Andrew Craddock Lyles Jr. (May 17, 1918 – September 27, 2013) was an American film producer for Paramount Pictures, who is best known for producing a variety of

Westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

in the 1950s and '60s.

Career

Born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, Lyles began working for Paramount Studios after high school. He began as an office boy, worked in the publicity department of

Pine-Thomas Productions Pine-Thomas Productions was a prolific B-picture unit of Paramount Pictures from 1940–1957, producing 81 films. Co-producers William H. Pine (February 15, 1896 – April 29, 1955) and William C. Thomas (August 11, 1903 – April 2, 1984) were kno ...

, the

second feature A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

unit of Paramount, and eventually became assistant to the producer on ''

The Mountain The Mountain (french: La Montagne) was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. They were the most radical group and opposed the Girondins. Th ...

'', released in 1954. His first role as full producer was on James Cagney's sole directorial effort, the 1957 '' Short Cut to Hell'' (a remake of the 1941 noir classic ''

This Gun for Hire ''This Gun for Hire'' is a 1942 American film noir crime film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Veronica Lake, Robert Preston (actor), Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, and Alan Ladd. It is based on the 1936 novel ''A Gun for Sale'' by Graham Gr ...

''). He also produced nine episodes of the television show '' Rawhide'' then the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

film '' The Young and the Brave'' for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

. In an interview with Alex Simon and Donald Keith, Lyles recalled he was approached by Paramount to do a Western when they realized they had none on their schedule of releases. When '' Law of the Lawless'' did well at the box office, Paramount asked him how many more he could do a year. Lyles replied "five" and he was given the go ahead to produce more

s for the studio. Lyles filled his casts with many older, experienced actors who were his friends. Lyles continued to produce a variety of low-budget traditional Westerns for Paramount in the 1960s, as well as other movies in other genres, such as the detective drama '' Rogue's Gallery'' in 1968, and the science-fiction film ''

Night of the Lepus ''Night of the Lepus'' (also known as ''Rabbits'') is a 1972 American science fiction horror film directed by William F. Claxton and produced by A. C. Lyles. Based upon Russell Braddon's 1964 science fiction novel '' The Year of the Angry Rabbi ...

'', for MGM, that featured the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

menaced by giant mutant rabbits. On March 3, 1988, Lyles was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6840

Hollywood Blvd Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

. Lyles' last work was as consulting producer on the HBO television series '' Deadwood'', created by

David Milch David Sanford Milch (born March 23, 1945) is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including ABC's ''NYPD Blue'' (1993-2005), co-created with Steven Bochco, and HBO's '' Deadwood'' (2004 ...

Personal

Lyles married actress

Martha Vickers Martha Vickers (born Martha MacVicar; May 28, 1925 – November 2, 1971) was an American model and actress. Early life Vickers was born Martha MacVicar in Ann Arbor, Michigan; her father was an automobile dealer. She began her career as a mo ...

in March 1948, but the couple divorced that September. He married Martha French in 1955. On September 27, 2013, Lyles died at his Los Angeles home. He was 95 and survived by his wife; they had no children.

Filmography

References

External links

Wildest Westerns: A.C. Lyles: Gentleman of the West
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyles, A.C. 1918 births 2013 deaths Paramount Pictures People from Jacksonville, Florida Film producers from Florida Television producers from Florida

Career

Personal

Filmography

References

Further reading

External links