Ben Lyon

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

1.5518

Gender

Male

Birthday

06-Feb-1901

Age

(124 years old)

Place of Birth

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Also Known As
  • NO INFO PROVIDED

Ben Lyon

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.


Credits

I Spy I Spy (1934) Character: Wally Sawyer
Two Americans in England--a wealthy playboy and an actress--join forces to stop international spies.
Life in Hollywood No. 2 Life in Hollywood No. 2 (1927) Character: Himself
Part of a 7-part series exploring all aspects of Hollywood.
Down to the Sea Down to the Sea (1936) Character: Steve Londos
Greek sponge divers in Tarpon Springs, Florida duel over diving methods and fight over the same girl, and only one will survive.
Open Your Eyes Open Your Eyes (1919) Character: Harold Connors
A propagandistic melodrama recounting the dangers and horrors of venereal disease.
The Reckless Lady The Reckless Lady (1926) Character: Ralph Hilliwe
Set amidst French resorts and featuring gambling casinos and an automobile race, a mother and wife develops a mania for gambling, much to the dismay of her husband and daughter. A lost film.
The Custard Cup The Custard Cup (1923) Character: Dick Chase
Mrs. Penfield, better known as Penzie, is one of the inhabitants of a tenement neighborhood known as "the Custard Cup" because of its oval shape. Penzie is a widow who lost both her husband and son in the influenza epidemic of 1918 and 1919. She has found fulfillment by taking in three orphans. One of the Custard Cup's other residents is a counterfeiter, and when the police are too hot on his trail, he leaves a package with Penzie and sets a boat aflame when he tries to destroy some phony bills. When the gang is rounded up, Penzie -- who has been looking for one of her adopted children -- is found at the hideout and arrested.
The Heart of Maryland The Heart of Maryland (1921) Character: Bob Telfair
When the Civil War breaks out, Alan Kendrick, an army officer born in the South, stays in the army to fight for the Union, but his sweetheart Maryland sides with the South. She soon discovers that Alan was captured by Confederates in a battle near her home and is to be executed. Although he is fighting for her enemy, she cannot bring herself to let him be killed and devises a plan to help him escape.
The Air Legion The Air Legion (1929) Character: Dave Grayson
The Air Legion is a 1929 American aviation silent film about airmail directed by Bert Glennon.
Life with the Lyons Life with the Lyons (1954) Character: Ben Lyon
Based on their hit radio show, Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon starred in this British "Ozzie and Harriet" type show about "Life with the Lyons" with their two children, Barbara and Richard. On radio and TV, this series ran from 1950-61.
The Lyons in Paris The Lyons in Paris (1955) Character: Ben
The second in the series of films about the Lyon family, based on the BBC radio series Life With the Lyons. Ben Lyon appears to have forgotten his wedding anniversary making his wife Bebe furious. When his son sees him dining with a glamorous French singer he thinks the worst. But Ben has laid false evidence in order to surprise the whole family with a trip to France. Only, once in Paris, all the day's previous misunderstandings pail into insignificance at the compromising situations the Lyons get themselves into.
Hollywood on Parade No. A-3 Hollywood on Parade No. A-3 (1932) Character: Self
Eddie Kane wanders round the studio back-lot, opening various doors to see which stars pop out.
The Savage The Savage (1926) Character: Danny Terry
Rivalry between two behavioral scientists gets out of hand...
Screen Snapshots Series 14, No. 8 Screen Snapshots Series 14, No. 8 (1935) Character: N/A
Part of the Screen Snapshots series.
Confidential Lady Confidential Lady (1939) Character: Jim Brent
Jill Trevor vows revenge on newspaper baron Sir Joshua Morple, who she holds responsible for ruining her father. Her very public antics to draw attention to Morple's despicable conduct come to the notice a rival newspaper, who send journalist Jim Brent to offer to write up Jill's story.....
The Tender Hour The Tender Hour (1927) Character: Wally McKenzie
Marcia Kane, daughter of an American capitalist, is persuaded by her father to marry the expatriated Russian Grand Duke Sergei, and believing Wally, her real love, to be dead, she consents. Discovering after the ceremony that her father has tricked her, Marcia vows to be the duke's wife in name only, though she refuses Wally's proposal that she go away with him.
Compromised Compromised (1931) Character: Sidney Brock
