Robert Kardashian

Early life and education

Kardashian was born in Los Angeles, California, on February 22, 1944, one of three children born to Arthur Kardashian (1917–2012) and Helen Jean Arakelian Kardashian (1917–2008), both Armenian Americans. He had a sister, Barbara Kardashian Freeman, and a brother, Thomas "Tom" Kardashian. The Kardashians were Armenian Spiritual Christians originally from Kars Oblast, and known by the surname Kardaschoff, a Russianized form of the Armenian surname Kardashian, as the area, though now part of modern-day Turkey, was then part of the Russian Empire. Once in the United States, Arthur's father, Tatos, changed his name to Thomas, and began a career in garbage collection, founding his own business, and married Hamas Shakarian, also an immigrant of Armenian heritage.

He grew up in the affluent View Park area of Los Angeles County, where the family lived at 4908 Valley Ridge Avenue. Kardashian attended Susan Miller Dorsey High School and the University of Southern California, from which he graduated in 1966 with a B.S. degree in business administration. He earned a J.D. degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and practiced for about a decade; after that, he went into business. In 1973, Kardashian was one of the co-founders of the trade publication Radio & Records, which he and his partners sold for a large profit in 1979. Kardashian also pioneered the idea of playing music between movies in theaters. He subsequently parlayed the concept into a business, starting a company called Movie Tunes. He served as president and CEO of the firm and later invested in Juice Inc., a frozen yogurt company, and in a music video business called Concert Cinema.

O. J. Simpson case

Main article: O. J. Simpson murder case

Kardashian and Simpson first met around 1967 while both of them were at USC and became close friends. Simpson was the best man at Kardashian and Kris Houghton's wedding in 1978.

Following the June 12, 1994, murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, Simpson stayed in Kardashian's house to avoid the media. Kardashian was the man seen carrying Simpson's garment bag the day that Simpson flew back from Chicago. Prosecutors speculated that the bag may have contained Simpson's bloody clothes or the murder weapon. When Simpson failed to turn himself in at 11 a.m. on June 17, 1994, Kardashian read a letter by Simpson to the assembled media. This letter was interpreted by many as a suicide note.

Simpson was charged with the murders and subsequently acquitted of all criminal charges in a controversial criminal trial. Kardashian had let his license to practice law become inactive before the Simpson case but reactivated it to aid in Simpson's defense as a volunteer assistant on his legal team, alongside Simpson's main defense attorneys, Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran. As one of Simpson's lawyers and a member of the defense "Dream Team", Kardashian could not be compelled or subpoenaed to testify against Simpson in the case, which included Simpson's past history and behavior with his ex-wife Nicole, and as to the contents of Simpson's garment bag. He sat by Simpson throughout the trial.

The New York Times reported that Kardashian said in a 1996 ABC interview with Barbara Walters that he had begun to question Simpson's innocence: "I have doubts. The blood evidence is the biggest thorn in my side; that causes me the greatest problems. So I struggle with the blood evidence." After Simpson's acquittal, Kardashian and Simpson ultimately stopped speaking to each other.

Illness and death

Kardashian was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2003. He died two months later, on September 30, 2003, at his home in Encino, Los Angeles, at age 59, and was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

In popular culture

Kardashian was portrayed by David Schwimmer in the 2016 FX miniseries American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson. Schwimmer was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance, but lost to Sterling K. Brown, who portrayed Christopher Darden in the same series. In 2016, ESPN Films and their 30 for 30 series produced a five-part miniseries called O.J.: Made in America, produced by Ezra Edelman, in which Kardashian was featured heavily through archive footage.

In 2017, Kardashian was the subject of the pilot episode of the TV comedy series Over My Dead Body on Amazon Prime.

Personal life

Kardashian dated Priscilla Presley from 1975 to 1976. The pair met through Kardashian's older brother, Tom Kardashian, who was dating Joan Esposito, the former wife of Joe Esposito, road manager for Elvis. On an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, his daughter Kim stated that the two were briefly engaged.

Kardashian married former flight attendant Kris Kardashian (née Houghton, later Jenner) on July 8, 1978. They had four children: daughters Kourtney (born 1979), Kim (born 1980), Khloé (born 1984), and son Rob (born 1987). Kardashian filed for divorce in 1990 due to his wife's infidelity. Their divorce was finalized in March 1991, but they remained friends until his death.

Shortly after separating from his first wife in 1991, Kardashian became engaged to Denice Shakarian Halicki, his third cousin and the widow of movie producer H.B. Halicki. The couple never married.

In 1998, Kardashian married Jan Ashley; however, the marriage ended in annulment in 1999. Ashley later claimed frequent upset and turmoil related to Kardashian's ex-wife, Kris, and their children "were instrumental" in the demise of the relationship.

After dating for three years and proposing in 2001, Kardashian married his third wife, Ellen Pierson (née Markowitz), six weeks prior to his death.

