1901-02-06 ( 124 years old ) in 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.
Movies
The Lyons in Paris
1955-02-11
Life with the Lyons
1954-05-25
The Dark Tower
1943-10-18
This Was Paris
1942-03-21
Hi Gang!
1941-12-27
Confidential Lady
1939-12-01
I Killed the Count
1939-05-06
Stardust
1938-03-25
Down to the Sea
1936-05-30
Dancing Feet
1936-01-20
Frisco Waterfront
1935-12-03
Navy Wife
1935-09-17
Together We Live
1935-08-16
Lightning Strikes Twice
1934-12-07
Crimson Romance
1934-10-12
I Spy
1934-08-26
The Women in His Life
1933-12-08
I Cover the Waterfront
1933-05-19
Girl Missing
1933-03-04
Hollywood on Parade No. A-3
1932-10-20
Hat Check Girl
1932-10-08
The Crooked Circle
1932-09-25
Hollywood on Parade No. A-1
1932-08-25
By Whose Hand?
1932-07-06
Week Ends Only
1932-06-19
The Big Timer
1932-03-10
Lady with a Past
1932-02-19
Her Majesty, Love
1931-12-15
Compromised
1931-11-19
Bought!
1931-08-22
Night Nurse
1931-07-16
My Past
1931-05-03
Aloha
1931-04-26
Indiscreet
1931-04-25
Misbehaving Ladies
1931-04-16
The Stolen Jools
1931-04-04
The Hot Heiress
1931-03-28
Hell's Angels
1930-11-15
A Soldier's Plaything
1930-10-30
What Men Want
1930-07-12
Alias French Gertie
1930-04-20
Lummox
1930-01-13
The Flying Marine
1929-06-05
The Quitter
1929-04-01
All Faces West
1929-03-02
Das tanzende Wien
1927-10-01
Life in Hollywood No. 2
1927-08-25
For the Love of Mike
1927-07-31
The Tender Hour
1927-05-01
The Prince of Tempters
1926-10-17
The Great Deception
1926-07-26
The Savage
1926-07-18
The Reckless Lady
1926-01-24
Bluebeard's Seven Wives
1926-01-13
The New Commandment
1925-11-01
The Pace That Thrills
1925-10-18
Winds of Chance
1925-08-15
The Necessary Evil
1925-05-17
So Big
1924-12-28
Wages of Virtue
1924-11-10
Wine of Youth
1924-09-15
Lily of the Dust
1924-08-24
The White Moth
1924-05-11
Painted People
1924-01-28
Potash and Perlmutter
1923-09-10
The Custard Cup
1923-01-01
The Heart of Maryland
1921-05-01
Open Your Eyes
1919-05-24
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