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Born · February 6, 1901
Died · March 22, 1979 (78 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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.
Self · (1 episode)
7.4
1962
Ben
3.5
1955
Ben Lyon
6.0
1954
Phil Danton
6.1
1943
Butch, Sydney Chronicle Reporter
5.5
1942
Her Other Half
7.0
1941
Jim Brent
2.0
1939
Bernard Froy
0.0
1939
Roy Harley
4.0
1938
Steve Londos
4.5
1936
Peyton Wells
5.2
1936
Glenn Burton
0.0
1935
Dr. Peter Milford
5.0
1935
Max
0.0
1935
Steve Brewster
4.7
1934
Bob Wilson
6.0
1934
Wally Sawyer
6.0
1934
Roger McKane
4.0
1933
H. Joseph 'Joe' Miller
5.1
1933
Henry Gibson
5.1
1933
Self
0.0
1932
Buster Collins
6.0
1932
Brand Osborne
4.8
1932
Self
4.0
1932
Jimmy Hawley
6.0
1932
Jack Williams
0.0
1932
Cooky Bradford
3.5
1932
Guy Bryson
5.8
1932
Fred von Wellingen
6.0
1931
Sidney Brock
1.0
1931
Nick Amory
6.0
1931
Mortie
6.7
1931
Robert 'Bob' Byrne
3.8
1931
Jimmy Bradford
0.0
1931
Tony Blake
6.0
1931
Phil Hunter
0.0
1931
Ben Lyon
5.6
1931
Hap Harrigan
5.3
1931
Monte Rutledge
6.4
1930
Georgie
4.5
1930
Kendall James
1.0
1930
Jimmy Hartigan
5.0
1930
Rollo Farley
0.0
1930
Steve Moran
0.0
1929
Neal Abbott
0.0
1929
Matthew
0.0
1929
Jonny Conzaga
0.0
1927
Himself
0.0
1927
Mike
5.0
1927
Wally McKenzie
0.0
1927
Francis
0.0
1926
Cyril Mansfield
0.0
1926
Danny Terry
0.0
1926
Ralph Hilliwe
0.0
1926
John Hart / Don Juan Hartez
0.0
1926
Billy Morrow
0.0
1925
Danny Wade
0.0
1925
Pierce Phillips
4.8
1925
Frank Jerome
0.0
1925
Dirk DeJong
0.0
1924
Marvin
0.0
1924
Lynn Talbot
8.0
1924
Lt. Prell
0.0
1924
Douglas Vantine
5.8
1924
Don Lane
0.0
1924
Boris Andrieff
0.0
1923
Dick Chase
0.0
1923
Bob Telfair
0.0
1921
Harold Connors
6.0
1919