She was born in Davenport Iowa. Her mother was 56 when her husband died and Sue was 10 months old. Money was tight and her mother decided to move to Los Angeles where Sue could earn money as a child model. J.C Penny was her big break and from that commercial Sue landed acting jobs on Dennis the Menace (1959) where the famous director Stanley Kubrick took notice and suggested that she should test for the "Lolita" role. After months of testing other attractive girls, Sue won the part. The movie made her an overnight sensation. The 1962 blockbuster was such a huge hit that it was difficult for the audience to see her in new roles. They always connected her with the seductive sexy Lolita. She married black photographer Roland harrison and that set off a whole new wave of controversy. She fled the U.S and moved to Spain. They divorced, due to pressure over racism and other problems. Her next marriage was to Gary "Cotton" Adamson who spent years in the Colorado Penitentiary for murder and robbery. This was another short lived relationship. In 1980 after doing many "B" movies she married a radio engineer, Richard Rudman and they live in Los Angeles. Sue retired from show business and will not do any interviews. Her role in Lolita was one of the finest ever in motion pictures.
SUE LYON TODAY.
Nelson Riddle did the music score. It was haunting. The Oscars shunned this movie in 62 because it was so over the edge for the day. James Mason should of won best actor and Sue best actress. A Kubrick masterpiece.
Posted by: Movie Freak | April 02, 2010 at 08:11 AM
One of Sue's last movies was "Evel Knievel"(1971) where she played the role of his wife.
Posted by: Bob Karm | April 02, 2010 at 09:30 AM
AHH. Could tell a "lolita" story, but that would just get me into trouble...scared the hell out of me.
Posted by: Jack Peek | April 02, 2010 at 09:45 AM
Boy, quite a change from then to now. She was quite the hottie back then..........i'm just sayin.
Posted by: Macky Wacky | April 02, 2010 at 10:44 AM
Cha-Cha-Cha. Brilliant film, still edgy 48 years later. That scene with Humbert making love to Lolita's mother while looking at Lolita's picture next to the bed. The Hotel concierge named Mr. Swine.
Posted by: tom | April 02, 2010 at 02:18 PM
I remember Lou Irwin from "Earth News Radio" (broadcast on KNDE Sacramento at the time) did an interview with Sue Lyon after she divorced "Cotton." She talked of making a comeback. That was the last I heard of her... until now.
Posted by: John Ross Hart | April 06, 2010 at 01:07 PM
The photo "Sue Lyon today" ... wonder where that was taken and who took it? She doesn't look very happy ...
Posted by: jan | June 08, 2010 at 05:04 PM
she was gorgeous in lolita more beautiful than all the "hottest" actress right now.
Posted by: Marko | July 08, 2010 at 11:04 PM
actresses*
Posted by: Marko | July 08, 2010 at 11:07 PM
Watching it now. Good lord I wish I was 16 in 62. What a sex kitten!!! Ahaha!!!
Cha Cha Cha! Very edgy and as expected, another classic. I've never seen a bad movie of Kubrick's.
Posted by: Matt | August 03, 2010 at 06:54 AM
Here is an interview with her on youtube. Year unknown. Perhaps the 80s? Or perhaps later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwQpEiqYitY
Posted by: Humbert Humbert | November 10, 2010 at 06:36 PM
@jan -- I'm sure she doesn't look happy because she doesn't allow photographs, and she was probably realizing someone was taking a photo of her.
@macky wacky -- well seriouslty chief, she's 64 years old now. She filmed LOLITA 50 years ago.
Posted by: Matt | January 04, 2011 at 04:28 PM
Wow, I can't believe I finally found a current photo of Sue Lyon. It's too bad she quit films when she was just 34 and always wondered what she looked like now and what she was up to.
Posted by: Sandra Conti | March 11, 2011 at 10:13 PM
dear Sue. I hope you read this, this is tom necaster, we met at the stage in 76. I took you to washington st in a sixteen wheel truck, i know you would have to remember that. you lived in echo park with your daughter Nona, i beleive........god I would love to talk to you Sue, Ive been trying to find you for along time, please call me my cell phone is 315 2223846 or 315 6542161.
I remember the vegitarian dinners you use to make, and we would dine in your room, that was so beautiful along with the many candles, and a bed that had to have been four times the size of a california king. i really hope you read this......bye for now Sue Lyon........Tom
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Posted by: carpinteyroilk | October 12, 2011 at 12:14 AM
Dear Sue,
I was a patient at St Albans Joint Military Hospital March 1969.
Guys were screaming in pain and during nightmares all the time.
It was almost as stressful an experience as what got me there.
I was bedridden most of the time.
One day I looked up, and there was an angel standing at the foot of my bed.
I thought if this is heaven...I'm gonna stay!
You sat besides me for awhile, and we talked.
You were visiting injured guys that day.
I was one of the lucky ones!
You were in my thoughts from that time on.
It made the rest of my stay much easier.
