Cliff Lyons
Known For: Acting
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: July 5, 1901
Day of Death: January 6, 1974 (73 years old)
Place of Birth: Clarno Township, Lake County, South Dakota, USA
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
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Actor
Covered Wagon Trails
Actor Pete
Firebrand Jordan
Actor Brill Lonegran
The Canyon of Missing Men
Actor Cowhand (uncredited)
The Cheyenne Kid
Actor Mustang - Henchman (uncredited)
Under Texas Skies
Actor
Western Honor
Actor
The Oklahoma Sheriff
Actor Henchman Red (uncredited)
The Hunted Men
Actor Bandit
Breezy Bill
Actor
The Man from Nowhere
Actor Henchman
The Last of the Duanes
Actor Tom Hardy
Canyon Hawks
Actor Nate Thomas
Call of the Desert
Actor Lefty - Henchman
Near the Rainbow's End
Actor Henchman
The Oklahoma Cyclone
Actor Henchman
O'Malley Rides Alone
Stunts
Fighting Thru
1929
Actor Red Hank
The Arizona Kid
Actor Henchman
Law of the Plains
Actor Red Barton
Bullets and Justice
Actor Jimmy Blyth
The Last Roundup
Actor Leary Henchman
Code of the West
Actor Henchman 'Humpy'
The Voice from the Sky
Actor Pat Carle
Headin' Westward
Actor Slim Saxon
The Cowboy and the Outlaw
Actor
The Fighting Terror
