Sue Lyon

IMDB profile

Add to favorites

Edit page

Search at Amazon

Stats

Birth Name: Suellyn Lyon

Born: 10 July 1946 Died: 26 December 2019

Country of origin: United States

Height: 5' 3"

Lists

182 votes

MADONNA: THE QUEEN OF PLAGIARISM (94 items)
list by SuperAmanda

Published 5 years, 2 months ago

195 comments

160 votes

Femmes Fatales (77 items)
list by xolmis

Published 13 years, 6 months ago

9 comments

98 votes

Gone, but not forgotten (1954 items)
list by Agent Kermit D. Fonz

Published 1 year, 3 months ago

10 comments

85 votes

the most gorgeous women i've ever seen (10 items)
list by Severin Severin

Published 13 years, 7 months ago

10 comments

68 votes

Fictional Characters I Want As My Girlfriend (19 items)
list by Somnus

Published 12 years, 10 months ago

4 comments

View all Sue Lyon lists

Sue Lyon Videos

Sue Lyon Interview

210 Views

Added 12 years ago

What's My Line? - Peter Gabel; Sue Lyon; Rudy Vallee [panel] (Jul 5, 1964)

178 Views

Added 10 years ago

View all Sue Lyon videos

Photos

31 votes

21 votes

20 votes

18 votes

14 votes

View all Sue Lyon pictures

Description: Sue Lyon was an American screen and television actress. She joined the entertainment industry as a model at the age of 13, and later rose to prominence and won a Golden Globe for playing the title role in the film Lolita (1962). Her other notable film appearances included The Night of the Iguana (1964), 7 Women (1966), Tony Rome (1967), and Evel Knievel (1971). Lyon's early career flourished with appearances in such high-profile films as John Huston's The Night of the Iguana (1964), John Ford's 7 Women (1966), the Frank Sinatra detective film Tony Rome (1967), and the George C. Scott comedy The Flim Flam Man (1967). However, Sue Lyon was an American screen and television actress. She joined the entertainment industry as a model at the age of 13, and later rose to prominence and won a Golden Globe for playing the title role in the film Lolita (1962). Her other notable film appearances included The Night of the Iguana (1964), 7 Women (1966), Tony Rome (1967), and Evel Knievel (1971).

Lyon's early career flourished with appearances in such high-profile films as John Huston's The Night of the Iguana (1964), John Ford's 7 Women (1966), the Frank Sinatra detective film Tony Rome (1967), and the George C. Scott comedy The Flim Flam Man (1967). However, her career diminished in the 1970s and she subsequently retired from acting after making Alligator, which was released in 1980.

In 1996, Lyon blamed her downfall on "Lolita," Air Mail reports. "My destruction as a person dates from that movie," she said. "'Lolita' exposed me to temptations no girl of that age should undergo. I defy any pretty girl who is rocketed to stardom at 14 in a sex nymphet role to stay on a level path thereafter."

She was born in Davenport Iowa. Her mother was 56 when her husband died and Sue was 10 months old. Money was tight and her mother decided to move to Los Angeles where Sue could earn money as a child model. J.C Penny was her big break and from that commercial Sue landed acting jobs on Dennis the Menace (1959) where the famous director Stanley Kubrick took notice and suggested that she should test for the "Lolita" role. After months of testing other attractive girls, Sue won the part. The movie made her an overnight sensation. The 1962 blockbuster was such a huge hit that it was difficult for the audience to see her in new roles. They always connected her with the seductive sexy Lolita.

She married black photographer Roland harrison and that set off a whole new wave of controversy. She fled the U.S and moved to Spain. They divorced, due to pressure over racism and other problems. They had a daughter named Nona who said both parents were absent and neither really wanted to be parents. Nona also said Lyon was bipolar and kicked her out of the house when she was 12.

Her next marriage was to Gary "Cotton" Adamson who spent years in the Colorado Penitentiary for murder and robbery. This was another short lived relationship. In 1980 after doing many "B" movies she married a radio engineer, Richard Rudman and they lived in Los Angeles before divorcing in 2002.

In 2020, Michelle Phillips told journalist Sarah Weinman that producer James B. Harris engaged in a forced sexual relationship with Lyon during her stay in England to film Lolita when she was 14 years old. When contacted by Weinman, the 92-year-old Harris refused to respond to the allegation. At the time Stanley Kubrick's Lolita was in production, the age of consent in the UK was 16 years old but 18 in Lyon's home state of California. Harris was nearly 18 years older than Lyon, and a married man. ... (more)