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Sue Lyon Profile
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| (Suellyn Lyon) |
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| 10 July 46 | is born in Davenport, Iowa, to Mr. Carrlyon and his wife Sue. She has three older brothers and two older sisters. |
| c. 47 | her father dies when she’s 10 months old |
| c. 48 | moves with her family to her mother’s native Los Angeles |
| c. 50 | starts as a fashion model for J. C. Penney at age 13 |
| 60 | is named “Miss Smile” by Los Angeles County dentists |
| is introduced to Stanley Kubrick and producer Jimmy Harris and becomes one of hundreds who try out for Lolita / director Stanley Kubrick spots her on "The Loretta Young Show" during the survey of 800 candidates for the role of Lolita |
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| June 62 | is signed to a seven-year contract at $78,000 per year |
| April 63 | columnist Hedda Hopper informs that James B. Harris signed her and Rita Hayworth for his upcoming I Want My Mother |
| August 63 | moves in with her sister Maria to learn her lines for the upcoming Night of the Iguana |
| September 63 | tells columnist Mike Connolly that the talk about her trying to break up Burton’s romance with Liz Taylor is ridiculous. “Why should I when I’ve got my own guy, Hampton Fancher?" |
| columnist Kilgallen knows: “Producer James Harris, who has been her most ardent suitor since the Lolita days, still has hopes of recapturing her affections, and is talking of renting a house in Mexico while Sue is in Puerta Vallarte for Night of the Iguana. |
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| October 63 | columnist Bob Thomas reports that Richard Burton is “very careful to avoid rumors about Sue Lyon” |
| 3 December 63 | while on location in Puerto Vallarte, she decides to marry Fancher |
| Mid-December 63 | Connolly says that she and Fancher sent the first wedding invitation to Joanne Fancher, Fancher’s just-divorced-in Mexico ex, “and she has accepted” |
| 18 December 63 | she and Fancher obtain a marriage license in Santa Monica. The wedding is scheduled for December 22 at the home of film costume designer Dorothy Jeakins. A San Francisco honeymoon is scheduled to follow. |
| she and Fancher attend the Hollywood premiere of Love with the Proper Stranger |
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| 22 December 63 | marries actor-writer Hampton L. Fancher III in a civil ceremony at the house of Dorothy Jeakins. He’s 25; she’s 17. A champagne reception is held on the small patio and newsmen outnumber the guests. |
| End December 63 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen explains that “Hampton Fancher’s divorce came through while he was visiting his fiancée, Sue Lyon, on the set of Night of the Iguana. He signed the final papers – and who do you think his two witnesses were? Sue and her mother…” |
| June 64 | Kilgallen thinks that “Sue Lyon and her husband, Hampton Fancher III may have a happy announcement soon after they arrive here next week…” |
| August 64 | tells the press that she’s happily married and a homebody at heart. She and Fancher reside in a small rented house in Laurel Canyon. |
| Mid-September 64 | will leave for Australia to promote Night of the Iguana. It will be her second trip to Australia. |
| 28 September 64 | her spokesman says she and Fancher have separated but there are no immediate plans for a divorce |
| Early October 64 | she and Nancy Kwan are scheduled for Ray Stark’s upcoming The Deep Freeze Girls |
| Mid-October 64 | Kilgallen mentions: “Among those consoling Hampton Fancher 3rd, about his upcoming divorce from Sue Lyon is one of his old flames, Joan Blackman. Pretty Sue’s best consolation is her new-found freedom…” |
| 16 October 64 | files for divorce from Fancher in Santa Monica Superior Court. She charges Fancher with mental cruelty saying “he habitually left her home alone and was hostile toward her family.” |
| her brother, 20-year-old James Michael Lyon, is one of two men found dead in a station wagon near Tijuana, Mexico. The police say the men appear to have died from an overdose of narcotics or insulin. An autopsy is scheduled. Sue and her sister Maria Merriman can’t be reached because they are travelling in Europe. |
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| Early December 64 | is signed by MGM for their upcoming Chinese Finale, which co-stars Patricia Neal |
| 8 December 64 | obtains her divorce from Fancher in Santa Monica Superior Court after 10 minutes, claiming Fancher even forbade her phoning her mother. Her sister, Maria Merriman, describes Fancher as “hostile, belligerent, antagonistic, rude and unpleasant.” |
| 17 December 64 | small claims court says she and Fancher must pay their former landlord $199.32 in rent due to him because they moved out of his apartment September 26 without giving the stipulated 30-day notice. |
| 65 | Ed “Buzz” Barton, illegitimate son of billionaire Huntington Hartford, dreams up a fantasy romance with her and sends her crazy telegrams declaring his love |
| May 65 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen tells that Sue was bitten on the eyelid by a spider, but “everything’s A-okay now…” |
