Ben Lyon
Birth : 1901-02-06, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Death : 1979-03-22
History
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.
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.
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.
Phil Danton
While working at a circus, a man hypnotizes a trapezist to kill her partner.
Butch, Sydney Chronicle Reporter
British agents operate in Paris during the Second World War.
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!.
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.....
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.
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.
Steve Londos
Greek sponge divers in Tarpon Springs, Florida duel over diving methods and fight over the same girl, and only one will survive.
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.
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.
Dr. Peter Milford
A Hawaiian naval nurse weds a widowed officer partly because he has a crippled daughter.
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.
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.
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?
Wally Sawyer
Two Americans in England--a wealthy playboy and an actress--join forces to stop international spies.
Roger McKane
An immensely successful criminal lawyer is blindsided when he learns that his new case involves his ex-wife, who left him.
H. Joseph 'Joe' Miller
An investigative reporter romances a suspected smuggler's daughter.
Henry Gibson
Kay and June, two showgirls, are hurt when they seek financial help from Daisy. On Daisy's wedding night when she is rendered missing, Kay and June decide to look for her to claim the reward.
Self
Eddie Kane wanders round the studio back-lot, opening various doors to see which stars pop out.
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.
Brand Osborne
A group of amateur detectives sets out to expose The Crooked Circle, a secretive group of hooded occultists.
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.
Jimmy Hawley
A man tries to hide aboard a moving train after murdering a jewelry magnate.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Robert 'Bob' Byrne
A stage star finds herself torn between a wealthy older man and a handsome younger one.
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.
Tony Blake
A young woman jeopardizes the relationship with the man she loves when a no-account from her past shows up.
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.
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.)
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.
Monte Rutledge
When World War I breaks out, brothers Roy and Monte Rutledge, each attending Oxford university, enlist with the Royal Flying Corps.
Georgie
A pair of hapless half-wits get into continuous mischief during the occupation of Germany after WW I.
Kendall James
A playboy's mistress falls in love with another man. Her younger sister arrives in town. Complications ensue.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Matthew
Outlaw trio joins wagon train, planning to rob it.
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.
Himself
Part of a 7-part series exploring all aspects of Hollywood.
Mike
Three men join forces to raise an adopted son.
Wally McKenzie
This romantic drama was released in 1927.
Francis
Cyril Mansfield
WW1 espionage tale....
Danny Terry
Rivalry between two behavioral scientists gets out of hand...
Ralph Hilliwe
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.
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.
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.
Pierce Phillips
A love triangle set against the turn-of-the-century gold rush.
Frank Jerome
Ben Lyon and Viola Dana co-star in this heavy society drama
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
Don Lane
A 1924 film directed by Clarence G. Badger.
Boris Andrieff
The film is based on an ethnic Jewish comedy with characters created by Montague Glass and Charles Klein.
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.
Harold Connors
A propagandistic melodrama recounting the dangers and horrors of venereal disease.
