Christopher Lawford — nephew of John F. Kennedy and the son of Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy — has died at the age of 63 after a life spent overcoming addiction. The tragic scion had a sporadic Hollywood career, including a role in 2003’s “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” but had also found fame as a showbiz correspondent on “EXTRA.” Lawford also had success as an author with the book “Symptoms of Withdrawal,” whicih was a memoir about his own battles with drug and alcohol. That included his early years struggling as a junkie alongside his cousins Bobby and David Kennedy. “Heroin was four dollars a bag,” Chris had recalled, “and you could get high on three bags. That wasn’t a lot of money, but we were high school kids with very little cash.” And in a tragic twist, Chris also revealed how his famous father had encouraged his marijuana and cocaine use after he moved to Hollywood at 18 years old!
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"Dad decided that it was cool to smoke a joint with his son," revealed Chris. "My dad's grass was better than anything I had seen in my short life. Good drugs, beautiful girls, making movies: I was home...It was a great day when my dad let me make the trip to pick up some of the best coke in Hollywood."
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Chris also got to meet his dad's Hollywood pals like superstar
Elizabeth Taylor — but his drug use would ultimately derail his early acting career. Instead, Chris would rely on work within the Kennedy clan, including jobs on the board of the Special Olympics and as a staffer for
Ted Kennedy.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
Chris wrote in his memoir that he finally cleaned up his act after 17 years as a heavy drug user because of a family tragedy — inspired to get straight by the 1984 overdose death of David Kennedy at the age of 28. He died at a yoga studio on Sept. 4 of what's being reported as "natural causes."
"Dad decided that it was cool to smoke a joint with his son," revealed Chris. "My dad's grass was better than anything I had seen in my short life. Good drugs, beautiful girls, making movies: I was home...It was a great day when my dad let me make the trip to pick up some of the best coke in Hollywood."
Photo credit: Getty Images
Chris also got to meet his dad's Hollywood pals like superstar
Elizabeth Taylor — but his drug use would ultimately derail his early acting career. Instead, Chris would rely on work within the Kennedy clan, including jobs on the board of the Special Olympics and as a staffer for
Ted Kennedy.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Chris wrote in his memoir that he finally cleaned up his act after 17 years as a heavy drug user because of a family tragedy — inspired to get straight by the 1984 overdose death of David Kennedy at the age of 28. He died at a yoga studio on Sept. 4 of what's being reported as "natural causes."
Photo credit: Getty Images