Thank You,
Ken
Posted by: Ken | December 03, 2011 at 03:29 PM
Hi, this message is for Tom. I know where Sue is today. She is Bi-polar. Has been for years. If you want me to give Sue your letter....Please let me know as I would be happy to print it out and to give it to her personally. I see her a couple of times a week. I live in L.A. and this is where she is today.
Thank You for remembering her. She is and will always be a very special lady.
Take care for now,
Mike
Posted by: Mike Davies | December 30, 2011 at 11:17 PM
What's the over-under that Neil Goldschmidt has an original 16mm print of this movie and watches it frequently?
Posted by: Buc Neirbo | December 31, 2011 at 10:57 AM
: Movie Freak | April 02, 2010 at 08:11 AM writes, "James Mason should OF won best actor...".
I'm just being curious, but who was the original "genius" who concocted this particular construction in the first place? Or, perhaps, I should OF known?!?
Posted by: Dan | May 15, 2012 at 11:49 PM
Ha! Camp Climax for girls!
Posted by: Bonnie | August 11, 2012 at 06:26 PM
Pishious P.Toshious
Posted by: johnnyangel10 | September 01, 2012 at 05:39 AM
For the person that put Sue Lyons business on blast like that. She is Bi Polar? What business is it of yours to say such a thing? Jealousy? How mean. I remember Sue and her daughter. She was my classmate a sweet girl growing up with her mom a single mother. Mrs. Lyon was not your snobbish Hollywood type woman. She kept it real. She volunteered and later worked at our Elementary School. She always showed concern for the poor kids in our neighborhood. She was tough with her own daughter, a very strict parent. As for her mental illness that is only for her to discuss. She was sweet and welcoming to all the kids in the neighborhood. She wanted her daughter to have friends and be accepted. I believe it was a great concern of hers that her daughter would not be discriminated against for being bi racial. In the end I believe Nona did suffer discrimination that only she can speak of. She was this adorable little black girl with the cutest button nose, curly lashes and brown skin. She was quite possibly the only black girl in our predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. I never got the chance to tell her these things. Sue had many husbands men loved this woman. I notice that only a few were listed in her bio. If I'm not mistaken her first husband was a Hemingway. I hope you are well Nona and I know you are stronger today. Minerva an old classmate from Echo Park.
Posted by: Minerva | September 03, 2012 at 08:14 AM
I'm such a fan of the film "Lolita" that I never tire of it - all of the characters are so fantastic. From the interview she gave it was obvious that the studios burned her out and she wanted to get on living life on her terms. It makes me sad that she has been out of the public eye for so many years and has had difficulties. She really was a beautiful girl/woman that could of had it all. For those who know her in this forum please let her know that another one of her many fans is wishing the best for her and still considers her one of the greatest.
Bill
Posted by: Bill Oakes | September 11, 2012 at 05:54 AM
I honestly have to say that Sue Lyon is still as inspiring to me today as she was when I first saw her in Lolita when I was 16. That movie helped me get through my own 'Lolita' stage with a teacher from school it still strikes a chord in me whenever I see it. I think Sue still looks beautiful today and has aged pretty damm well. I am sad that she had such a hard life and I really hope that she is happy and well now. I'm sending out my best wishes to her daughter also and hope she didn't suffer to much either. I can only imagine how close mother and daughter must have been and hope they are still close to each other today. What a lovely mix Sue's daughter is and how wonderful that Sue married who she wanted to - despite the difference in racial backgrounds. What a beautiful lady xx
Posted by: Samantha | September 16, 2012 at 04:27 AM
Lolita is just one of those captivating black & white early '60's films and Sue Lyons was so cool and pretty you wish you could reach back in time and escape with her somewhere, if only just to protect her. But if you could do that then you could make it so that 1962 would've never ended.
I love films man.
Posted by: J Nimrod | November 17, 2012 at 01:51 PM
sue lyon was pretty in that lolita movie ways back but then what happen to her can u send me any info on her then on
Posted by: rob | January 03, 2013 at 08:14 PM
Yes she was very pretty in Lolita but she admitted she had manic depression even before that. She had a part in another good film "The Night of the Iguana" She got married at the time but divorced in less than a year Nothing happened for the next years when she married a Black man variously described as football coach, photographer and "someone who did his own thing". In other words had children but didn't provide for them. In an interview with "The Milwaukee Journal" she described their marriage as the biggest mistake in her life. But of course some idiots know better than her and say "that she married who she wanted too" when in reality she was suffering from schizophrenia. Not much later she married a murderer. Since the time of her second marriage, she has been living in a notorious low-life area of Los Angeles clearly not something she would have preferred. And her daughter. Well, let's just say she doesn't look in the least like her mother.
Posted by: M.Borg | January 04, 2013 at 02:11 PM
To me, she will always be Burnsey, falling off the back of that motorcycle in Smashup On Interstae 5. She was so pretty. I developed an immediate crush on her. I followed all her work. She was adorable as the babysitter in Night Gallery. Can someone put me in touch with her, so I can tell her I love her? Robert [email protected]
Posted by: Robert | January 04, 2013 at 05:30 PM
I'm now watching Ms. Lyon in Lolita. She has pretty eyes. She reminds me of a younger world although the sixties weren't that far away. California in the sixties. We knew so little. The Beach Boys were peaking. Vietnam was still a brush war. AIDS, sexual herpes and global warming were just funny terms you could laff at. But now, it's enuff to drive anyone bipolar. I hope Ms. Lyon is happy and things are going well. I hope our children will slow global warming down through research on alternative energy sources and conservation. I hope this world stabilizes and we stop killing each other. I hope good will return.
