Peter Atwill Griffith (October 23, 1933 – May 14, 2001) was an American advertising executive and child stage actor, appearing on Broadway a few times. His daughters

Melanie Griffith Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s. Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...

and

Tracy Griffith Tracy Lee Griffith (born October 19, 1965) is an American actress, sushi chef and painter. Early life Griffith was raised in Bedford, New York, the daughter of actor/producer Peter Griffith and his second wife, model/actress Nanita Greene. Her ...

and his granddaughter

Dakota Johnson Dakota Mayi Johnson (born October 4, 1989) is an American actress. The daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, she made her film debut at age ten with a minor role in the dark comedy film ''Crazy in Alabama'' (1999) with her mothe ...

became actresses.

Life and career

Griffith was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, the son of Hilda (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Atwill) and Ben E. Griffith. He had one sister, Sally Ann Griffith. His mother managed his stage acting career as he worked as a child actor, appearing on Broadway a few times. Griffith married five times. In 1952, at age 18, he married 22-year-old

Tippi Hedren Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930) is an American actress, animal rights activist, and former fashion model. A successful fashion model who appeared on the front covers of ''Life'' and '' Glamour'' magazines, among others, Hed ...

, who later worked as an actress. They had a daughter,

, before divorcing in 1959. In 1960, he married actress Nanita Greene, and together they had two children,

who also became an actress, and Clay Griffith, a set decorator and production designer. In the early 1970s he moved his family to

Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint John ( da, Sankt Jan) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Saint John () is the smallest of the thre ...

, and in 1976 separated from Greene. After a fourth divorce from Marianne Vernon, an owner of a Charlotte Amalia designer clothing store, Griffith married Debra Meyer Boyd and remained with her until his death. In 1992, he sold his real-estate business, Holiday Homes, and moved to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Death

Griffith died aged 67 on May 14, 2001, in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

from complications from

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Peter 1933 births 2001 deaths Male actors from Baltimore American male film actors American military personnel of the Korean War Deaths from emphysema Businesspeople from Baltimore Actors from Santa Fe, New Mexico 20th-century American male actors

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

20th-century American businesspeople