| Peter Lee Lawrence | |
| Birth Name: | Karl Hyrenbach |
| Birth Date: | 21 February 1944 |
| Birth Place: | Lindau, Germany |
| Death Place: | Rome, Italy |
| Occupation: | Actor |
Peter Lee Lawrence (born Karl Hyrenbach, 21 February 1944 – 20 April 1974) was a German actor and a citizen of France. He enjoyed brief fame as a prolific leading man of Spaghetti Westerns before dying at the age of 30.
Lawrence lived in Nice for several years with his mother and then in Rome (Italy) with his wife and son. He was also cast in photonovels under the name Pierre Clément.
His first notable film role was a small, uncredited, but important appearance as the brother-in-law of Lee Van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More. From then on he went on to star in 16 more Spaghetti Westerns from 1967 to 1973. He was also credited in several of these films as Arthur Grant. Some of these films were hits in Europe including Killer Caliber .32 (1967), Day of Violence (1967), Fury of Johnny Kid (1967), The Man Who Killed Billy the Kid (1967), Killer Adios (1968). He was a particularly popular actor in Cuba.
In 1971, Lawrence had a supporting role in Black Beauty. He continued acting until his death. He had 30 film credits in his nine-year career. His last credited appearance was Los Caballeros del Botón de Ancla (1974).
He met actress Cristina Galbó during the filming of Dove si spara di più in 1967,[1] [2] and they married two years later on 30 July 1969, remaining married until his death.[3]
In 1972 Lawrence began suffering from headaches. Once filming finished on Los Caballeros del Botón de Ancla, he was admitted to the Foundation Jimenez Diaz Hospital in Madrid, where he was operated on. The surgery was a success, but the biopsy report revealed it was glioblastoma. He moved to Zurich, where he began both chemo and radium treatment. On 25 March 1974 Lawrence was admitted to the Villa Stuart Clinic in Rome with severe stomach pains. He died on 20 April 1974, at 3:10 in the morning, from a brain tumor.[4]