Michael Kennedy
Michael LeMoyne Kennedy (
February 27,
1958 â€"
December 31,
1997), was the sixth of eleven children of
Robert F. Kennedy and
Ethel Skakel Kennedy. He was a nephew of former
U.S president
John F. Kennedy and senator of
Massachusetts Edward M. Kennedy. He had six brothers and four sisters. His siblings, from oldest to youngest, are
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (b.
1951),
Joseph Patrick Kennedy II (b.
1952),
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (b.
1954),
David Anthony Kennedy (b.
1955-d.
1984),
Courtney Kennedy Hill (b.
1956),
Kerry Kennedy (b.
1959),
Christopher George Kennedy (b.
1963),
Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy (b.
1965),
Douglas Harriman Kennedy (b.
1967), and
Rory Kennedy (b.
1968).
Michael Kennedy was married to Victoria Gifford, daughter of
Frank Gifford. They had three children: Michael LeMoyne Kennedy Jr., born
Jan. 9,
1983, in
Charlottesville, Va., Kyle Francis Kennedy, born
July 6,
1984, in
Washington, D.C., and Rory Gifford Kennedy, born
Nov. 14,
1987, in
Dorchester, Mass..
Michael Kennedy was the head of his brother
Joseph's non-profit organization, Citizen's Energy Corporation. He also helped organize
Edward M. Kennedy's re-election campaign in
1994.
In
1997, the news broke that Michael Kennedy was having an affair with the family's former
babysitter. Allegedly, the affair had begun years ago when the babysitter was a
teenager, and Kennedy was thus placed under investigation for
statutory rape. However, the babysitter did not cooperate with prosecutors. Shortly after the
scandal began, Michael Kennedy and his wife separated.
Michael Kennedy died later that year in a
skiing accident in
Aspen, Colorado. Michael Kennedy was skiing with several other members of the
Kennedy family when he hit a tree while they were playing
football on skis. Kennedy was not wearing a
helmet or other
safety equipment. (The accident came just days before
Sonny Bono died in a similar
skiing accident on
January 5,
1998, in
California.)
*
Kennedy Curse*
List of famous skiing deaths*
Michael Kennedy's Gravesite
