Cliff Lyons

Cliff Lyons was an American actor stuntman and secondunit 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 countryy 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 BWestern lead However Lyons voice was not wellsuited 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 secondunit 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 Waynes 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 Waynes 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