Ben Lyon
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
Credits
- 1962 · The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
- 1955 · The Lyons in Paris as Ben
- 1954 · Life with the Lyons as Ben Lyon
- 1943 · The Dark Tower as Phil Danton
- 1942 · This Was Paris as Butch, Sydney Chronicle Reporter
- 1941 · Hi Gang! as Her Other Half
- 1939 · Confidential Lady as Jim Brent
- 1939 · I Killed the Count as Bernard Froy
- 1938 · Stardust as Roy Harley
- 1936 · Down to the Sea as Steve Londos
- 1936 · Dancing Feet as Peyton Wells
- 1935 · Frisco Waterfront as Glenn Burton
- 1935 · Navy Wife as Dr. Peter Milford
- 1935 · Together We Live as Max
- 1934 · Lightning Strikes Twice as Steve Brewster
- 1934 · Crimson Romance as Bob Wilson
- 1934 · I Spy as Wally Sawyer
- 1933 · The Women in His Life as Roger McKane
- 1933 · I Cover the Waterfront as H. Joseph 'Joe' Miller
- 1933 · Girl Missing as Henry Gibson
- 1932 · Hollywood on Parade No. A-3 as Self
- 1932 · Hat Check Girl as Buster Collins
- 1932 · The Crooked Circle as Brand Osborne
- 1932 · Hollywood on Parade No. A-1 as Self
- 1932 · By Whose Hand? as Jimmy Hawley
- 1932 · Week Ends Only as Jack Williams
- 1932 · The Big Timer as Cooky Bradford
- 1932 · Lady with a Past as Guy Bryson
- 1931 · Her Majesty, Love as Fred von Wellingen
- 1931 · Compromised as Sidney Brock
- 1931 · Bought! as Nick Amory
- 1931 · Night Nurse as Mortie
- 1931 · My Past as Robert 'Bob' Byrne
- 1931 · Aloha as Jimmy Bradford
- 1931 · Indiscreet as Tony Blake
- 1931 · Misbehaving Ladies as Phil Hunter
- 1931 · The Stolen Jools as Ben Lyon
- 1931 · The Hot Heiress as Hap Harrigan
- 1930 · Hell's Angels as Monte Rutledge
- 1930 · A Soldier's Plaything as Georgie
- 1930 · What Men Want as Kendall James
- 1930 · Alias French Gertie as Jimmy Hartigan
- 1930 · Lummox as Rollo Farley
- 1929 · The Flying Marine as Steve Moran
- 1929 · The Quitter as Neal Abbott
- 1929 · All Faces West as Matthew
- 1927 · Das tanzende Wien as Jonny Conzaga
- 1927 · Life in Hollywood No. 2 as Himself
- 1927 · For the Love of Mike as Mike
- 1927 · The Tender Hour as Wally McKenzie
- 1926 · The Prince of Tempters as Francis
- 1926 · The Great Deception as Cyril Mansfield
- 1926 · The Savage as Danny Terry
- 1926 · The Reckless Lady as Ralph Hilliwe
- 1926 · Bluebeard's Seven Wives as John Hart / Don Juan Hartez
- 1925 · The New Commandment as Billy Morrow
- 1925 · The Pace That Thrills as Danny Wade
- 1925 · Winds of Chance as Pierce Phillips
- 1925 · The Necessary Evil as Frank Jerome
- 1924 · So Big as Dirk DeJong
- 1924 · Wages of Virtue as Marvin
- 1924 · Wine of Youth as Lynn Talbot
- 1924 · Lily of the Dust as Lt. Prell
- 1924 · The White Moth as Douglas Vantine
- 1924 · Painted People as Don Lane
- 1923 · Potash and Perlmutter as Boris Andrieff
- 1923 · The Custard Cup as Dick Chase
- 1921 · The Heart of Maryland as Bob Telfair
- 1919 · Open Your Eyes as Harold Connors