Sir Thomas, a friend of the family, invited mother and son to Elstree Studios, where Monty Banks was looking for a replacement for the child lead in his movie. "There’s the boy I want. May I try him out?" After a long discussion at home, Mother won. "It might calm him down; what harm could it do?"

So around 1931, aged seven, he made his acting debut in the English film Poor Old Bill (London, Wardour Films, June 10. 1931) followed by a small part in A Gentleman of Paris (Londen, Gaumont British, Dec  4. 1931).** In total, Peter Lawford "The Jackie Coogan of England" made six films in England and France. Then the London County Council enacted a rule that no child under 14 was to act in plays or pictures. None. Sir Sidney was pleased that this marked "finis" to his child's career, and the family went off on a junket around the world.

For five to six years, they shuttled between Tahiti, Honolulu, Ceylon, India, and Australia, with all points in between, back to England and the Riviera. Usually, the summer months were spent in their homeland; if they happened to be in Europe in winter, they stayed at their home in Monte Carlo.

At the age of 14, Lawford severely injured his right arm in an accident when it went through a glass door."I was in Aix-les-Bains, France with my father in 1937, and I was playing with some kids when I tripped and fell through a window, and almost lost my arm."  There was a deep gash in the upper arm, and in pulling away from the shattered glass, he cut it again, down to the bone. Some of the nerves were so badly severed that it was impossible to reconnect them. The inside of the forearm was numb, and Peter could never again fully close the fingers on his right hand. An injury which he later learned to hide. After six weeks, the wound had healed, and a French doctor recommended "good dry weather," so they went to Southern California.

The injury was judged to be serious enough to prevent his entrance into the armed forces, which his parents had planned. Instead, Lawford decided to pursue a career as an actor, a decision that resulted in one of his aunts refusing to leave him her considerable fortune, as originally planned.

In 1938, he made his Hollywood debut in a minor part as one of five English boys in the film Lord Jeff (MGM, Jun 17. 1938). Peter's voice began to change; it cracked and squeaked, signaling the end of yet another career. And California law caught up with them, Peter, being under 18, must go to school.

So the Lawfords started traveling again. In 1939, they spent the spring and summer on Long Island. They had booked passage to return to England on the Rex, but in September, the war began. British currency was frozen, and the Lawfords, accustomed to the best, were unable to access funds from England. Seeking warmth for Peter Lawford's health (his hand contracted again), they bought a low-priced car and drove to Florida, where they lived a very meager existence. He exercised and played tennis (lefthanded) until one day his hand/arm got better.

Peter decided to try radio again and persuaded his parents to let him go to New York on his own. He had a few jobs, but his voice still wasn't quite right, so he returned to Florida. At just 17, Peter nonetheless had the drive to succeed. A real estate agent was about to open a large parking lot in the business district of Palm Beach. Peter convinced the skeptical operator that he could manage the lot, with several assistants, for $25 a week plus tips. The tips were substantial, and by the summer of 1941, he had saved $700. "Let's go back to California," he suggested one day. With little trouble they found a modest apartment in Westwood.

As a young actor, Lawford worked as an usher at the Westwood Village Theatre in Los Angeles. Peter transitioned from his job as an usher to taking on several small roles in movies and soon didn’t have to return to ushering. He managed to stay busy, though often in minor roles—appearing in Pete Smith shorts, lesser B-movies at Republic, Warners, and RKO. He worked at all of them.

Prior to the Second World War, Lawford had gained a contract position with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Once he signed with MGM, his mother reportedly insisted that studio head Louis B. Mayer pay her a salary as her son's personal assistant, which Mayer declined. She then claimed that her son was "homosexual" and needed to be "supervised". This damaged the relationship between her and her son. *

His first role in a major film production was in A Yank At Eton (MGM, Sep 1942), starring Mickey Rooney, in which Lawford played a snobbish bully. His performance was widely praised. During this time, Lawford started to get more leads when major MGM stars Clark Gable & James Stewart were drafted into the war.

Starting 1945 he also started working for radio regularly:

  The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (CBS, May 14. 1945 - Oct 28. 1946,
  min. 2);
  Command Performance (AFRS, Jun 16. 1946, min. 1);
  The Continental Celebrity Club (CBS, Jun 22. 1946, min.1); and
  Academy Award Theatre (CBS, Dec 11. 1946, min. 1).

It was his role in the movie Good News (MGM, Dec 4. 1947), co-starring June Allyson that became Lawford's greatest claim to fame. Following his success in films, Peter Lawford provided his parents with the money and social standing they had previously lost.

He suffered second degree burns on his right hand and arm during a 1950 Jimmy Durante television show skit. Titanium tetrachloride was being used in the making of a smoking concoction and it accidentally spilled on him. Durante and Lawford were close friends and later performed frequently on stage in a song-and-dance nightclub act.

Probably Lawford's most controversial affair, amongst many, was with African-American actress Dorothy Dandridge.

Being a devoted Anglophile, Dandridge was already primed to fall for the actor Peter Lawford when he came to see her show at the New Frontier in Las Vegas in the early 1950s, with fellow stars June Allyson and Van Johnson. By night’s end Lawford and Dandridge peeled away from the party and found themselves alone in his car on a lovers’ lane: “Peter put his arms around me and began kissing me in a delightful, gallant English style, if kisses can have nationality,” she wrote. “I liked being with him.” (12)

Peter's non-prejudiced attitude didn't extend to challenging the system or risking backlash. In certain parts of the country, a white man faced the threat of violence for dating a black woman. He lacked the bravery to take her to social events himself, so he would have someone else pick her up and then hook up with her later.

