Cliff Lyons

Known for ActingBorn 1901-07-05Died 1974-01-06Clarno 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, CaliforniaRead more

Movies & web series

The Abductors

Love Time

Three Rogues

Covered Wagon Trails

The Cheyenne Kid

Breezy Bill

O'Malley Rides Alone

The Lone Rider

The Border Sheriff

Wagon Tracks West

The Rainbow Trail

Firebrand Jordan

The Canyon of Missing Men

Call of the Desert

The Law of the Plains

Code of the West

Desert Greed

The Vanishing Legion

Ben-Hur

Trailin' West

The Crimson Trail

The Night Rider

Red Fork Range

Riders of the Purple Sage

The Oklahoma Sheriff

The Hunted Men

The Man from Nowhere

The Arizona Kid

Headin' Westward

The Cowboy and the Outlaw

The Fighting Terror

Manhattan Cowboy

Across the Plains

Outlaw's Paradise

Western Courage

Somewhere in Sonora

Blue Streak O'Neil

The Searchers

Spartacus

The Old Chisholm Trail

Death Valley Manhunt

The Singing Vagabond

Red River

How Green Was My Valley

The Alamo

How the West Was Won

The Horse Soldiers

Destry Rides Again