Cliff Lyons

Cliff Lyons was an American actor, stuntman and second-unit director, primarily of Westerns, particularly the films of John Ford and John Wayne. Lyons, the son of Garrett Thomas Lyons and Wilhamena Johnson Lyons, was raised on a South Dakota farm, though his family lived for a time in Memphis, TN, where he attended business school. An expert horseman, he gave up the notion of a business career and opted for the rodeo arena instead, touring the country;y and eventually reaching Los Angeles at the age of 21. With accomplished cowboys in great demand, Lyons quickly became involved in movies, working both as a stuntman and an actor. After only a couple of bit parts, he was signed by producer Bud Barsky to do seven inexpensive Westerns directed by Paul Hurst, with Lyons and Al Hoxie alternating as the hero and the heavy. Lyons and Hoxie alternated in another Western series produced by Morris R. Schlank, and, as Cliff 'Tex' Lyons, he seemed headed for minor stardom as a B-Western lead. However, Lyons' voice was not well-suited for sound and the talkie revolution confined him to small roles. As his small shot at stardom faded, however, his career as a stunt double for stars big and small was on the rise. He doubled such cowboy stars as Tom Mix, Ken Maynard, Buck Jones and Johnny Mack Brown. In 1936 he worked with John Wayne for the first and struck up a personal and business relationship that would remain strong for three decades. Wayne was influential in getting Lyons his first work as a second-unit director and in introducing Lyons to John Ford, for whom Lyons would do some of his finest work. Lyons' reputation as a stunt coordinator is comparable to that of acknowledged master Yakima Canutt, with whom Lyons partnered on numerous occasions. Perhaps Lyons' most impressive work was the massive and dynamic battle sequences of Wayne's The Alamo (1960). He was married from 1938 to 1955 to actress Beth Marion, with whom he had two sons. Cliff Lyons died in 1974 at 72, not long after coordinating stunts for Wayne's The Train Robbers (1973). Date of Birth 4 July 1901, near Clarno Township, Lake County, South Dakota Date of Death 6 January 1974, Los Angeles, California

Known For	Acting
Most Rating	2.251
Birthday	1901-07-05
Place of Birth	Clarno Township, Lake County, South Dakota, USA
Also Known As	Clifford William Lyons, Tex, Cliff "Tex" Lyons,

7 Men from Now

Wagon Master

The Lawless Nineties

The Night Rider

The Road Agent

The Last of the Duanes

Blue Streak O'Neil

Hollywood Round-Up

Canyon Hawks

The Last Roundup

Code of the West

The Young Land

Riders of the Purple Sage

Gordon of Ghost City

Wagon Tracks West

Spartacus

Ben-Hur

Black Aces

Renegade Trail

The Eagle's Brood

North of the Rio Grande

The Devil Horse

Winners of the West

Wild Horse Canyon

Across the Plains

Trailin' West

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Headin' Westward

The Crimson Trail

3 Godfathers

The War Wagon

The Silver Bullet

The Silver Bullet

Colt Comrades

Near the Rainbow's End

The Cowboy and the Outlaw

The Fighting Terror

The Fighting Ranger

The Abductors

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

The Oklahoma Cyclone

Outlaw's Paradise

O'Malley Rides Alone

Stormy

Desert Greed

Under Texas Skies

The Arizona Kid

The Oklahoma Sheriff

Western Honor

The Hunted Men

Breezy Bill

The Man from Nowhere

Law of the Plains

Bullets and Justice

Major Dundee

Red Fork Range

The Painted Desert

The Rainbow Trail

The Voice from the Sky

Call of the Desert

Covered Wagon Trails

Firebrand Jordan

The Canyon of Missing Men

The Cheyenne Kid

Manhattan Cowboy

Hell Hounds of the Plains

The Young Land

The Last Days of Pompeii

Apache Warrior

The Green Berets

Chisum

Sergeant Rutledge

Bend of the River

When Willie Comes Marching Home

The Red Badge of Courage

Rio Grande

Genghis Khan