Christopher Lawford

The son of Rat Packer Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy, John F Kennedy's elder sister, hazel-eyed, brown-haired Christopher Lawford took a most circuitous route before realizing acting was his true calling. He obtained a law degree form Boston College and then, while lecturing in psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, earned $100 for his first modeling gig, which led him to TV commercials and eventually theater. The Lawford name helped him get his foot in the Hollywood door, and he debuted in James Bruce's feature "The Suicide Club" (1987), followed by Danny Huston's "Mr. North" (1988). His greatest exposure came as Charlie Brent in the ABC daytime serial "All My Children," a role he played for a little more than three years. Lawford worked his way up the cast list in features like Oliver Stone's "The Doors" (1991) and Mike Binder's "Blankman" (1994) before executive producing and co-starring as a gay theater director in Tony Vitale's critically-acclaimed "Kiss Me, Guido" (1997). Among his TV credits, Lawford acted for fellow Kennedy clansman turned director Arnold Schwarzenegger (married to cousin Maria Shriver) in "The Switch," a 1990 episode of HBO's "Tales From the Crypt." Christopher Lawford died on September 3, 2018 at the age of 63, suffering a heart attack at a yoga studio in Vancouver, British Columbia.