With a background that included much stage work and even some opera singing, Lawrence was nurtured in Hollywood by director William Wyler. He moved from New York to California and in 1932 made his film debut with a bit part as an unnamed hoodlum in "If I Had a Million". This began a career in which he worked for every studio (although more for Columbia than any other) appearing in 11 films in 1937 alone. Lawrence was never the protagonist and usually the sidekick, rather than the chief villain lurking. Lawrence had one of his best chances with "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950), playing a nervous bookie. He was in support of Paul Muni, along with Humphrey Bogart, in "Dr. Socrates" (1935) and was a mobster in "I Am the Law" (1939), in which Edward G Robinson was a prosecutor. He was Ziggy, one of unrepentant crime boss Robinson's chief henchmen in "Key Largo" (1948).
To escape the blacklist, Lawrence and his writer wife, Fanya Foss, moved to Italy in 1951. During his six years there, he performed in numerous films (including an odd turn as Diomedes in 1956's "Helen of Troy") and even took a few turns behind the camera in the director's chair. When Lawrence returned to Hollywood to live in 1957, he first found work as a director rather than actor as the McCarthy era was not yet over. He helmed episodes of such series as "Maverick" and "77 Sunset Strip". He began acting again around 1960, appearing in numerous episodes of such series as "The Detectives", "The Untouchables" and the Western, "The Rifleman". Lawrence returned to the big screen playing a deported Mafia don, reminiscent of Lucky Luciano, in "Johnny Cool" (1963). The next year, he directed "Nightmare in the Sun" with John Derek as a drifter who meets up with Ursula Andress. Lawrence and Derek also produced the film, which did not please the critics and faltered with the public. His other directing effort, the thriller "Daddy's Deadly Darling" (filmed in 1972 and released in 1984), also did not set any box-office records. In the 70s, he had memorable roles in "The Man With the Golden Gun" (1974), the ninth James Bond movie, and as the nefarious Erhard alongside Laurence Olivier in "Marathon Man" (1976). He fit in well as a crusty man in the disastrous "Newsies" and was a mob heavy in "Ruby" (both 1992).
Through the years, Lawrence did not seem to slow down and was actually "rediscovered" by younger directors who had watched his face on the late show. In 1995, he played an irascible bellhop who gives Tim Roth "the lowdown" in "Four Rooms" and played a motel owner who gives George Clooney a dressing down in Robert Rodriguez's "From Dusk Till Dawn". Unlike many other Golden Age Hollywood players, Lawrence did not move into TV when film roles became more scarce--partly because his film roles never seemed to dry up. He did play a gangster, however, in the CBS TV-movie "Honor They Father" (1973), and made two unsold pilot, "Border Pals" (ABC, 1981) and "Terror At Alcatraz" (NBC, 1982). He continued to make the occasional guest shot on series like "Shannon's Deal" and "Gabriel's Fire" into the 90s.