Peter Lee Lawrence

In clearing out some spam comments on my blog today I noticed I had received a reply to a post I made on my Blog for February 2, 2010 in homor of Peter Lee Lawrence’s 70th birthday. It was from his then wife actress Cristina Galbo. Here it is in its entirety and should clear up mistakes about his life. I have corrected Peter’s biography in our database.

[i]My name is Cristina Galbó: Cristina Hyrenbach

The death of PETER LEE LAWRENCE, born KARL HYRENBACH, is not a mystery. It happened in private and with family, and it certainly was not suicide.

We always wanted to protect our lives from the public attention associated with our work. If I have not spoken before now it was because I always thought that in time, everything would fall into place. But now I am breaking my silence to put an end to the rumors and misinformation that are hurting us, the people who loved him and who always will.

Karl Hyrenbach and Thieme was born on the 21st of February 1944 in Lindau-Bodensee, Germany. An adopted son of France, he spent part of his childhood and youth in Nice. He had three sisters and two brothers.

In 1964, while still a student, he began his career in cinema. We met in 1966, while we were acting together in a film. Karl had a child at that time, born from a previous relationship. In 1968 we met up again off the set. We got married on the 30th of July 1969 and our son David was born on the 4th of May 1970.

In 1972 he began suffering from headaches. Once filming finished on “Boton de Ancla”, he was admitted to the Foundation Jimenez Diaz Hospital in Madrid, where he was operated on by Dr. Sixto Obrador. The surgery was a success, but the report confirmed our worst fears. It was glioblastoma.

In our attempt to use all the resources available to us, we moved to Zurich, where, under the auspices of Professor Wolfgang Horst, Karl began both chemo and radium treatment. Realizing how serious his illness was, we decided to do things we had always wanted to do but never got around to. We had the privilege of living in Tahiti (French Polynesia) for several months, of having lots of time to spend with family and friends, and of enjoying the peace at our home in Rome, and going back to Zurich for check-ups.

On the 12th of February 1974 Karl had a routine check-up with Professor Horst. The results were good, which kept our hopes up. On the 25th of March 1974, Karl was admitted to the Villa Stuart Clinic in Rome with severe stomach pains. He died on a Saturday, April 20th 1974, at ten past three in the morning. He was thirty years of age.

Among the defining traits of his personality, I would have to highlight his dedication to the people he loved, and his anti-conformist attitude, which he maintained against anything he considered unjust. He was very sociable and a polyglot to boot, who used short-wave radio to connect with people’s struggles around the world. But his real passion was scuba diving and everything related to the sea. With his sophisticated equipment and his underwater cameras, he used to spend hours and hours enjoying exploring the seabed. I think David’s dedication to the sea is genetic.

I hope I have dissipated any doubts surrounding his death, because all the facts I have mentioned can be easily proven. I will merely add that those of us who spent the sixteen months of his illness with Karl can attest to his dignity, courage and desire to live and fight with spirit he always showed. I will never forget he used to say “Don’t you worry Pichuqui, I will get over this because I have so many reasons to do so”.

Sincerely, Cristina Galbó[/i]

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Interesting stuff, thanks for posting !

As always I’ll be pushing for him to get into the hall of fame this year.

Thank you Tom… (and Cristina) - I’ve been watching a few PLL films recently, and it is somewhat sad to be reminded of his untimely death, although good to hear that he was such an honourable and spirited man.
And yes, Col. - he should be in the hall of fame.

Agreed. I’ve always like (most of) PLL’s movies.

Top Westerns starring PLL:
(1) Fury of Johnny Kid
(2) Man Who Shot Billy the Kid
(3) Days of Violence
(4) Garringo
(5) God in Heaven, Arizona on Earth
(6) Pistol For A Hundred Coffins
(7) Awkward Hands
(8 ) Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest

I only discovered Peter Lee Lawrence back in April, but he’s quickly become one of my top five actors. My favorite films are the ones that really utilize his charisma. I think Lawrence is at his best when he’s got a bit of cheekiness to him, like in Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest or Garringo. One of the reasons why I’m not a huge fan of Killer Caliber .32 even though it is a technically well made movie.
Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest

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My favorite Lawrence movies:

The Fury of Johnny Kidd
Arizona on Earth
Awkward Hands

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Still need to get around to all three of those. Some of Lawrence’s movies seem strangely difficult to find. I can’t even find a physical version of The Man Who Shot Billy the Kid in America.

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Exactly. The German release of that movie was one of the first purchases I made once I got my all region player.

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I’m a huge fan of Lawrence, he has loads of charm and as @RockyRaccoon says, he’s best when he’s playing a cheeky character. Just like with Robert Woods, I wish he got a chance to star in a ‘big’ spaghetti western

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If I ever start a serious physical collection that’s definitely something I need to invest in. I actually watched the French dub of Garringo, but still really enjoyed it because Lawrence’s (and Steffen’s) acting was so strong.

Yeah, Woods is another actor that really took me off guard with how talented he was since he’s not really one of the bigger Spaghetti Western actors.

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