Life and career

Suellyn Lyon was born on July 10, 1946, in Davenport, Iowa. When she was 14 years old, she was cast in the role of Dolores "Lolita" Haze, the sexually charged adolescent and the object of an older man's obsessions in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film Lolita. She was chosen for the role partly because her curvy figure suggested that of an older adolescent. Based on Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, Kubrick's film, though a toned-down version of the book—Lolita is only 12 at the beginning of the novel and 17 at the end—was nonetheless one of the most controversial films of its day.

Lyon was still 15 when the film premiered in June 1962. She became an instant celebrity and won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female. Despite her inexperience, she was praised for holding her own in scenes with the three top-billed stars of the film, James Mason, Shelley Winters, and Peter Sellers. Lyon recorded two songs for the film, which were released on an MGM 45 rpm record. The song "Lolita Ya Ya" (Riddle-Harris) appeared on side A, and "Turn Off the Moon" (Stillman-Harris) appeared on side B.

In 1963, Lyon was again cast as a seductive teen in John Huston's The Night of the Iguana (1964), competing for the affections of Richard Burton's disgraced preacher against the likes of Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner. Again, controversy surrounded her because of a provocative scene in the film in which Lyon is shown emerging from the Pacific Ocean clad in a revealing bathing suit. Burton is seen walking next to her as they set foot on a small beach in Mexico.

In 1965, she played a mission worker in China in director John Ford's last feature film, 7 Women. Lyon played the female lead in the 1967 comedy The Flim-Flam Man and had a supporting role in 1967's Tony Rome which starred Frank Sinatra. She played the wife of daredevil Evel Knievel in the 1971 film Evel Knievel.

By the 1970s, she was relegated to mainly secondary roles. In her final film role, she played a news reporter in the 1980 cult favorite Alligator.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	Lolita	Dolores "Lolita" Haze	Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer
1964	The Night of the Iguana	Charlotte Goodall
1966	7 Women	Emma Clark
1967	The Flim-Flam Man	Bonnie Lee Packard
	Tony Rome	Diana Pines
1969	Arsenic and Old Lace	Elaine Harper	TV film
1970	But I Don't Want to Get Married!	Laura	TV film
1971	Four Rode Out	Myra Polsen
	Evel Knievel	Linda
1973	Murder in a Blue World	Ana Vernia
1973	Tarot	Angela
1976	The Astral Factor	Darlene DeLong
	Smash-Up on Interstate 5	Burnsey	TV film
1977	Crash!	Kim Denne
	End of the World	Sylvia Boran
	Don't Push, I'll Charge When I'm Ready	Wendy Sutherland	TV film, made in 1969
1978	Towing	Lynn
1980	Alligator	NBC Newswoman

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Letter to Loretta	Laurie	1 episode ("Alien Love") as Suellyn Lyon
1969-1974	Love, American Style	Barbara Eric Julie	2 episodes ("Love and the Extra Job/Love and the Flying Finletters/Love and the Golden Worm/Love and the Itchy Condition/Love and the Patrolperson", "Love and the Medium/Love and the Bed/Love and the High School Flop-Out")
1970	The Virginian	Belinda Ballard	1 episode ("Experiment at New Life")
1971	Men at Law		1 episode ("Marathon")
	Night Gallery	Betsy	1 episode ("The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes/Miss Lovecraft Sent Me/The Hand of Borgus Weems/Phantom of What Opera?")
1978	Police Story	Caroline	1 episode ("River of Promises")
	Fantasy Island	Jill Nolan	1 episode ("Reunion/Anniversary")

[ Source: Wikipedia ]