Poor working-class girl Stella marries wealthy Sidney Brock, recently jilted by his fiancée and social equal Connie. The two go through contentious times with the Brock patriarch, but when Stella becomes a mother, she seems to becomes accepted, although it's used as a way to shift Sidney's and the child's affections from her. Connie comes back into their lives, now seeking to reclaim Sidney, and manipulates the situation to convince Stella that he's been seeing her. So Stella decides to get a divorce, but fortunately, Sidney becomes aware of the deception in time.
The Prince of Tempters The Prince of Tempters (1926) Character: Francis
Francis, the result of a clandestine marriage between the Duke of Chatsfield and a peasant girl, after being raised in a monastery following his parents death assumes his title but falls victim to a pair of schemers leading to much heartache before all is set aright before the fadeout.
I Killed the Count I Killed the Count (1939) Character: Bernard Froy
Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Davidson is trying to determine who murdered the much-hated Count Matton. The dilemma isn't that the Detective is suffering from a lack of witnesses but that four different people have come forth to confess to the killing, each of them with plenty of motive and opportunity.
The Perfect Sap The Perfect Sap (1927) Character: Herbert Alden
Wealthy young Herbert Alden, a would-be detective, is practicing housebreaking with his valet, an ex-convict, when he meets George and Polly, two real thieves; they are discovered and, following a chase, they go to Herbert's city apartment. George arranges with one of them, Tony-the-Lizard, to rob the guests at a ball given by Herbert's father at his country home. Herbert discovers that Tony is Tracy Sutton, a social lion engaged to Herbert's sister Roberta; and believing Herbert to be a famous criminal, Tony seeks his advice.
Hollywood on Parade No. A-1 Hollywood on Parade No. A-1 (1932) Character: Self
In the first entry of this series, the show open with a troupe of dancing chorus girls getting a salute from crossed-eyed Ben Turpin. Then the master of ceremonies, Fredric March, brings on the various acts, starting with a pre-teen Mitzi Green), dressed as an adult and singing "Was That the Human Thing to Do?" , followed by Ginger Rogers and Jack Oakie singing-and-dancing to "The Girl Who Used to be You." Then the Three Brox Sisters do a triple imitation of Marlene Dietrich singing 'Falling in Love Again." 'Jack Duffy' does a drunken hillbilly bit involving a lamp post, the the finale has Eddie Peabody, playing a banjo for some chorus girls on a pedestal.
Das tanzende Wien Das tanzende Wien (1927) Character: Jonny Conzaga
A cabaret singer in Germany is in love with a young American boy, and must convince his disapproving father that she is worthy of his son.
Hi Gang! Hi Gang! (1941) Character: Her Other Half
Hi Gang! is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Bebe Daniels, Ben Lyon and Vic Oliver. It was a spin-off from the popular radio series Hi Gang!.
Stardust Stardust (1938) Character: Roy Harley
Carla de Hulvea is a rumba dancer who makes news by posing as a South-American heiress. She is doing fine with her hoax until she meets American Peter Jackson, a high-pressure promoter who is looking for movie-producing money. He does some big-time bluffing on his own in order to get Carla to invest in a film he is making with his partner, Roy Harley. Through Carla, Roy meets actress Diana West, who is given a role in the movie, and Roy falls in love with her.
Indiscreet Indiscreet (1931) Character: Tony Blake
A young woman jeopardizes the relationship with the man she loves when a no-account from her past shows up.
The Necessary Evil The Necessary Evil (1925) Character: Frank Jerome
Ben Lyon and Viola Dana co-star in this heavy society drama
Crimson Romance Crimson Romance (1934) Character: Bob Wilson
After Fred von Bergen, a German immigrant in America, is forced from his job by anti-German hysteria before the first world war, he and his friend Bob Wilson leave America and join the German air force. There, both men fall in love with ambulance driver Alida Hoffman. When America enters the war, Bob is caught between loyalty to his home country and the threat of execution for desertion and treason to Germany. It remains for his friend Fred to extricate him from the dilemma - but at what cost?
The White Moth The White Moth (1924) Character: Douglas Vantine
When a girl tries to drown herself in the Seine, she is rescued by dancer Gonzalo Montrez. She then becomes a famous dancer known as the White Moth.
Wages of Virtue Wages of Virtue (1924) Character: Marvin
