Ben Lyon

American actor and a studio executive at 20th Century Fox. Born February 6, 1901, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Died March 22, 1979, near Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. He was married to Bebe Daniels from 1930 until her death in 1971. He was the father of singer/actress Barbara Lyon and father via adoption of actor/singer Richard Lyon (2). He performed seven songs in films between 1930 and 1942. He acted in over 70 films from 1918 to 1955. In the mid-1940's he was working for 20th Century Fox, including screen testing and signing Marilyn Monroe (at that time "Norma Jeane Dougherty") to her first studio contract. He and his wife moved to London, England in 1933. As both of he and his wife's movie careers started to decline, the talented duo decided to work up a husband-and-wife music hall and vaudeville act. They became a hit at the London Palladium. They starred in the radio series Hi, Gang!, which ran from 1940 to 1949. They also starred in Family Affair (1954), The Lions Abroad (1955) Life with the Lyons (1955-60).