Robert Kardashian

Robert George Kardashian (February 22, 1944 – September 30, 2003) was an American lawyer and businessman. He was the lawyer for O. J. Simpson when he was accused of murdering his ex-wife and her friend. David Schwimmer played his role in the 2016 FX miniseries American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson.^[1]

Robert George Kardashian was born on February 22, 1944 in Los Angeles, California. He was one of three children born to Arthur and Helen Jean Arakelian Kardashian, who were both Armenian Americans.^[2] He had two siblings, a sister named Barbara and a brother named Thomas "Tom" Kardashian.^[3] The family were Armenian Spiritual Christians from Kars Oblast, a region that was part of the Russian Empire at the time (now in modern-day Turkey). Their original surname was Kardashian, but it was Russianized to Kardaschoff.^[4] After arriving in the United States, Arthur's father, Tatos, changed his name to Thomas, started a garbage collection business, and married Hamas Shakarian, who was also an Armenian immigrant.

Growing up in the View Park area of the Los Angeles County, his family lived at 4908 Valley Ridge Avenue.^[5] He attended Susan Miller Dorsey High School and later graduated from the University of Southern California in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science degree.^[6] He got a degree in law from the University of San Diego and worked as a lawyer for about ten years before switching to business.^[7]

Kardashian and O.J. Simpson met around 1967 while both were students at USC and became close friends. Simpson was the best man at Kardashian’s wedding to Kris Houghton in 1978.^[7]

After the June 12, 1994, murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, Simpson stayed at Kardashian’s house to avoid the media. Kardashian was seen carrying Simpson’s garment bag when Simpson returned from Chicago, and prosecutors suspected it might have held bloody clothes or the murder weapon.^[8] When Simpson didn’t turn himself in on June 17, 1994, Kardashian read a letter from Simpson to the media, which many thought sounded like a suicide note.^[9]

Simpson was later charged with the murders and was acquitted in a highly publicized trial. Although Kardashian had let his law license go inactive, he reactivated it to help with Simpson’s defense. As part of the legal team, he couldn’t be forced to testify about Simpson’s past or the contents of the garment bag.^[10] He sat beside Simpson throughout the trial.^[11]

In a 1996 interview with Barbara Walters, Kardashian admitted he had doubts about Simpson’s innocence, especially because of the blood evidence. After the trial, the two eventually stopped speaking.^[11]

Kardashian was played by David Schwimmer in the 2016 FX miniseries American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson.^[1] Schwimmer was nominated for an Emmy for his role but lost to Sterling K. Brown, who played Christopher Darden in the same show.^[12] That same year, ESPN released a five-part documentary called O.J.: Made in America, where Kardashian appeared through archive footage.^[13]

In 2017, he was also featured in the pilot episode of the comedy series Over My Dead Body on Amazon Prime.

Kardashian was an Armenian-American. He was the husband of Kris Jenner and the father of Kourtney, Kim, Khloé and Rob Kardashian.

Kardashian was born on February 22, 1944 in Los Angeles, California. He studied at the University of Southern California and at the University of San Diego School of Law.

Kardashian was married to Kris Jenner from 1978 until they divorced in 1991. Then he was married to Jan Ashley from 1998 until they divorced in 1999. Then he was married to Ellen Pearson from 2003 until his death two months later.

Kardashian was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2003. Less than eight weeks after his diagnosis, he died at age 59 on September 30, 2003.^[14] He was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.^[15]

• Robert Kardashian at Find a Grave