Pierce Lyden
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Pierce Lyden | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 2, 1908 |
| Died | October 10, 1998 (aged 90) |
| Other names | Pierce Lydon |
| Education | Emerson College of Oratory |
| Alma mater | University of Nebraska |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1933–1962 |
| Awards | Golden Boot Award |
Pierce W. Lyden (January 8, 1908 – October 10, 1998)[1] was an American stage, film, television and stunt actor best known for his work in Westerns.
Lyden was born in a sod house on a ranch near Hildreth, Nebraska[2] on January 8, 1908. The son of a horse buyer for the U.S. Army cavalry, he acquired riding skills as a youngster that later made it possible for him to do his own stunts as an actor in Hollywood westerns.[1]
He graduated high school in Naponee, Nebraska,[2] and acted in several plays there. He graduated from the University of Nebraska School of Music[3] and Fine Arts in 1927 and later studied at the Emerson College of Oratory in Boston.[1]
Career
Early years
Lyden supported himself in these early years by playing romantic leads in stock company productions at Lincoln's Liberty Theater [1] and on the road, and appeared in a few Chautauqua presentations. Soon after graduating from the University of Nebraska, he joined the United Chautauqua System, taking the leading role in its production of The Family Upstairs.[3]
Hollywood
When talking movies eclipsed live theater presentations in small towns, Pierce Lyden went on to Hollywood in 1932 and appeared in his first Western film in 1933.[1] He played villains' roles in B Western films, quickly becoming typecast as a "bad guy." Due to his excellence in horsemanship, he also performed stunts, and specialized in fight scenes.[1] He appeared in Saturday serials called cliffhangers as well as in feature films and television series.
The number of his feature film roles has been estimated at between 300 and 400, many as "uncredited" since actors who did not have major parts were not listed in film credits. Some twenty-five of these film appearances were for Republic Pictures between 1940 and 1951.[1]
Lyden made about a hundred[1] episode appearances on television series such as The Cisco Kid, Wild Bill Hickok, Bat Masterson, and The Lone Ranger.
He worked with some of the most famous Western movie actors, including Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, and John Wayne, portraying Campbell, the Colonel's wagon train scout in Red River (1948).[4] He was Photo Press Fan Poll's "Villain of the Year" in 1944.[1]
Retirement
In 1962, as the popularity of Westerns lessened, Lyden retired in Orange, California, where he had lived throughout his acting career. He wrote "Action Shots" about film personalities for the Orange County, California, Register, and the film industry magazine Classic Images. He published five books about his career and the making of films in his era.[1] In his later years he was regularly invited to film festivals in the U.S. and abroad.[1]
Awards
Honors awarded him included membership in the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Heritage Foundation (1979) and the Golden Boot Award (1992).[1]
In 1989 Naponee, Nebraska, named a street for him and held a Pierce Lyden film festival. In 1996, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[5] In 1997 he received Nebraska's Buffalo Bill Award.[1]
Personal life and death
Lyden had one son, Donald Pierce Lyden, an attorney who had three children with his wife Kathleen. Lyden was married January 29, 1929, but received an annulment March 18, 1931, alleging that he had not seen his wife, Margerie Ann, since two hours after the wedding.[6]
Lyden died at his Orange, California home on October 10, 1998,[1] aged 90, and was buried at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, California.
