Ben Lyon

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.

Known For	Acting
Most Rating	2.04
Birthday	1901-02-06
Place of Birth	Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Also Known As

Hell's Angels

I Cover the Waterfront

The Necessary Evil

The New Commandment

The Quitter

The Pace That Thrills

Night Nurse

Life with the Lyons

The Lyons in Paris

Indiscreet

This Was Paris

Lady with a Past

Hollywood on Parade No. A-1

Her Majesty, Love

The Crooked Circle

By Whose Hand?

Bought!

The Dark Tower

A Soldier's Plaything

Girl Missing

Lightning Strikes Twice

The Hot Heiress

Hollywood on Parade No. A-3

Down to the Sea

My Past

Winds of Chance

Crimson Romance

The Big Timer

The Custard Cup

Alias French Gertie

Hat Check Girl

Potash and Perlmutter

The Women in His Life

For the Love of Mike

Wine of Youth

Dancing Feet

Together We Live

Compromised

The Great Deception

The Savage

Navy Wife

So Big

Lily of the Dust

Aloha

Confidential Lady

Week Ends Only

I Killed the Count

The Stolen Jools

I Spy

Misbehaving Ladies

Hi Gang!

Painted People

Lummox

Frisco Waterfront

What Men Want

The Tender Hour

Bluebeard's Seven Wives

The Reckless Lady

Stardust

The Prince of Tempters

The White Moth

Wages of Virtue

Das tanzende Wien

Open Your Eyes

Life in Hollywood No. 2

All Faces West

The Flying Marine

The Heart of Maryland