Cliff Lyons

Acting · 0.6 popularity

Age

125

Movies

Born: July 5, 1901 – January 6, 1974
From: Clarno Township, Lake County, South Dakota, USA

Biography

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

Works

86 films

Ben-Hur

19597.9

Spartacus

19607.5

The Alamo

19607.1

Chisum

19706.7

3 Godfathers

19486.8

Rio Grande

19506.8

The Green Berets

19685.7

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

19496.9

The War Wagon

19676.8

Major Dundee

19656.7

The Horse Soldiers

19596.9

Wagon Master

19506.7

Bend of the River

19527.0

Genghis Khan

19655.7

7 Men from Now

19566.8

Two Rode Together

19616.4

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

19257.3

The Wings of Eagles

19576.3

Sergeant Rutledge

19607.0

The Sun Shines Bright

19536.5

The Prodigal

19554.6

The Red Badge of Courage

19516.5

When Willie Comes Marching Home

19506.9

The Silver Bullet

19426.0

Marco the Magnificent

19654.8

Desert Greed

19269.0

The Last Days of Pompeii

19355.8

The Painted Desert

19315.2

Western Courage

19278.0

North of the Rio Grande

19376.7

Wagon Tracks West

19439.0

The Night Rider

19328.0

The Lawless Nineties

19365.5

Hell Hounds of the Plains

19277.0

Colt Comrades

19435.9

The Young Land

19596.8

The Arizona Kid

19298.0

The Crimson Trail

19358.0

Gordon of Ghost City

19336.5

Bullets and Justice

19297.0

The Rainbow Trail

19329.0

Renegade Trail

19395.0

Trailin' West

19368.0

The Old Code

1928

Apache Warrior

19575.0

The Devil Horse

19325.7

The Last of the Duanes

19306.0

Hollywood Round-Up

19375.3

Call of the Desert

19309.0

The Eagle's Brood

19355.8

Wild Horse Canyon

19257.0

Covered Wagon Trails

193010.0

Winners of the West

19407.0

Three Rogues

193110.0

Near the Rainbow's End

19304.5

The Road Agent

19257.0

Canyon Hawks

19305.0

The Hunted Men

19308.0

Riders of the Purple Sage

19318.0

The Lone Rider

193010.0

The Cowboy and the Outlaw

19298.0

Black Aces

19375.6

Stormy

19357.0

The Oklahoma Sheriff

19308.0

Western Honor

1930

Across the Plains

19288.0

Red Fork Range

19318.0

Firebrand Jordan

19309.0

Headin' Westward

19298.0

The Abductors

195710.0

The Oklahoma Cyclone

19305.0

The Cheyenne Kid

193010.0

The Man from Nowhere

19308.0

The Law of the Plains

19299.0

Under Texas Skies

19306.5

O'Malley Rides Alone

193010.0

The Fighting Ranger

19267.0

The Voice from the Sky

19297.0

Breezy Bill

193010.0

Blue Streak O'Neil

19268.0

The Canyon of Missing Men

19309.0

Code of the West

19299.0

Manhattan Cowboy

19288.0

The Fighting Terror

19298.0

Outlaw's Paradise

19278.0

The Last Roundup

19297.0