Cliff Lyons
Cliff Lyons
A legendary stuntman/stunt coordinator, Cliff Lyons was as handsome as any of the stars he doubled and had indeed starred in his own series of silent Westerns under the name of Tex Lyons. Having begun his professional career performing with minor rodeos, Lyonsdrifted to Hollywood in the early '20s, where he found work as a stuntman in such films as Ben-Hur (1925) and Beau Geste (1927). In between these major releases, the newcomer did yeoman duty for Poverty Row entrepreneur Bud Barsky, who produced eight Westerns in Sequoia National Park starring, alternately, Lyons and Al Hoxie. Lyons would do a second series of eight equally low-budget jobs for producer Morris R. Schlank, filmed at Kernville, CA, and released 1928-1930. This time, he would alternate with another cowboy star, Cheyenne Bill. Commented Lyons: "We would go on location and make two pictures at a time -- one of Cheyenne Bill's and one of mine -- and also play the villain in each other's." Sound put an end to Lyons' starring career and he spent the next four decades or so as a riding double for the likes of Johnny Mack Brown, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, and even Tom Mix (in the 1935 serial The Miracle Rider). In his later years he became closely associated with good friends John Wayne and John Ford, for whom he also did some second-unit directing. Although not as remembered today as Yakima Canutt, Lyons was a major force in the burgeoning stunt business and many of his innovations are still used by modern practitioners of the craft. He was married from 1938 to 1955 to B-Western heroine Beth Marion, with whom he had two sons. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Filmography of Cliff Lyons:
- Ben-Hur with Charlton Heston , Stephen Boyd , Jack Hawkins , Hugh Griffith , Martha Scott , Sam Jaffe , Finlay Currie , Frank Thring , Andre Morell , John Horsley , Ralph Truman , Tutte Lemkow , John leMesurier , Karl Tunberg
- The Wings of Eagles with John Wayne , Dan Dailey , Maureen O'Hara , Ward Bond , Ken Curtis , Edmund Lowe , Kenneth Tobey , Sig Rumann , Henry O'Neill , Veda Ann Borg , James Flavin , Fred Graham , Sam Harris , Mae Marsh , May McAvoy , Alberto Morin , Chuck Roberson , William Tracy , Harlan Warde
- Spartacus with Kirk Douglas , Laurence Olivier , Jean Simmons , Charles Laughton , Peter Ustinov , Tony Curtis , John Gavin , Nina Foch , Herbert Lom , John Ireland , Joanna Barnes , Harold J. Stone , Woody Strode , John Hoyt , Ted DeCorsia , Saul Gorss , Charles Frank Horvath , Charles McGraw , Eddie Parker , Gil Perkins , Chuck Roberson , Dale vanSickel , Anthony Hopkins
- The Searchers with John Wayne , Jeffrey Hunter , Vera Miles , Ward Bond , Natalie Wood , John Qualen , Hank Worden , John Milius , Henry Brandon , Ken Curtis , Harry Jr. Carey , Antonio Moreno , Pippa Scott , Ruth Clifford , Peter Mamakos , Mae Marsh , Chuck Roberson
- Donovan's Reef with John Wayne , Lee Marvin , Jack Warden , Dick Foran , Cesar Romero , Dorothy Lamour , Mike Mazurki , Marcel Dalio , Edgar Buchanan , Sam Harris , Mae Marsh , Chuck Roberson
- The Dark Command with Claire Trevor , John Wayne , Walter Pidgeon , Roy Rogers , George "Gabby" Hayes , Porter Hall , Marjorie Main , Raymond Walburn , Joseph Sawyer , John Farrell MacDonald , Edward Earle , Frank S. Hagney , Dick Rich , Jack Rockwell , Glenn Strange , Hal Taliaferro , Yakima Canutt
Cliff Lyons Trivia
