BigBands & BigNameshome
Tips On Tables
big band expert
zavsays
Porkpies and Fedoras
Estate Planning Smarts
Purchase big band music Frank Sinatra Desi Arnaz Dean Martin Benny Goodman hildegarde
 
 
 

rat pack They had it all. Fame. Gorgeous women. A fabulous playground of a city and all the money in the world.

Purchase Rat Pack Confidential

 

Peter Lawford - the forgotten Rat Packer. An English fellow married to the Irish first family of America, the Kennedys. The last person to speak to Marilyn Monroe before her death and man who introduced Peter LawfordMarilyn Monroe at Kennedy's Democratic Convention when she sang "Happy Birthday Mister President."

Peter was born to Miss Lady Lawford and Sir Sydney Lawford (a decorated English general who assisted Mussolini in shaping his troops before WWII).

An arm injury at childhood, caused by trying to run through a glass door, thrashed all hopes of Peter's military career (much to his relief), and so he went into acting. An Englishman in Hollywood led to lots of acting roles where most eligible American actors were drafted and the English were considered quite heroic, standing alone against Hitler's assault.

Once Peter married Patricia Kennedy, Sinatra decided that his long-standing feud with Lawford (for once dating Ava Gardener) should end and so the Rat-Pack era began. With Lawford having JFK's ear, Sinatra began his Democratic campaign for Kennedy.

Most everyone knows of Sinatra's dissatisfaction with Lawford in the 60's because of his inability to sway the Kennedy administration to get the president to stay at his house (the "West Coast White House" as Frank called it) and only Sammy remained friends with him into the next decade.

Ostracized from Sinatra, Lawford never starred in another major motion picture again. He was slated to co-star in "Robin and the 7 Hoods" but the role was given to Bing Crosby instead. Peter spent the remainder of his career guest-starring on Password, Laugh-in and other game shows as a relic of a bygone era. In his last years, he would write letters to JFK as if he had an audience to heaven. He struggled with alcoholism and drug abuse all through his life. In the end, he spent much of his time in the Betty Ford clinic trying to recover, but this guilt-ridden fellow may never have wanted to recover. Maybe he saw more than anyone should ever see.

With over 50 movies to his credit, Peter Lawford remains an integral player in American Cinema. Three books about his life exist:: The Peter Lawford Story (by 3rd wife, Patricia Seton Lawford) "Bitch", a memoir of Lady Lawford's demise and "Peter Lawford: The Man Who Kept the Secrets".

"I don't know why Peter associates himself with that Rat Pack crowd. That dried up piece of spaghetti - Sinatra - but I do like his singing - he's the villain of the piece." - Lady Lawford

THE REVIEWS
Andrews Sisters - Latin Quarter 1957
Desi Arnaz - w/Diosa Costello 1948
Count Basie - Lincoln 1943
Tony Bennett - Copacabana 1958
Milton Berle - Latin Quarter 1948
Joey Bishop - w/Andy Williams 1959
Ray Bolger - Wizard of Oz Scarecrow, Empire Room 1956
Cab Calloway - Greenwich Inn 1949
Diahann Carroll - Persian Room 1961
Betty Clooney - Waldorf Astoria 1954
Nat King Cole - Copacabana 1958
Perry Como - Versailles 1944
Copacabana - famous night club restaurant is reviewed 1953
Crosby Brothers - Latin Quarter 1961
Xavier Cugat - Waldorf Astoria 1951
Vic Damone - Riviera 1953
Billy Daniels - Copacabana 1952
Sammy Davis Jr. - Copacabana 1959
Phyllis Diller - w/Bobby Short 1958
Nancy Donovan - Copacabana 1952
Jimmy Durante - Copacabana 1951
Billy Eckstine - Copacabana 1951
Duke Ellington - Basin St. East 1961
Eddie Fisher - Empire Room 1959
Judy Garland -Town & Country 1958
Jackie Gleason - La Vie en Rose 1953
Benny Goodman - Empire Room 1956
Dolores Gray - Waldorf Astoria 1954
Buddy Hackett - Copacabana 1956
Connie Haines - Terrace Room 1951
Dick Haymes - Versailles 1956
Horace Heidt - 30th Anniversary 1954
Florence Henderson w/Bill Hayes 1958
Hildegarde - Pierre 1953
Celeste Holm - Plaza 1958
Eddy Howard - Roosevelt 1955
Burl Ives w/Wally Cox - Persian Room
Lisa Kirk - Persion Room 1958
Frankie Laine - Latin Quarter 1955
Julius La Rosa - Romanian 1958
Peggy Lee - Copacabana 1958
Jerry Lewis - Town & Country 1957
Joe E. Lewis - Copacabana 1945
Ted Lewis - Latin Quarter 1953
Liberace - Persian Room 1947
Guy Lombardo - Roosevelt 1957
Vincent Lopez - Grill Room 1954
Tony Martin - Riviera 1953
Martin and Lewis - Copacabana 1950
Ray McKinley - Glenn Miller Band 1957
Mills Brothers - Latin Quarter 1956
Vaughn Monroe - Astor 1955
Constance Moore - St. Regis 1958
Johnnie Ray - Copacabana 1953
Rowan & Martin - Latin Quarter 1961
Della Reese - Copacabana 1961
Sugar Ray Robinson - French Casino
Dorothy Shay - St. Regis 1961
Frank Sinatra - Wedgewood 1943
Danny Thomas - Copacabana 1949
Sophie Tucker - Latin Quarter 1950
Mae West - Latin Quarter 1956
Julie Wilson - Persian Room 1954
EDITORIALS
Dean Martin - thoughts on Mr. Sauve
Peter Lawford - retrospective
Rise & Fall of the big bands
INTERVIEWS
K Baggelaar- Copacabana author
Don Dellair - cabaret performer
Denny Farrell - big band disc jockey
Hal Turner - Performer/Conductor
B Zickafoose - played in WWII Europe
ASSORTED
Bernie Bierman bio
Sammy Kaye - Roosevelt 1957
Dinah Shore - press release and autograph from the 50's
A Letter about a WWII song
Harbers & Dale - Dance Team
:::
Links
Message Board
Guestbook
Search Site
My Pets

 

 

 

 


Tips on Tables

© 2003 - Craig's Big Band, Nightclub and Restaurant Collection VAu605-593