Veteran film producer and friend to many of Hollywood's stars
The office walls of the film producer AC Lyles, who has died aged 95, were plastered with celebrity photographs. He seemed to know everybody in Hollywood, from presidents and governors to the great names of film, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. James Cagney, William Holden and Ronald Reagan were close personal friends.
Lyles worked for the same company, Paramount, for most of his life, starting as a mailroom office boy in 1937, after the studio's head, Adolph Zukor, gave in to his weekly letters begging for a job.
Indeed, he maintained that he had decided on his ninth birthday that he was going to be a producer. At the age of 10, he had a cleaning job at the Paramount cinema in his home town of Jacksonville, Florida, and seeing the silent film Wings, starring Clara Bow, reinforced this aspiration.
The office walls of the film producer AC Lyles, who has died aged 95, were plastered with celebrity photographs. He seemed to know everybody in Hollywood, from presidents and governors to the great names of film, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. James Cagney, William Holden and Ronald Reagan were close personal friends.
Lyles worked for the same company, Paramount, for most of his life, starting as a mailroom office boy in 1937, after the studio's head, Adolph Zukor, gave in to his weekly letters begging for a job.
Indeed, he maintained that he had decided on his ninth birthday that he was going to be a producer. At the age of 10, he had a cleaning job at the Paramount cinema in his home town of Jacksonville, Florida, and seeing the silent film Wings, starring Clara Bow, reinforced this aspiration.
- 10/6/2013
- by Michael Freedland
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.