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The Stunt Men and Women



(Courtesy of Les Adams)


The photo above is from Buck Jones' OUTLAWED GUNS (Universal, 1935), and is on the first page of the Stunt Men and Women section.  A blowup of the face of the rider on the left reveals it to be Cliff Lyons. The rider on the right is Jim Corey.


Cliff Lyons

Full name:
Clifford William Lyons

1901 - 1974

(From Old Corral collection)


Special thanks to Deborah Duffy for photos and family info on Cliff Lyons, one of the premier stuntmen of the western and serial, and later a stunt director/coordinator on a variety of A grade films. Deborah was married to Cliff Lyon's son Cliff. Sad to report that Deborah passed away in 2021.


Clifford William Lyons, the oldest son of Wilhamena and Garrett Lyons, was born July 4, 1901 in Lake County, South Dakota. He lived on a farm and attended the Clarno Rural School. He accompanied his parents to Tennessee where he attended business school in Memphis. Circa 1920, his parents moved back to a farm near Agar, South Dakota and Clifford joined them there.

His father died in 1921 in Agar, Sully County, South Dakota. A little after that, Clifford formed a rodeo troupe with friends.

In the early 1920s, he was in Hollywood, picking up minor roles in silent westerns. He was in the original BEN HUR (1927) and stunted in the original BEAU GESTE (1927). In the late 1920s, he became hero Cliff 'Tex' Lyons and starred in a few silent westerns for Morris R. Schlank's production company and released by Anchor Film Distributors. But stardom was brief and Cliff transitioned to talkies by taking on roles as a rider, heavy, etc. and developing the skills to become one of the Hollywood's busiest stuntmen.

(Courtesy of Jack Tillmany)

In 1938, Lyons married B western heroine Beth Marion (1912 - 2003). Her birth name was Betty Goettsche.

In the 1930s, he was the frequent stand in / double for Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, Bob Baker, Johnny Mack Brown, William Boyd, and Ken Maynard. Lyons also doubled Tom Mix in Mascot's THE MIRACLE RIDER (Mascot, 1935) chapterplay.  In the 1940s, he doubled Maynard in Monogram's Trail Blazers series.

Circa 1948, he began a relationship with John Ford and his longtime friend John Wayne that lasted through many films, the first being FORT APACHE (1948), followed by THE WAGONMASTER (1950), THE ALAMO (1960), THE TRAIN ROBBERS (1973), more. In many of the Wayne and Ford films, Lyons wound up doing stunts as well as stunt coordinator / second unit director duties.

He also worked in a variety of other films including BEN HUR (with Charlton Heston), THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, LONG SHIPS, and MIGHTY JOE YOUNG.

Notable Cliff Lyons stunts:

  • He doubles Buck Jones and does a horse fall off a cliff into a lake in the chapter 2 cliffhanger in THE RED RIDER (Universal, 1934) serial.
  • Lyons drives a buckboard off a cliff into a lake in chapter 3 of Buck Jones' THE PHANTOM RIDER (Universal, 1936). (See photo further down this webpage.)
  • Another horse fall off a cliff in JESSE JAMES (20th C Fox, 1939). (See video clip further down this webpage.)

Cliff was active in the Screen Actors Guild and served as a director in the late 1940s - early 1950s when Ronald Reagan was SAG president.

He also loved the sea and sailing and owned a 45 foot schooner named "Los Amigos".

He married B western leading lady Beth Marion in Los Angeles on November 9, 1938. They had two children: Clifford Russell Lyons, born July 28, 1942 and Garrett Lloyd Lyons, born January 6, 1945. Cliff and Beth divorced in the mid 1950s.

Cliff Lyons passed away on January 6, 1974 at St. Vincent's Hospital, Los Angeles.

He was a great stuntman and stunt coordinator, and his legacy is an impressive amount of film work.

