Ben Lyon


Ben Lyon was an American film actor and a studio executive at 20th Century-Fox who later acted in British radio, films and TV.

Early life and career

Lyon was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Alvine W. and Ben Lyon, a travelling salesman. His family was Jewish. Lyon entered films in 1918 after a successful appearance on Broadway opposite Jeanne Eagels. He attracted attention in the highly successful film Flaming Youth and steadily developed into a leading man. He was 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. In 1925, a writer for Photoplay wrote of him, "Girls, Ben Lyon looks harmless but we have reliable information that he's irresistible, so watch your step. Besides he's a mighty fine actor and if the ladies must fall in love with him he can't help it."
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 a heroic World War I aviator was also highly regarded and was a personal friend of Howard Hughes. 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. 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, when the United States was still neutral, Lyon 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 spawned a couple of theatrical films as well as a television series on BBC and independent television from 1954 until 1960. Bebe Daniels had top billing in these series, similar to the concurrent American show starring married couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in March 1963, when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre.

Military service

Lyon served as a pilot in the 322nd Pursuit Squadron in the early 1930s. During World War II he served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Air Forces Special Services.

Personal life and death

Lyon married actress Bebe Daniels in June 1930. They had two children, daughter Barbara in 1931 and an adopted son Richard. In an issue of the contemporary magazine Radio Pictorial, Bebe explained how she saw Richard peering through the railings at a London orphanage and instantly thought "A brother for Barbara". 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.
On April 1, 1972, Lyon married the actress Marian Nixon, whom he had known since the 1920s. They remained married until his death. She died five years later, also at age 78.
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 was 78 years old. His body was cremated and is interred in the Chapel Columbarium at Hollywood Forever Cemetery next to his first wife, Bebe Daniels.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Ben Lyon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1724 Vine Street.
Jill Allgood lived with Bebe and Ben Lyon for many years in their large apartment at Dolphin Square, London. Bebe and Ben Lyon were the godparent to Allgood's niece, Suzanne Allgood.

Filmography

YearFilmRoleDirectorNotes
1918The Transgressor
1919Open Your EyesHarold ConnorsGilbert P. Hamilton
1921The Heart of MarylandBob TelfairTom TerrissLost film
1923The Custard CupDick ChaseHerbert BrenonLost film
1923Potash and PerlmutterBoris AndrieffClarence G. BadgerLost film
1923Flaming YouthMonty StandishJohn Francis DillonIncomplete, one reel survives
1924Painted PeopleDon LaneClarence G. BadgerLost film
1924The White MothDouglas MorleyMaurice Tourneur
1924Wine of YouthLynn TalbotKing Vidor
1924Lily of the DustLt. PrellDimitri BuchowetzkiLost film
1924Wages of VirtueMarvinAllan DwanLost film
1924So BigDirk DeJongCharles BrabinLost film
1925One Way StreetBobby AustinJohn Francis DillonLost film
1925The Necessary EvilFrank JeromeGeorge ArchainbaudLost film
1925Winds of ChancePierce PhillipsFrank Lloyd
1925The Pace That ThrillsDanny WadeWebster CampbellLost film
1925The New CommandmentBilly MorrowHoward HigginLost film
1925Bluebeard's Seven WivesJohn Hart / Don Juan HartezAlfred SantellLost film
1926The Reckless LadyRalph HilliweHoward HigginLost film
1926The SavageDanny TerryFred C. NewmeyerLost film
1926The Great DeceptionCyril MansfieldHoward HigginLost film
1926Prince of TemptersFrancisLothar Mendes
1927The Perfect SapHerbert AldenHoward HigginLost film
1927High HatJerryJames Ashmore Creelman
1927The Tender HourWally McKenzieGeorge Fitzmaurice
1927Dance MagicLeach NorcuttVictor HalperinLost film
1927For the Love of MikeMikeFrank CapraLost film
1927Dancing ViennaJonny ConzagaFrederic ZelnikLost film
1929The Air LegionDaveBert Glennon
1929All Faces West MathewRaymond K. Johnson
1929The QuitterNeal AbbottJoseph Henabery
1929The Flying MarineSteve MoranAlbert S. Rogell
1930LummoxRollo FarleyRay Lissner
1930Alias French GertieJimmy HartiganGeorge Archainbaud
1930Hell's AngelsMonte RutledgeHoward Hughes
James Whale
1930What Men WantKendall JamesErnst Laemmle
1930A Soldier's PlaythingGeorgieMichael Curtiz
1931The Hot Heiress'Hap' HarriganClarence G. Badger
1931Misbehaving LadiesPhil HunterWilliam Beaudine
1931IndiscreetTony BlakeLeo McCarey
1931AlohaJimmy BradfordAlbert S. Rogell
1931My PastRobert 'Bob' ByrneRoy Del Ruth
1931Night NurseMortieWilliam A. Wellman
1931BoughtNick AmoryArchie Mayo
1931Her Majesty, LoveFred von WellingenWilliam Dieterle
1931CompromisedSidney BrockBen SilveyLost film
1932Lady with a PastGuy BrysonE. J. Babille
1932The Big TimerCooky BradfordEdward Buzzell
1932Week Ends OnlyJack WilliamsAlan Crosland
1932By Whose Hand?JimmyBenjamin Stoloff
1932The Crooked CircleBrand OsborneH. Bruce Humberstone
1932Hat Check GirlBuster CollinsSidney Lanfield
1933Girl MissingHenry GibsonRobert Florey
1933I Cover the WaterfrontH. Joseph 'Joe' MillerJames Cruze
1933The Women in His LifeRoger McKaneGeorge B. Seitz
1934I SpyWally Sawyer
1934Crimson RomanceBob WilsonDavid Howard
1934Lightning Strikes TwiceSteven 'Steve' BrewsterBen Holmes
1935Together We LiveMaxWillard Mack
1935Navy WifeDr. Peter MilfordAllan Dwan
1935Frisco WaterfrontGlenn BurtonArthur Lubin
1936Dancing FeetPeyton WellsJoseph Santley
1936Down to the SeaSteve LondosLewis D. Collins
1936Treachery on the High SeasJohnny HammondEmil-Edwin Reinert
1938StardustRoyal Harley Melville W. Brown
1939I Killed the CountBernard FroyFrederic Zelnik
1939Confidential LadyJim BrentArthur B. WoodsLost film
1941Hi Gang!Her Other HalfMarcel Varnel
1942This Was ParisButch, Sydney Chronicle ReporterJohn Harlow
1943The Dark TowerPhil DantonJohn Harlow
1954Life with the LyonsHimselfVal Guest
1955The Lyons in ParisBenVal Guest