10 Small Movie Roles You Didn't Know Held Signifigance

It's no secret that Frank Sinatra had a vast array of friends that came and went during his rat pack days. Some were from the political arena, some from Hollywood and others were friends from Sicily, so to speak.

The same can be said of the rest of the pack, notably Peter Lawford. Lawford was the leading man arm of the pack, if there was one. By the time his offscreen antics with the crew made more headlines than his roles, he had already enjoyed a reasonably successful acting career.

Lawford was also the pack's political in, having married John's sister Patricia Kennedy in 1954. "Brother-in-Lawford," Sinatra famously quipped about his friend after they'd held a fundraiser for then-Senator Kennedy.

Lawford would have a falling out with Sinatra, but he would remain close to the Kennedys - at least close enough to intercede on Sinatra's behalf when his son was kidnapped. He and Patricia would divorce in 1966.

They did produce a child named Christopher, who would overcome drug addiction to earn a Masters from Harvard and a not insignificant acting career. Since his recovery, Lawford appeared in The Russia House, Run and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

It's no accident that Lawford appeared in Thirteen Days, Roger Donaldson's 2000 film about The Kennedy brothers navigating potential nuclear was during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Lawford doesn't play one his relatives, but instead a fighter pilot who heroically refuses to report being fired upon over Cuba.

He passed away in 2018.