Christopher Lawford, nephew of JFK, former soap star, dies

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Actor Christopher Lawford, a member of the Kennedy family, recovery lawyer and co-star of Kelly Ripa's "All My Children", grew up surrounded by presidents, senators and movie stars on Tuesday after collapsing a yoga studio in Los Angeles. TMZ, People and other sites publish reports. He was 63 years old.

Lawford, son of Patricia Kennedy and actor Peter Lawford, was reported to have suffered a heart attack, but the coroner performs an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death, TMZ and People I said.

His cousin Kerry Kennedy announced his death via Twitter by writing, "We mourn the loss of my cousin Christopher Lawford. Rest in Peace. His tweet included a photo of Lawford attending the 2004 Democratic Convention with his son, David.

Lawford was the eldest child of Patricia Kennedy and Peter Lawford, a former member of the MGM who was best known for his friendships with Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Lawford was also the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy. Among his cousins ​​are John F. Kennedy Jr., Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver, whose former husband, actor and former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has received pieces of Lawford in two of his films, including "Terminator 3 ".

The cover of Christopher Kennedy Lawfords' memoir in 2005 shows him with his uncle, John F. Kennedy, at his family's home in Malibu. (AP Photo / William Morrow)

Lawford, who has been married three times, grew up straddling the worlds of Hollywood and America's most famous political family, as he recounts in his 2005 memoir about his life and addiction issues.

Before her famous parents divorced in 1966, they raised her in their Malibu home where Judy Garland played piano and Milton Berle made jokes during the evenings.

"One night Marilyn Monroe was here and she would come a lot because she would be walking on the beach with my mother," Lawford told CNN host Larry King in an interview in 2005. "She was always wearing a scarf and she would walk on the beach with my mother and I remember seeing her. "

Lawford said that he never really interacted with Monroe except once when she helped prepare a little show for her parents and other guests at a party.

"She went around because we would – we would go to the den and we would do everything our little show was that night for our parents and she was there and she taught us how to do it," recalls Lawford. "And I'll tell you when she went around the adults paid attention."

As for his mother's family, Lawford laughingly told King that he was a "second-row or B-list" of Kennedy. He told King that he had remembered having attended the Democratic National Convention from 1960 to the age of five. But he said he did not stand to hear the delegates appoint his uncle, John Kennedy, as a presidential candidate that year.

Peter Lawford and his wife Pat Kennedy at a concert of Eddie Fisher in 1962. (Photo by Keystone / Hulton Archive / Getty Images)

Lawford told King, "I got tired and I went to bed and they took me back to my Uncle Jack's hotel room and later that night, my mom and he walked in." and sat on the bed. something like "Christopher, I was named president of the United States. It will be hard work. Do you want to help me? 'I was like before but I want to go to bed now. That was – yes.

As a member of the Kennedy family, Lawford grew up in the shadow of the traumatic assassinations of his uncles, John Kennedy in 1963 and Robert Kennedy in 1968. At the request of JFK's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, and her mother, he became a brother to John F. Kennedy Jr.

Lawford stated that Robert Kennedy's death in June 1968 was particularly traumatic because he was 13 years old and had moved closer to his uncle after his parents' divorce. He also contributed to Robert Kennedy's campaign and served as an altar at his funeral. He said that he started using drugs after Robert Kennedy's death, partly because of grief but also because it was in the late 1960s and there was a lot of experimentation going on. primary and secondary schools.

While Lawford obtained a law degree from Boston College and a master's degree in clinical psychology, he spent 15 years pursuing a career in production and action for film and television. He has appeared in films like "Terminator 3", "The Doors" and "The Russia House", but could be best known for his stint at "General Hospital" and his three-year private detective on "All My Children".

In "All My Children", Lawford played Charlie Brent and, for a time, he met Kelly Ripa's character, Hayley Vaughan. In his interview with Larry King, Lawford said that acting on a soap opera "was a great job." He also joked that Ripa's character "was the last virgin of the day and I had to take her virginity.

"All my kids" fans used social media to express their sadness when they heard of Lawford's death:

But given Lawford's family, he remained active in democratic politics and left the scene to work in nonprofit advocacy, including positions at the Special Olympics and the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation. He was also a member of the Advisory Board of the California Department of Public Health, following an appointment by his step-cousin Schwarzenegger.

Lawford, a father of three, became an advocate for the recovery of alcoholism and addiction after the publication of "Symptoms of Removal." In 2009, he published a second book entitled "Moments of Clarity: Voices of Addiction and Recovery. "A series of essays from public figures, athletes and artists who fought against addiction to drugs and alcohol.

At the time of his death, Lawford had been recovering for 29 years and continued to campaign "tirelessly on behalf of the recovery community in the public and private sectors," according to his website. It meant working with the United Nations, the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse and the World Health Organization, its website.

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