He gained national recognition as O. J. Simpson's friend and defense attorney during Simpson's 1995 murder trial. He had four children with his first wife, Kris Kardashian (née Houghton, later Jenner): Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob, who appear on their family reality television series, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and its spinoffs.

Marriages and children

Robert Kardashian dated Priscilla Presley from 1975 to 1976.

He had four children with his first wife, Kris Kardashian (née Houghton, subsequently Jenner): Kourtney, Kimberly, Khloé, and Rob. The couple separated and divorced in 1991.

Shortly after separating from his first wife in 1991, Kardashian became engaged to Denice Shakarian Halicki, widow of movie producer H.B. Halicki. The couple never married. In 1998, Kardashian married Jan Ashley; however, the marriage ended in annulment 30 days later. 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.

O. J. Simpson case

Kardashian and Simpson first met in the early 1970s and became close friends.

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.

Kardashian visited Simpson in jail regularly. According to an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kardashian said, "I've never been in a jail before. It's extremely depressing. It makes me sick every time I go down there. We can't have any physical contact. I want to hug him, I want to show him that I care. It's very difficult."^{[citation needed]}

The New York Times reported that Kardashian said in a 1996 ABC interview that he had questioned 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."

Illness and death

Kardashian was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2003. He died two months later, on September 30, 2003, 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 2017, Kardashian was the subject of the pilot episode of the TV comedy series Over My Dead Body on Amazon Prime.