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Cliff Lyons: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0529036/

The Internet Movie Database has a "people working together" search function. Here's Lyons in movies and a few TV shows with John Wayne and director John Ford:
     With John Wayne: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?role=nm0529036,nm0000078
     With John Ford: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?role=nm0529036,nm0000406

In JESSE JAMES (20th C Fox, 1939), Jesse (played by Tyrone Power) and Frank (Henry Fonda) try to escape the law and ride off a cliff into a lake. Lyons did the stunt. But it's unclear if there were one or two horse falls. One report noted that two separate cameras captured the stunt. And the two camera variations were edited into the movie to appear as two separate riders and falls. YouTube has the stunt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfAzBEPDcrw

YouTube has a poor quality Chapter 3 of THE PHANTOM RIDER (Universal, 1936). This will start at around 18 minutes and you can see the cliffhanger ending with Buck and Marla Shelton going off the cliff in a buckboard: https://youtu.be/bCilY8NUQsA?t=1073

December 12, 1938 Bakersfield Californian newspaper had an article about Lyons doubling Errol Flynn in DODGE CITY ... and Lyons was a seafaring man and the owner of the 45 foot schooner named "Los Amigos": https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120694456/movie-stuntman-cliff-lyons-owned-the-45/

1961 newspaper article and interview with Cliff Lyons: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120756611/1961-article-and-interview-with/

Neil Summers has a writeup on Cliff Lyons at Boyd Magers' Western Clippings website: http://www.westernclippings.com/stuntmen/clifflyons_stuntmen.shtml

Texas Archive of the Moving Image website has several home movies with Cliff, wife Beth, and their two sons: https://texasarchive.org/taxonomy/term/116273



The Family Search website and newspapers.com had information on Cliff Lyons and family. The nickname of Cliff's mother Wilhamena was 'Mena':




(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Billed as Cliff 'Tex' Lyons, he starred in a handful of silent oaters in the late 1920s for Morris R. Schlank's production company and released by Anchor Film Distributors. Cliff's starring career was very brief.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Left to right are Bud Osborne, Cliff Lyons, hero Bob Custer and unidentified player (may be Tom/Tommy Bay) in a scene from the silent CODE OF THE WEST (Syndicate, 1929) which starred Custer.



Above is Cliff Lyons doubling Tom Mix and chasing down Charles Middleton in a screen capture from Chapter 15 - "Justice Rides the Plains" of THE MIRACLE RIDER (Mascot, 1935) cliffhanger.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Lyons drives a buckboard off a cliff into a lake in the cliffhanger ending of Chapter 3 in Buck Jones' THE PHANTOM RIDER (Universal, 1936). Also on board - and dressed in a white shirt / blouse - was a dummy disguised as leading lady Marla Shelton.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above - Lyons doubling for Bob Baker in a crop from a lobby card from PRAIRIE JUSTICE (Universal, 1938).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above - transferring to the rear of the stage is probably stuntman Cliff Lyons, doubling for Johnny Mack Brown, in a scene from Brown's first series oater at Universal, DESPERATE TRAILS (Universal, 1939). The mustached stage driver is Horace Murphy and the shotgun guard is Frank McCarroll.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above - Lyons doubling for Johnny Mack Brown in this crop from a lobby card from DESPERATE TRAILS (Universal, 1939).



(Courtesy of Deborah Duffy)

At full gallop, Lyons is gettin' ready to scoop up the lady doubling the heroine. Jesse Brisson found a January, 1939 newspaper article on stunt women, and the above photo is part of a multi-photo sequence in that article. The gal is stuntwoman Ione Reed. Alas - the title of the film is not mentioned. Link to the full page article which will open in a separate window / tab: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79130682/the-san-bernardino-county-sun/



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above left is Cliff Lyons (doubling for star Ken Maynard) in a crop from a lobby card from HARMONY TRAIL (Mattox, 1944; re-released in 1947 by Astor as WHITE STALLION). On the right is Rocky Camron.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

On the left are Allan Lane and Linda Stirling captured by three great stunt men doing acting jobs - center is Cliff Lyons, then Duke Green, and on the far right is Eddie Parker. Scene from THE TIGER WOMAN (Republic, 1944) serial.



(Courtesy of Deborah Duffy)

Above - Lyons in the white suit with John Wayne and Susan Hayward (on horseback) in a production still from THE CONQUERER (RKO, 1956). Howard Hughes was the producer, Dick Powell directed, and Lyons was the second unit director in charge of stunts and action sequences. Wayne portrayed Genghis Khan. Crop below of Lyons, Wayne, and Susan Hayward.





(Courtesy of Deborah Duffy)

Above - a note from John Wayne to Cliff Lyons for his work on THE CONQUERER (RKO, 1956).



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