Gene Lyons (February 9, 1921 – July 8, 1974) was an American television actor perhaps best known for his role as police commissioner Dennis Randall on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

detective series '' Ironside''.

Career

Born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Lyons was a life member of

The Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining ...

. His first of seven Broadway appearances was in February 1943, in a short-lived production of Walter Livingston Faust's ''This Rock'', produced by Eddie Dowling. He co-starred in the Broadway production of '' Witness for the Prosecution'' for two years (1954–56). His other Broadway credits are ''Harriet'' (1943–44), ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...

'' (1949–50), '' An Enemy of the People'' (1950–51), ''

The Trip to Bountiful ''The Trip to Bountiful'' is a 1985 American road drama film directed by Peter Masterson and starring Geraldine Page, John Heard, Carlin Glynn, Richard Bradford and Rebecca De Mornay. It was adapted by Horton Foote from his 1953 play. Th ...

'' (1953) and ''Masquerade'' (1958). In 1953, Lyons played a police detective on the CBS drama series ''Pentagon Confidential'' (renamed ''Pentagon U.S.A.'' by second episode). He appeared in 1954 as Steve Rockwell on the CBS daytime drama ''

Woman with a Past ''Woman with a Past'' is an American daytime soap opera that aired on CBS from February 1, 1954, to July 2, 1954. The sustaining program originated at WCBS-TV and replaced ''Action in the Afternoon'' in the CBS schedule. Synopsis The soap focus ...

''. In 1963 Lyons appeared as Sheriff Jonathan Ballard on the TV western '' The Virginian'' in the episode titled "If You Have Tears". Before joining Raymond Burr as a regular on '' Ironside'' (1967–74), he appeared on Burr's '' Perry Mason'', in the 1965 episode "The Case of the Wrathful Wraith". He also made guest appearances on nearly two dozen other series including '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'', ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'' (“Bently”), ''

Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Ri ...

'', '' The Fugitive'', ''

Ben Casey ''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama television series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member ...

'', ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' ("

A Taste of Armageddon "A Taste of Armageddon" is the twenty-third episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Robert Hamner and Gene L. Coon and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on Februa ...

"), ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' (" King Nine Will Not Return"), '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'' ("Shining in Spain") and '' The Untouchables''. He also appeared in films including '' The Young Don't Cry'' and ''Kiss Her Goodbye''.

Death

Lyons was 53 years old when he died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

from complications related to chronic alcoholism, and is buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in

.Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * 1921 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Pittsburgh American male television actors American male soap opera actors Burials at Calvary Catholic Cemetery (Pittsburgh) {{US-tv-actor-1920s-stub