A carnival strongman and his girlfriend flee to Algiers to escape a murder charge but there they are caught again in a web of jealousy, deceit and murder.
The Women in His Life The Women in His Life (1933) Character: Roger McKane
An immensely successful criminal lawyer is blindsided when he learns that his new case involves his ex-wife, who left him.
Bought! Bought! (1931) Character: Nick Amory
Working-class girl dreams of living a better life and forsakes her friends when she has a chance to break into high society.
My Past My Past (1931) Character: Robert 'Bob' Byrne
A stage star finds herself torn between a wealthy older man and a handsome younger one.
The Quitter The Quitter (1929) Character: Neal Abbott
Neal Abbott (Ben Lyon), a disgraced surgeon, regains his self-respect after operating on and saving the life of cafe-owner Duffy Thompson (Fred Kohler).
What Men Want What Men Want (1930) Character: Kendall James
A playboy's mistress falls in love with another man. Her younger sister arrives in town. Complications ensue.
Night Nurse Night Nurse (1931) Character: Mortie
Lora Hart manages to land a job in a hospital as a trainee nurse. Upon completion of her training she goes to work as a night nurse for two small children who seem to be very sick, though something much more sinister is going on.
Alias French Gertie Alias French Gertie (1930) Character: Jimmy Hartigan
A safecracker poses as a French maid in order to gain access to wealthy homes. In the midst of a nocturnal search for a cache of valuables, she is interrupted by another safecracker. Narrowly escaping arrest, they decide to pool their talents, but she gets the urge to reform and encourages him to do the same.
Frisco Waterfront Frisco Waterfront (1935) Character: Glenn Burton
As California gubernatorial candidate Burton is about to cast his vote a truck crashes into the polling booth, critically injuring him and his opponent. A flashback traces his career from unemployed veteran to dockworker to lawyer. A side thread traces his tortured relationship with his wife.
The Dark Tower The Dark Tower (1943) Character: Phil Danton
While working at a circus, a man hypnotizes a trapezist to kill her partner.
Winds of Chance Winds of Chance (1925) Character: Pierce Phillips
A love triangle set against the turn-of-the-century gold rush.
Hat Check Girl Hat Check Girl (1932) Character: Buster Collins
Gerry Marsh is a hat-check girl in a nightclub surrounded by bootleggers, blackmailers and others before she falls in love with millionaire playboy Buster Collins. Gerry is supported by her girlfriend Jessie.
Potash and Perlmutter Potash and Perlmutter (1923) Character: Boris Andrieff
The film is based on an ethnic Jewish comedy with characters created by Montague Glass and Charles Klein.
The Big Timer The Big Timer (1932) Character: Cooky Bradford
Loud-mouth hamburger flipper, Cooky, thinks he can box. His big chance comes when everyone else quits the gym when it is inherited by a dame.
Week Ends Only Week Ends Only (1932) Character: Jack Williams
A recently impoverished but formerly wealthy young woman ends up working as a nightclub hostess. There she meets a handsome, sophisticated and wealthy fellow who hires her to help him spice up his weekend parties. She begins helping him and regains her lost wealth and posh lifestyle.
This Was Paris This Was Paris (1942) Character: Butch, Sydney Chronicle Reporter
British agents operate in Paris during the Second World War.
Misbehaving Ladies Misbehaving Ladies (1931) Character: Phil Hunter
Ellen, a young American girl who married a European prince and moved to his country, is preparing to return to the US, after having paid off all the debts left by her now-deceased husband. However, when she returns early, no one recognizes her and even her aunt Kate mistakes her for the princess' dressmaker. Her ex-boyfriend Joe, who recognizes her immediately, suggests that Ellen continue with the charade and have some fun, but a series of misunderstandings causes trouble for her.
The Stolen Jools The Stolen Jools (1931) Character: Ben Lyon
Famous actress Norma Shearer's jewels are stolen… (Star-packed promotional short film intended to raise funds for the National Variety Artists Tuberculosis Sanatorium.)
A Soldier's Plaything A Soldier's Plaything (1930) Character: Georgie
A pair of hapless half-wits get into continuous mischief during the occupation of Germany after WW I.
The Flying Marine The Flying Marine (1929) Character: Steve Moran
Released in both a silent and a sound version: Mitch Moran, a veteran WWI pilot and now a commercial pilot, takes his young irresponsible brother, Steve, under his guidance. Steve heeds little of what Mitch is selling but does find time to steal Mitch's sweetheart Sally.
