Lawford Denies Legal Separation

June 8, 1965 - A spokesman for Peter Lawford today quoted the actor as saying that he and his wife “categorically deny” a published report that they plan a legal separation.

The spokesman quoted Lawford as saying: “Our separation is geographic. We are not planning to interrupt the children’s schooling by Pat’s coming out [to California with them, and I will continue to maintain two residences and commute. My career is out here, not in New York, and she understands that.”

The Lawfords have a Santa Monica beach home, where President Kennedy, brother of Mrs. Lawford, visited.

The couple also have a New York apartment, where Mrs. Lawford lives with their four children, Christopher, 10 years old; Sydney, 7; Victoria, 6, and Robin, 4.

Time magazine said Lawford, 41, and his wife, who is 39, had decided on a legal separation. It said they had been living apart for several months — he in Hollywood and she in New York.

The magazine added: “Now, according to a close family source, Roman Catholics Peter and Pat have decided, after 11 years of marriage, to make the separation permanent and legal.”The spokesman, in rebutting the story, said Mrs. Lawford was a Catholic but that the actor was a Protestant.

Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s