Ben Lyon
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 6, 1901
- Died
- March 22, 1979 (aged 78)
- Birthplace
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Biography
From Wikipedia Ben Lyon (February 6, 1901 – March 22, 1979) was an American actor and a studio executive at 20th Century Fox. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Lyon entered films in 1918 after a successful appearance on Broadway opposite Jeanne Eagels. He attracted attention in the highly successful film Flaming Youth (1923), and steadily developed into a leading man. He was most successfully paired with some of the leading actresses of the silent era including Pola Negri, Gloria Swanson, Colleen Moore, Barbara La Marr, Viola Dana, Anna Q. Nilsson, Mary Astor and Blanche Sweet. He had success as an actor in the 1930 film Hell's Angels. The film was a major success and brought Jean Harlow to prominence, but Lyon's performance as an heroic World War I aviator was also highly regarded. For the next decade he was constantly in demand, but his popularity began to wane by the early 1940s. By the mid-1940s he was working for 20th Century Fox. On July 17, 1946 he met a young aspiring actress named Norma Jeane Dougherty.[2] After his first meeting with her he stated that she was "Jean Harlow all over again!". He organized a color screen test for the actress, renamed her, and finally signed her as Marilyn Monroe to her first studio contract. During World War II, Lyons and his wife, actress Bebe Daniels, settled in London. The couple, along with the comedian Vic Oliver, starred in the radio series Hi, Gang!, which ran from 1940 to 1949. Hi Gang was succeeded in 1950 by Life with the Lyons, which also featured their real life son Richard and daughter Barbara, and had a run on BBC and independent television from 1954 until 1960. Lyon married actress Bebe Daniels in June 1930. They had two children: daughter Barbara in 1932 and a son Richard whom they adopted. Daniels suffered a severe stroke in 1963 and withdrew from public life. She suffered a second stroke in late 1970. She died at the couple's London home in March 1971. In 1974, Lyon married the actress Marian Nixon whom he had known since the 1920s. On March 22, 1979, Lyon and his second wife Marian Nixon were vacationing together on the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship near Honolulu, Hawaii, when Lyon suffered a fatal heart attack. He is interred in the Chapel Columbarium at Hollywood Forever Cemetery next to his first wife, Bebe. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Ben Lyon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1724 Vine Street.
Known For
Filmography
Hollywood
TV · as Self · 3 eps
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Lyons in Paris
Movie · as Ben
Life with the Lyons
Movie · as Ben Lyon
The Dark Tower
Movie · as Phil Danton
This Was Paris
Movie · as Butch, Sydney Chronicle Reporter
Hi Gang!
Movie · as Her Other Half
Confidential Lady
Movie · as Jim Brent
I Killed the Count
Movie · as Bernard Froy
Stardust
Movie · as Roy Harley
Down to the Sea
Movie · as Steve Londos
Dancing Feet
Movie · as Peyton Wells
Together We Live
Movie · as Max
Navy Wife
Movie · as Dr. Peter Milford
Frisco Waterfront
Movie · as Glenn Burton
Screen Snapshots Series 14, No. 8
Movie
Lightning Strikes Twice
Movie · as Steve Brewster
Crimson Romance
Movie · as Bob Wilson
I Spy
Movie · as Wally Sawyer
I Cover the Waterfront
Movie · as H. Joseph 'Joe' Miller
Girl Missing
Movie · as Henry Gibson
The Women in His Life
Movie · as Roger McKane
Lady with a Past
Movie · as Guy Bryson
Hollywood on Parade No. A-1
Movie · as Self
The Crooked Circle
Movie · as Brand Osborne
By Whose Hand?
Movie · as Jimmy Hawley
Hollywood on Parade No. A-3
Movie · as Self
The Big Timer
Movie · as Cooky Bradford
Hat Check Girl
Movie · as Buster Collins
Week Ends Only
Movie · as Jack Williams
Night Nurse
Movie · as Mortie
Indiscreet
Movie · as Tony Blake
Her Majesty, Love
Movie · as Fred von Wellingen
Bought!
Movie · as Nick Amory
The Hot Heiress
Movie · as Hap Harrigan
My Past
Movie · as Robert 'Bob' Byrne
Compromised
Movie · as Sidney Brock
Aloha
Movie · as Jimmy Bradford
The Stolen Jools
Movie · as Ben Lyon
Misbehaving Ladies
Movie · as Phil Hunter
Hell's Angels
Movie · as Monte Rutledge
A Soldier's Plaything
Movie · as Georgie
Alias French Gertie
Movie · as Jimmy Hartigan
Lummox
Movie · as Rollo Farley
What Men Want
Movie · as Kendall James
The Quitter
Movie · as Neal Abbott
All Faces West
Movie · as Matthew
The Flying Marine
Movie · as Steve Moran
The Air Legion
Movie · as Dave Grayson
For the Love of Mike
Movie · as Mike
The Tender Hour
Movie · as Wally McKenzie
Das tanzende Wien
Movie · as Jonny Conzaga
Life in Hollywood No. 2
Movie · as Himself
The Perfect Sap
Movie · as Herbert Alden
The Great Deception
Movie · as Cyril Mansfield
The Savage
Movie · as Danny Terry
Bluebeard's Seven Wives
Movie · as John Hart / Don Juan Hartez
The Reckless Lady
Movie · as Ralph Hilliwe
The Prince of Tempters
Movie · as Francis
The Necessary Evil
Movie · as Frank Jerome
The New Commandment
Movie · as Billy Morrow
The Pace That Thrills
Movie · as Danny Wade
Winds of Chance
Movie · as Pierce Phillips
One Way Street
Movie · as Bobby Austin
Wine of Youth
Movie · as Lynn Talbot
So Big
Movie · as Dirk DeJong
Lily of the Dust
Movie · as Lt. Prell
Painted People
Movie · as Don Lane
The White Moth
Movie · as Douglas Vantine
Wages of Virtue
Movie · as Marvin
The Custard Cup
Movie · as Dick Chase
Potash and Perlmutter
Movie · as Boris Andrieff
Flaming Youth
Movie · as Monty Standish
The Heart of Maryland
Movie · as Bob Telfair
Open Your Eyes
Movie · as Harold Connors