I Cover the Waterfront I Cover the Waterfront (1933) Character: H. Joseph 'Joe' Miller
An investigative reporter romances a suspected smuggler's daughter.
Lightning Strikes Twice Lightning Strikes Twice (1934) Character: Steve Brewster
An actress goes up to a dude ranch for relaxation, when she falls in love with a ranch owner recently acquitted of his wife's murder.
The Crooked Circle The Crooked Circle (1932) Character: Brand Osborne
A group of amateur detectives sets out to expose The Crooked Circle, a secretive group of hooded occultists.
Girl Missing Girl Missing (1933) Character: Henry Gibson
Showgirls Kay and June are stranded on Palm Beach when they become involved in the case of a fellow chorine who has gone missing on her wedding night.
The Great Deception The Great Deception (1926) Character: Cyril Mansfield
Cyril Mansfield, a handsome young Englishman, is associated with the German Secret Service as a spy in England but is loyal to British intelligence, of which he is a member. He is loved by Lois, an American whose favor is sought by Rizzio, also a double agent, who suspects Cyril's disloyalty to Germany. With the intention of conveying false information to the Imperial German Government, Cyril, accompanied by his faithful mechanic, Handy, and by Lois, escapes to Germany, though Lois is herself abducted by Rizzio and brought to headquarters in a U-boat. Innocently, she betrays Cyril, and they are both sentenced to death. On a pretense of aiding Cyril, Rizzio urges Lois to accompany him on a diplomatic mission, but Cyril and Handy overcome their captors; and Lois and Cyril escape to England in his aircraft.
Lummox Lummox (1930) Character: Rollo Farley
Lummox is a 1930 American Pre-Code sound film directed by Herbert Brenon, released through United Artists, and based on a 1923 novel by Fannie Hurst. The story of Bertha, a young immigrant woman who cleans the homes of the rich and is largely ignored by them, except for a young poet who considers her a muse.
All Faces West All Faces West (1929) Character: Matthew
Outlaw trio joins wagon train, planning to rob it.
Bluebeard's Seven Wives Bluebeard's Seven Wives (1926) Character: John Hart / Don Juan Hartez
Bank clerk John Hart is about to marry Mary Kelly, but she insists that before that happens he must grow a mustache. The idea of that shakes him up so much that he gets distracted at work, comes up short in his accounts and gets fired. Unable to find another job, he begins to work as an extra at a nearby film studio to earn money. One day the leading man of a picture John is working on gets into an argument with the director and storms off the set. Angered, the director sees John and, deciding that he'll show his arrogant star that he can make a movie idol out of just about anybody, picks John to replace him. As it turns out, John has a real talent for acting and before he knows it he becomes a star. Unfortunately, "stardom" isn't what John thought it would be.
Dancing Feet Dancing Feet (1936) Character: Peyton Wells
Peyton Wells (Ben Lyon) rescues Judy Jones (Joan Marsh) from a very dull young man, at a sedate party given for her by her multi-millionaire grandfather Silas P. Jones (Purnell Pratt.) Judy refuses to accompany Peyton on a slumming trip to a cheap dance hall, and Peyton dances with several of the dowagers and tells them that Silas is practically dying of scarlet fever. The guests hastily depart and Joan joins Peyton at the Dreamland Dance Hall. She is mistaken by Jimmy Cassidy (Edward J. Nugent) as one of the hostesses and decides to dance with him as a lark. One thing follows another and Judy gets disinherited and takes a job at the dance hall through Jimmy and his friend Mabel(Isabel Jewell.) Jimmy confides to Judy his ambition to become a dance instructor over the radio and Judy decides to help him but can't get the needed financial backing. She gets Peyton to front the money, promising him she will reconsider his offer of marriage if Jimmy's plan fails.
Together We Live Together We Live (1935) Character: Max
A ham-handed cautionary fable against communism, the film concerns a group of Civil War veterans who are appalled by the burgeoning radical movement in America.
Painted People Painted People (1924) Character: Don Lane
Ellie Byrne and Don Lane, chums, living in the poor section of a factory town, go away to make their fortunes. Ellie wishes to become a lady so that she can marry Preston Dutton, a society chap, and Don becoming infatuated with Stephanie Parrish, daughter of a wealthy man. Ellie becomes a leading actress and Don the author of her first play. Ellie refuses Dutton’s suit when she learns he is after her money, and Stephanie returns Don’s engagement ring. Ellie and Don go back to the factory town disillusioned. They realize that they love each other and in reality had not bettered themselves for someone else but for each other. A lost film.