| says she feels no bitterness about her brief tenure as Mrs. Hampton Fancher III. “I always remain friends with those I have been in love with,” she claims. |
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| 21 December 65 | she and her mother are hurt when her imported car collides with that of Roderick J. Tichenor on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Tichenor attempted to make a U-turn on the highway. She and her 59-year-old mother are reported in satisfactory condition at West Valley Hospital. She suffers a shattered leg and head laceration. |
| c. 66 | is among those testing for the female lead in Bonnie and Clyde. The part will go to Faye Dunaway. |
| July 66 | is suspended by Seven Arts for refusing the upcoming Young |
| November 66 | is scheduled for a top role in the filmed version of the controversial Broadway show Killing of Sister George |
| March 67 | does volunteer work three days a week at Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital and attends classes at UCLA |
| 20 March 67 | starts a 22-day USO tour of South Vietnam and Thailand |
| 27 July 67 | after turning 21, she collects $14,275 in U.S. saving bonds, which were held with the producers of Lolita since she was a minor |
| 14 September 67 | she and her mother file a $500,000 damage suit for injuries suffered in a 1965 traffic accident against 67-year-old land developer Roderick Jay Tichenor and the owner of the car, Lynch Motors Inc., in Los Angeles Superior Court |
| 6 October 67 | is awarded $225,000 for injuries sustained in the traffic accident. Her mother’s awarded $42,000. |
| November 67 | she and Sal Mineo are considered a “hot new romance” |
| December 67 | columnist Earl Wilson expects her to marry attorney George Royce in January |
| columnist Jack O’Brian writes: “No one can say Sue Lyon didn’t have a champagne-splashed time at the Miami Tony Rome premiere…” |
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| January 69 | she and “her friendly psychiatrist Dr. Lonnie MacDonald” are noted at the Ginger Man |
| May 70 | starts her own foundation, SUEPACINC. The SUE stands for Send Us Everything. |
| November 70 | is reported producing plays between her acting jobs |
| 4 July 71 | marries Roland V. Harrison, African-American former member of the San Diego Chargers professional football team, in a religious celebrant in Las Vegas, Nevada. Harrison has five children from a former marriage. |
| August 71 | adopts a 14-year-old boy. He will be named Robert Lyon Harrison. |
| 20 May 72 | her daughter Nona Merrill, is born in Los Angeles |
| May 72 | divorces Harrison |
| 25 October 73 | announces in Canon City, Colorado, she’ll marry Colorado State Penitentiary inmate Gary D. “Cotton” Adamson on November 4 in a prison ceremony. She says their relationship is based on friendship rather than sex. Adamson is serving two 20-40 year sentences for aggravated robbery and second degree murder. Sue says: “Cotton is the only man I completely respect or trust in this world.” She says she met him in California two or three years ago after he escaped from the Colorado prison and was being held in the Los Angeles County Jail. |
| 4 November 73 | marries Adamson in a double-ring ceremony at Colorado’s State Penitentiary in Canon City, Colorado. He’s 33; she’s 27. It’s his first and her third marriage. Her 20-month-old daughter serves as flower girl. Afterwards she returns to her hotel room and he, to his cell. |
| 74 | works as a cocktail waitress in Estes Park, Colorado |
| Early November 74 | files for divorce from Adamson in Fort Collier District Court on the grounds the marriage was irretrievably broken and the loss of movie contracts due to her marriage |
| 74 | divorces Adamson |
| 28 February 76 | Adamson escapes from the Colorado State Hospital at Pueblo |
| Mid-March 76 | Adamson robs a bank in his native Indianapolis and is caught minutes later |
| 11 February 83 | marries Edward E. Weathers in Los Angeles. He’s 39; she’s 36. |
| 26 January 84 | divorces Weathers |
| 31 March 85 | marries Richard A. Rudman, a radio station engineer in Los Angeles. He’s 42; she’s 38. |
| 02 | divorces Rudman |
| 26 December 19 | dies at age 73 in Los Angeles |
| Sources: Starlet by Kim Holston, Squandered Fortune by L. R. Gubernick, Family Weekly, Des Moines Register, The Altoona Mirror, Pasadena Independent, Colorado Springs Gazette, The Hamilton Journal, Wellsville Daily Reporter, The Lowell Sun, Newsport Daily News, The Evening Standard, The Press-Courier, Dunkirk Evening Observer, New Castle News, Anderson Daily Bulletin, Racine Journal-Times, The Abilene Reporter-News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, San Antonio Light, The Press-Courier, The Hamilton Journal, Tucson Daily Citizen, Redlands Daily Facts, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, Pacific Stars and Stripes, The Stars and Stripes, The Columbus Daily Telegram, Bucks County Courier Times, Parade, Ironwood Daily Globe, New Castle News, Oakland Tribune, Greeley Tribune, www.Ancestry.com | |
| Recommended Books: Starlet by Kim Holston | |
| Links: Filmography | |