Trivia

Columbia Pictures chief Harry Cohn once told Lawrence that Johnny Roselli, a notorious gangster, had said that he was the best hood in films. Lawrence himself was often told by Italian hoods in his native New York that he played them better than anyone else; ironically, Lawrence was Jewish.

He was a friend of legendary mob boss Lucky Luciano. He would visit Luciano in Italy where the mobster had been deported following his prison term for running a prostitution ring. Whenever Lawrence would see the mobster, Lucky would always ask for him to talk in an "exaggerated" New York accent, which Lawrence would do. The reason was that Luciano missed New York and meeting New Yorkers and hearing their accents would always make him feel better.

Despite a prolific career covering nearly 70 years, consisting hundreds of motion picture appearances and many more television spots, his name was not included in the necrology of deceased film actors in the previous year at the 2006 Academy Awards (Oscar) Show.

Named actor Jeff Corey, a former Communist Party member who had left behind the party and the ideology, as a communist before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Corey, who was subsequently blacklisted from 1951 through 1962, was bitter over Lawrence's action for the rest of his long life.

During the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings, Lawrence testified that Lionel Stander told him that joining the Communist Party would make him more attractive to women. During his testimony, Stander denounced Lawrence as a psychopath and presented a letter that gave Lawrence's mental history and revealed that he had been hospitalized after a mental breakdown just prior to his HUAC testimony.

He was the earliest born actor to appear in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993).

Profiled in "Names You Never Remember, With Faces You Never Forget" by Justin Humphreys (BearManor Media).

Father of Michael Lawrence (born November 7, 1943) and Toni Lawrence. Ex-father-in-law of Billy Bob Thornton.

Interviewed in "Actors on Red Alert: Career Interviews with Five Actors and Actresses Affected by the Blacklist", by Anthony Slide, 1999.

Appeared in the James Bond films Los diamantes son eternos (1971) and 007 y el hombre con el revólver de oro (1974) as characters who wear similar clothing. It's often argued by Bond fans whether they're supposed to be the same character or different ones.