Posted by: soupy sales | January 19, 2013 at 06:43 PM
Just finished watching "Lolita" on TCM... Wherever you are Sue Lyon, you were brilliant in this movie...
Posted by: R. Pagan | January 19, 2013 at 07:56 PM
m. borg has a thing for sue lyon, and a thing against the interracial part of her bio. he's posting this racial slant story all over the net
Posted by: c. edwards | January 27, 2013 at 03:22 PM
Sue,
I just watched your 10min. interview on youtube. I do realize that was filmed back in the 80's. I had been wondering whatever happened to you since the 60's, for I thought you were the greatest in Lolita. I wasnt born until 1970 but have seen Lolita several times.
Wish there were a way we could correspond thru email or phone.
Please give Sue my email address, thank you.
Posted by: kenzi | February 14, 2013 at 12:41 PM
i do like that video lolita ok you are pretty in it ok i was not old enough to go see the movie then it was not till thay let cable on that i saw it ok i new you start to be a new star but what happen to you you no i wish that ther was a new lolita nu 2 that was in color u see i was going to ask if you ever had your nails done or like to let your nails grow long i just was askinng it caus i no it be pretty on u
Posted by: Robert Valent | February 25, 2013 at 08:06 PM
,she is over 70 now! go back to your mommies basement!
Posted by: john | February 25, 2013 at 10:18 PM
I'm watching Night of the Iguana for the
first time.Sue Llyon is spunky and beautiful
In it. I also just saw the whole Lolita that
Appeared on TCM. I am a contempory
Of Sue Lyon. The movie "Lolita" was very
Banned in its day and forbidden to see in
It's day. I'm surprised that someone so
Famous looks like she does today. Mental
Illness does take its toll. Did she ever be
Come a Mom? Does she have any one to
care for her? Sad.
Posted by: Deb | March 13, 2013 at 02:51 PM
I realize she is around 70 now, and I figure that's not enough time... I really would like to speak to her before she passes. Does anyone have her address, or anyway of contact with her? It would be very appreciated.
Posted by: Katie | March 17, 2013 at 11:49 PM
Although cute, Lyons was not educated or instilled with any cultural or racial pride. She was rudderless and adrift, ripe for the picking by any horny negro who happened by with a smooth line of monkey talk. This ignorant shiksa became a brainwashed left-wing Hollywood tool used to advance the jewish cause and denigrate white womanhood. The foolish Lyons actually married a negro and bred with it. That spectacularly stupid move turned sane White America off and triggered Lyon's degradation from Aryan Goddess to permanently sullied freak.
Posted by: ScarlettOHara | March 22, 2013 at 01:41 PM
scarlett i take it your from the south? and still fighting the war?
Posted by: john | March 22, 2013 at 02:45 PM
with an IQ of around 40 to match
Posted by: UrbanGent | March 22, 2013 at 03:16 PM
Although Scarlette Ohara comes off sounding like a Nazi Skin head
He does have a valid point especially in the era
That this took place in. Sue Lyons commited social
Suicide by playing a nymphette and then
Out doing herself by marrying a black man
In times when both acts were Taboo.
Posted by: Jovana | May 24, 2013 at 02:42 AM
Wow! That is quite a change. As my name sake, I have lots of interesting stories... here is my first "nearly famous" blog post about my encounters (nearly) with the "other" Sue Lyon...
http://mamapicturethis.blogspot.com
Posted by: Mama Picture This | June 21, 2013 at 10:07 AM
I have to wonder how Sue Lyon was treated by other rising or established stars.Did she have anyone close to confide in,share with and run around with.Such a lovely young lady would have all of the temptations coming at her,how did she deal with it.I loved "Lolita" and watch it still.The music is haunting and beautiful.Laaaaa laaaaaa ohooo ohooo laaaa laaaaa well you know the rest.
Posted by: Hootie | August 08, 2013 at 09:05 PM
Fascinating and talented woman. Actually, Sue Lyon's mother was 42, not 56 when her husband died.
Posted by: Lesley | September 24, 2013 at 11:37 PM
Sue Lyons is a great actress. I love Lolita and Night of The Iguana because of her. I have watched these movies dozens and dozens of times. Comments on this post criticizing her in any way are ridiculous. Most need to get a life. Sue Lyons was and always will be a shining star. She proved herself, made her mark and moved on. She is one of the greatest.
Posted by: gaybird | October 05, 2013 at 11:22 PM
Anyone know where she is now? I would love to send a message to her. I knew her in the 60'/70's personally. Thank you.
Posted by: 1712 | November 11, 2013 at 04:35 PM