Peter Atwill Griffith (October 23, 1933 – May 14, 2001)^[1] was an American advertising executive and child stage actor, appearing on Broadway a few times. His daughters Melanie Griffith and Tracy Griffith and his granddaughter Dakota Johnson became actresses.

Life and career

Griffith was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Hilda (née Atwill) and Ben E. Griffith.^[1] He had one sister, Sally Ann Griffith.^{[citation needed]} His mother managed his stage acting career as he worked as a child actor, appearing on Broadway a few times.^[2]

Griffith married five times.^[3] In 1952, at age 18,^{[citation needed]} he married 22-year-old Tippi Hedren, who later worked as an actress. They had a daughter, Melanie Griffith, before divorcing in 1959. In 1960,^{[citation needed]} he married actress Nanita Greene, and together they had two children, Tracy Griffith who also became an actress, and Clay Griffith,^[4] a set decorator and production designer. In the early 1970s he moved his family to Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands, and in 1976 separated from Greene.^[4] He briefly appears in John Carpenter's Halloween. After a fourth divorce from Marianne Vernon, an owner of a Charlotte Amalie designer clothing store, Griffith married Debra Meyer Boyd and remained with her until his death.^{[citation needed]} In 1992, he sold his real-estate business, Holiday Homes, and moved to New Mexico.^[3]

Death

Griffith died aged 67 on May 14, 2001, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of complications from emphysema.^[3]