These two almost went public with their relationship at a Cole Porter party, but at the last minute both agreed that it would be a bad move for both of their careers. Lawford told Dandridge, "Look, I love you. I would like to marry you. But let's face it, I wouldn't work another day if we married. And neither would you." Thus the two arrived at the party separately (1953).  The affair soon fizzled, but Dandridge later admitted, “If I were honest with myself…I would have to admit that I wanted nothing better than to hear him say, ‘marry me.’”

Although they first met at some party in 1949, when Pat was in Hollywood working as a production assistant with the Family Theater radio series, their friendship didn't ripen until they attended the Republican National Convention together in July 1952. There Lawford first really met Patricia Kennedy, a younger sister of then - U.S. member of the House of Representatives, John F. Kennedy. Five months later, they ran into each other again on Fifth Avenue in New York. Pete said he had come East to appear on The Milton Berle show (NBC, Dec 8. 1953), and Pat mentioned she was visiting friends. She was flying to Miami for Christmas, and then she and two of her brothers were planning a trip around the world. They had lunch the next day...

Lawford made his television debut in 1953 in a guest-starring role on Ronald Reagan's anthology series General Electric Theater.

Peter met Pat Kennedy again in Miami during the Christmas holidays. Peter was convinced he had found something special. He invited her to Los Angeles on her way to the Orient. Peter admitted that his love for Pat was not instantaneous but “one that grew over a couple of years of running into her at different places.” His proposal occurred during one romantic dinner when he casually suggested, “One day I would like to marry you.” Pat Kennedy boarded a plane at Los Angeles International Airport, flew to Honolulu, changed planes, flew to Tokyo, and then shook her head to clear her thoughts. After explaining her joyful distraction to her brothers, Pat flew back to Honolulu, then to Los Angeles, told Peter "yes," flew to New York—and became Mrs. Peter Lawford on April 24. 1954.

As of 1954, he starred as a newspaper advice-to-the-lovelorn columnist named Bill Hastings in the short-lived NBC series Dear Phoebe (NBC, Sep 10. 1954 - May 27. 1955, min. 33) with Marcia Henderson and Charles Lane. From 1957-59, Lawford co-starred with Phyllis Kirk in The Thin Man, an NBC series from MGM based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett.

Became a United States citizen in early 1960 so that he could vote for his brother-in-law John F. Kennedy in the presidential election later that year.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6922 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Sinatra decided that his long-standing feud with Lawford (for once dating Ava Gardner)  should and so Peter became a member of the "Clan" or "Rat Pack", with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop. The five would appear together in the films Ocean's Eleven (Warner Bros., Aug 3. 1960) and Sergeants 3 (United Artists, Feb 10. 1962). They also performed on stage and were quite successful with their informal Las Vegas stage act during the filming of the first movie.

The last person to speak to Marilyn Monroe before her death and man who introduced Marilyn Monroe at Kennedy's Democratic Convention when she sang "Happy Birthday Mister President." Peter introduced her on stage as "the late Marilyn Monroe", a joke regarding her unpunctuality, which seemed a lot less funny after her death, less than three months later.

As Peter also appeared to be a mysterious figure in the cover-up of Marilyn Monroe's death in 1962. She allegedly said to him: “Say goodbye to Pat [Kennedy], say goodbye to the President and say goodbye to yourself because you’re a nice guy.” Close friend Lawford and the other members of the Rat Pack were banned from Marilyn Monroe's funeral by Joe DiMaggio.

During a 1963 West Coast trip there was to be a scheduled visit to Sinatra's home by Lawford's brother-in-law, President Kennedy. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who was long concerned about Sinatra's rumored ties with underworld figures, encouraged the President to change his plans and stay at Crosby's home, which (it was maintained) could provide better security for the President. The change came at the last minute, after Sinatra had made extensive arrangements for the promised and eagerly awaited presidential visit, including the construction of a helipad. Sinatra blamed Peter and severed their friendship permanently. Peter was supposed to appear in the Rat Pack movie Robin and the 7 Hoods (Warner Bros., Jun 24. 1964). He was replaced by Bing Crosby. Ostracized from Sinatra, Lawford never starred in another major motion picture again. Peter spent the remainder of his career guest-starring on Password, Laugh-in and other game shows as a relic of a bygone era.

Lawford was even rumored to have been gay or bi. He was romantically linked with actresses Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, June Allyson, Rita Hayworth, Lee Remick, Kim Novak, Judy Holliday, Evelyn Keyes, and socialites Sharman Douglas and Melissa Weston.  Lawford did pick up the Kennedy practice of rampant womanizing and frequent drug and alcohol abuse. It got to the point in February 1966 that his first wife Pat, filed for legal separation and later divorce, becoming the first of the strictly Catholic Kennedys to do so. Lawford accepted blame, admitting to extramarital affairs. He remained, however, on good terms with the Kennedys. The once-professional actor now appeared late to studio shoots, made enemies of the producers at MGM and drank himself into a stupor on a daily basis. It wasn’t long before Hollywood no longer came knocking.

Met his second wife, Mary Rowan (daughter of Dan Rowan), late November 1970 while he was appearing on her father's television show, Laugh-In (NBC, Dec 2. 1968 - Sep 27. 1971, min.10).  Lawford married her in October 1971 when she was one day shy of 22 years of age; Lawford was 48.