References

References

1. "Robert George Kardashian".
2. (May 28, 2008). "Obituaries". The Desert Sun.
3. "Helen Kardashian - Kim Kardashian: Official website". Kimkardashian.com.
4. "Taxonomy of 3 Spiritual Christian groups: Molokane, Pryguny and Dukh-i-zhizniki — books, fellowship, holidays, prophets and songs.".
5. John Collins. "The "Full Gospel" Origins of Peoples Temple". jonestown.sdsu.edu.
6. Ian Halperin. (2016). "Kardashian Dynasty: The Controversial Rise of America's Royal Family". Simon and Schuster.
7. . (May 1956). ["Los Angeles Street Address Directory "Arthur Kardashian" and "Barbara Kardashian""](https://rescarta.lapl.org/ResCarta-Web/jsp/RcWebImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=026bc4f2-52f9-4cbf-b1e4-12291b1cd6d0%2fLPU00000%2fLL000001%2f00000001).
8. Beth Shuster, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-06-mn-12500-story.html "Kardashian-Simpson Bond Stands Test of Time, Trouble"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', July 6, 1994.
9. "Who Was Robert Kardashian, Sr.?". Wetpaint.
10. (February 3, 2016). "The People v OJ Simpson: Who was Robert Kardashian? (Aside from Kim's dad)". The Telegraph.
11. (October 3, 2003). "Robert Kardashian, a Lawyer For O. J. Simpson, Dies at 59". The New York Times.
12. "50 Things You Probably Didn't Know about Kim Kardashian". Boomsbeat.
13. (February 8, 2016). "The Kardashians' bizarre involvements with O.J.'s trial". Looper.
14. Eric Malnic. (October 2, 2003). "Robert Kardashian – friend and lawyer of O.J. Simpson". Los Angeles Times.
15. Chang, Rachel. (June 16, 2020). "A History of O.J. Simpson's Relationship with the Kardashian Family".
16. (October 11, 2007). "O.J. Simpson trial: Testimony about Simpson's trip to Chicago". CNN.
17. Lowry, Brian. (June 21, 2010). "From the couch: O.J.'s legacy continues". Fox Sports.
18. (October 3, 2003). "Robert Kardashian, a Lawyer For O. J. Simpson, Dies at 59". The New York Times.
19. Reed, Christopher. (October 6, 2003). "Obituary: Robert Kardashian". The Guardian.
20. (October 1, 2003). "O.J. Simpson lawyer, Kardashian, dies". CNN.
21. Malnic, Eric. (October 2, 2003). "Robert Kardashian, 59; Served on O.J. Simpson's Defense Team".
22. Gnerre, Sam. (July 26, 2014). "The Inglewood Park Cemetery predates the city's incorporation". [[Daily Breeze]].
23. Stack, Tim. (January 25, 2016). "American Crime Story: David Schwimmer on Kris Jenner and the Kardashians".
24. "Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie - 2016". [[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]].
25. Friedlander, Whitney. (January 5, 2016). "'OJ: Made in America' Director on the Making of a Murderer". [[Variety (magazine).
26. "Over My Dead Body".
27. (April 3, 2016). "The Kardashians have two connections to Elvis Presley". Fox News.
28. (September 19, 2017). "Robert Kardashian Was in Love With Priscilla Presley Before Elvis Split Them Up, Book Claims". Inside Edition.
29. Finstad, Suzanne. (January 25, 1997). "Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley". [[Crown Publishing Group]].
30. (January 16, 2023). "Priscilla Presley's Dating History: From Elvis Presley to Robert Kardashian and Nigel Lythgoe".
31. Stated on ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'', November 8, 2011
32. "Kris Jenner and Robert Kardashian on June 27, 1984 and Robert Kardashian, Jr. on March 17, 1987.".
33. Kris, Kris. (2011). "Kris Jenner... and All Things Kardashian". Simon Schuster Ltd.
34. Wickman, Kase. (October 26, 2023). "Kris Jenner Reveals Her "Life's Biggest Regret" (and Its Happy Consequences)".
35. [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/03/us/robert-kardashian-a-lawyer-for-o-j-simpson-dies-at-59.html "Robert Kardashian, a Lawyer For O. J. Simpson, Dies at 59"] {{Webarchive. link. (January 4, 2021, ''The New York Times'', October 2, 2003.)
36. "Photo of Robert Kardashian with his children". What's Good? Online.
37. [[Dominick Dunne]], [http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/archive/1996/06/dunne199606 "Three Faces of Evil"] {{Webarchive. link. (January 14, 2013 ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)). Vanity Fair]]'', June 1996.
38. Los Angeles]]'', October 1996.
39. (July 26, 2017). "Robert Kardashian Engaged To Third Cousin Denice Halicki".
40. (January 12, 2012). "Court Documents Prove Khloe Is A Kardashian, Kris Jenner Calls Allegations 'Crap' (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post.
41. (Oct 1996). "Stand By Your Man". Los Angeles Magazine.
42. Mohan, Keerthi. (October 9, 2014). "Bruce Jenner Might have Called it Quits with Kris Jenner Because of her Children: Report". [[International Business Times]].
43. "Declaration of Robert Kardashian".
44. Amber Garrett. (June 10, 2013). "Who is Robert Kardashian's Widow, Ellen Pierson Kardashian?".