Lolita fame actress Sue Lyon died at 73 in Los Angeles
The American actress, Sue Lyon, who we know for her portrayal of Lolita in the controversial movie at the age of 14 , passed away at the age of 73 in Los Angeles on Thursday i.e. 26th December. Her longtime friend, Phil Syracopoulos broke the news to The New York Times. He told that the actress was suffering from poor health since some time, he didn’t reveal the cause of her death.
Lyon became an overnight sensation as a teenager when she played the titular role in the Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 film adaptation of 1955 controversial novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita was about a middle-aged literature lecturer, Humbert Humbert played by James Mason who becomes sexually obsessed with a 12-year-old adolescent girl Dolores Haze aka Lolita played by Sue Lyon.
Described as “the perfect nymphet” by Nabokov, Lyon had beaten some 800 girls for the part and went onto win the Golden Globe Award in the most promising newcomer -female category in 1963. Lyon was also 14 when she shot the movie and at 15 the movie was premiered; however, she wasn’t allowed inside the theater for her debut movie because of her very young age. A photograph of Lyon sipping a drink at a nearby fountain during her premiere attracted a lot of buzz.
After the success of Lolita, Lyon went on to play a seductive teenager again in John Hutson’s ‘Night of the Iguana’ and appeared in John Ford’s ‘7 Women’ and Gordon Douglas’ ‘Tony Rome.’ She had several movies and television shows credits under her belt but she couldn’t recreate the success that her debut movie got her. Her last movie was in 1980 where she played the role of a news reporter in Lewis Teague’s monster-horror film Alligator.
Lyon has her daughter and our condolences are with her. May Lyon’s soul rest in peace.