English actor Peter Lawford through her brother John in 1949. They courted briefly, and officially announced their engagement in February 1954. They married on April 24, 1954, at St. Thomas More Church in New York City, twelve days before her thirtieth birthday. They settled in Santa 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 as Marilyn Monroe.

Despite the glamorous persona Lawford presented, their relationship suffered strains as early as their brief engagement. Lawford had difficulty adjusting to Kennedy's steadfast Catholicism and her family's larger-than-life image. Kennedy could not tolerate Lawford's heavy drinking, extra-marital affairs, and gradual addiction to drugs. Shortly after her brother Jack's death in 1963, she filed for a legal separation, and the couple was officially divorced in February 1966. She never remarried.

Later years


After her divorce, 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.

Death
Kennedy died of pneumonia aged 82 on September 17, 2006, in her Manhattan home. She was buried in Southampton Cemetery.