Lily of the Dust Lily of the Dust (1924) Character: Lt. Prell
Lily, a poor and friendless orphan, is married to a sensual and elderly Colonel in the German army who divorces her when he finds her with a former officer sweetheart. Introduced by a girl friend to Bohemian society, Lily loses the love of the young officer and marries her former lover, a wealthy art connoisseur.
Wine of Youth Wine of Youth (1924) Character: Lynn Talbot
Based on a play be Rachel Crothers, WINE OF YOUTH is a solid drama about "the modern young generation" and how they think they know it all. It's also a play about love and marriage.
For the Love of Mike For the Love of Mike (1927) Character: Mike
Three men join forces to raise an adopted son. A lost film.
Navy Wife Navy Wife (1935) Character: Dr. Peter Milford
A Hawaiian naval nurse weds a widowed officer partly because he has a crippled daughter.
Lady with a Past Lady with a Past (1932) Character: Guy Bryson
A wealthy girl hires a male escort to make one of her male friends jealous. She spreads rumours about her character that makes her popular amongst all bachelors in the city including her friend.
So Big So Big (1924) Character: Dirk DeJong
After graduating from a fashionable finishing school and touring Europe with her father, Selina Peake returns to the United States, where her father is accidentally killed after losing his fortune in a gambling den. Selina is reduced to teaching in a high school in the Dutch community at High Prarie near Chicago. She boards in the farmhouse of Klass Poole, a dull-witted market gardener, and finally marries Pervus DeJong, a poor and backward farmer. She shares the drudgery of her husband's futile life and finds happiness only in their small son, Dirk, whom she calls "So-Big."
The Hot Heiress The Hot Heiress (1931) Character: Hap Harrigan
Classes clash when a poor riveter and wealthy society woman fall in love with each other, much to the shock of her friends and family.
Hell's Angels Hell's Angels (1930) Character: Monte Rutledge
When the Great War breaks out, brothers Roy and Monte Rutledge, each attending Oxford University, enlist with the Royal Flying Corps.
Aloha Aloha (1931) Character: Jimmy Bradford
In the South Seas, a half-caste island girl refuses to follow tradition and marry a fellow islander, instead falling in love with a white man and heir to an American fortune.
Her Majesty, Love Her Majesty, Love (1931) Character: Fred von Wellingen
The wealthy von Wellingens are shocked when the father of their son Fred's fiancée Lia juggles desserts at a formal dinner. They encourage Fred to break the engagement. Lia goes to Berlin to marry a Baron von Schwarzdorf, and Fred arrives too late to stop the marriage.
The New Commandment The New Commandment (1925) Character: Billy Morrow
Billy Morrow (Ben Lyon), who comes from a wealthy family, is sailing to Europe with his father (Holbrook Blinn) on their yacht. Along for the ride is Mrs. Parr (Claire Eames) and her stepdaughter. Near the French coast, Billy discovers that Mrs. Parr wants to arrange a marriage between him and the girl, so he escapes and takes a lifeboat ashore.
The Pace That Thrills The Pace That Thrills (1925) Character: Danny Wade
Paula, a chorus girl, marries into an aristocratic family. Unfortunately, her husband is a drunk. When he tries to give some liquor to their infant son, she brandishes a pair of scissors at him. He wrestles them away from her, then falls down the stairs and stabs himself. Due to the perjured testimony of the maid and butler, Paula is convicted of murder and sent to jail. Her son, Danny, grows up to be a movie star. There is a controversy surrounding him because he refuses to do his own stunts. The reason he won't take any chances is that he is using all his money to get his mother out of jail. Finally, to redeem himself, he agrees to participate in a charity auto race, but his mother's hearing is scheduled for the race day.
By Whose Hand? By Whose Hand? (1932) Character: Jimmy Hawley
On the night express train from Los Angeles to San Francisco everyone’s a suspect when a jewelry magnate is found stabbed to death and an escaped killer is feared on board. It’s up to newspaper reporter Jimmy Hawley (Ben Lyon) to unravel the secrets of the motley group of passengers and find the killer before he strikes again in this tense and atmospheric whodunit.



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