A smoker since age 14, Lawson

A smoker since age 14, Lawson later appeared in an anti-smoking commercial that parodied the Marlboro man and an "Entertainment Tonight" segment to discuss the negative effects of smoking. Susan said her husband was proud of the interview, even though he was smoking at the time and continued the habit until he was diagnosed with COPD.

 

"He knew the cigarettes had a hold on him," she said. "He knew, yet he still couldn't stop."

 

A few actors and models who pitched Marlboro brand cigarettes have died of smoking-related diseases. They include David Millar, who died of emphysema in 1987, and David McLean, who died of lung cancer in 1995.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/27/eric-lawson-marlboro-man-dies_n_4671746.html