Jimmy Lydon

James J. Lydon (born May 30, 1923) is an American actor and television producer whose career in the entertainment industry began as a teenager during the 1930s.[1]

Jimmy Lydon
Lydon in 2013
Born	James J. Lydon (1923-05-30) May 30, 1923 Harrington Park, New Jersey, U.S.
Other names	James Lydon
Occupation	Actor, producer
Years active	1937–1987
Spouse(s)	Patricia Pernetti (m. 1945; div. 19??) Betty Lou Nedell ( m. 1952)
Children	2

Early life

Lydon was born in Harrington Park in northeastern New Jersey, the fifth of nine children. His family was of Irish heritage. He was raised in Bergenfield.[2]

Career

In 1932, Lydon's father, who was an alcoholic, decided to retire from working. This decision forced all of the other family members to seek employment in the depths of the Great Depression.[3] In 1937, Jimmy Lydon, not knowing what he wanted to do, tried his hand at acting. His first role was Danny in the Broadway play Western Waters. He had been allowed to audition for the part after fabricating a list of roles he had previously portrayed. In the next couple of years, he learned the acting craft while performing in plays such as Sunup to Sundown, Prologue to Glory, Sing Out the News, and The Happiest Days. In 1939, he moved with his family to Hollywood to seek film roles.

Jimmy Lydon in 1939.

One of his first starring roles was the title character in the 1940 movie Tom Brown's School Days, also starring Cedric Hardwicke and Freddie Bartholomew. The film was well received by critics, with Variety praising it in a January 1940 review as "sympathetically and skillfully made, with many touching moments and an excellent cast". Lydon was called "believable and moving in the early portions, but too young for the final moments".[4]

Between 1941 and 1944, under contract to Paramount Pictures, Lydon starred as the screechy-voiced, adolescent Henry Aldrich in the movie series of that title.[3] After completing the Aldrich series, the 21-year-old Lydon signed a contract in 1944 with Republic Pictures.[5]

Lydon in Twice Blessed (1945)

He appeared with William Powell, Irene Dunne, and Elizabeth Taylor in the acclaimed 1947 film Life with Father, in the role of college-bound Clarence. Variety called Jimmy Lydon's portrayal "effective as the potential Yale man".[6]

He then appeared opposite James Cagney in the 1948 movie The Time of Your Life. From 1949 to 1950, he and Janet Waldo voiced the leading characters in the radio comedy Young Love.

Lydon easily gained roles in the new medium of television. He portrayed Chris Thayer on The First Hundred Years. The show was CBS' first daytime soap opera. It was performed live for three seasons of three hundred episodes.

Jimmy Lydon and Olive Stacey as newlyweds Chris and Connie in The First Hundred Years, 1951

In 1953, he was cast as Murray in the aviation adventure film Island in the Sky, starring John Wayne. He also played Biffen Cardoza on the last six episodes of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger in 1954 and made appearances in Lux Video Theatre and The Christophers. In 1955, he appeared on Sergeant Preston of the Yukon as Johnny Lane, plagued by cabin fever, in the episode titled "The Williwaw".

In 1958, Lydon played the role of Richard in Anne Jeffreys' and Robert Sterling's short-lived sitcom, Love That Jill. Lydon appeared in guest roles on Crossroads, Casey Jones, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Wagon Train, Hennesey, The Twilight Zone, and Tales of the Texas Rangers, as Lt. Jared Evans in the 1958 episode "Warpath". A year later, he guest starred on the ABC/Warner Brothers western television series Colt .45, starring Wayde Preston. Lydon played the role of Willy in the episode "Return to El Paso", with Paul Picerni cast as Jose.[7]

After working increasingly in television in the 1950s, he turned to production and helped to create the detective series 77 Sunset Strip, as well as the CBS sitcom M*A*S*H. He also produced the television adaptation of the film Mister Roberts in 1966 and Roll Out in 1973–1974. Lydon played Captain Henry Aldrich (a reference to his Aldrich movie series) on the latter show.

In 1963, Lydon was working for Warner Brothers to place on the NBC fall schedule a new western series, Temple Houston, starring Jeffrey Hunter as Temple Lea Houston, an historical figure, a clever lawyer, and the youngest son of Sam Houston. On orders from studio boss Jack Webb, episodes were put together in two or three days each, something previously thought impossible in television production. Work began on August 7, 1963, with the initial airing set for September 19. Lydon recalls that Webb told the staff: "Fellas, I just sold Temple Houston. We gotta be on the air in four weeks, we can't use the pilot, we have no scripts, no nothing - do it!"[8] Lydon recalls the team having worked around the clock to get Temple Houston on the air. Co-producer William Conrad directed six episodes, two scripts simultaneously on two different soundstages at Warner Brothers: "We bicycled Jeff (Jeffrey Hunter) and Elam (secondary character Jack Elam) between the two companies, and Bill shot 'em both in four-and-a-half days. Two complete one-hour shows!".[8] Though the production challenge was met with much difficulty, Temple Houston never gained popularity in the ratings and ended after twenty-six weeks.[8] At the same time script and cast changes that Webb had imposed on 77 Sunset Strip, with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., left as the sole character, caused the cancellation of that series before it could finish its sixth season.

During the 1980s, Lydon continued to act in television, with roles on episodes of Lou Grant, Simon & Simon, and St. Elsewhere.

Lyndon was briefly married to Patricia Pernetti, in the late 1940s.[9] He has been married to Betty Lou Nedell since 1952, and retired to Bonita in San Diego County, California. They have two daughters and two granddaughters.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1939	Back Door to Heaven	Frankie Rogers
	The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair	Bud
	Two Thoroughbreds	David Carey
1940	Tom Brown's School Days	Tom Brown
	Little Men	Dan
	Bowery Boy	Sock Dolan
1941	Navel Academy	Tommy Blake
	Henry Aldrich for President	Henry Aldrich
1942	Cadets on Parade	Joe Novak
	The Mad Martindales	Bobby Bruce Turner
	Henry and Dizzy	Henry Aldrich
	Henry Aldrich, Editor
	Star Spangled Rhythm	Jimmy Lydon	Uncredited
1943	Aerial Gunner	Pvt. Sanford 'Sandy' Lunt
	Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour	Henry Aldrich
	Henry Aldrich Swings It
	Henry Aldrich Haunts a House
1944	Henry Aldrich, Boy Scout
	My Best Gal	Johnny McCloud
	Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid	Henry Aldrich
	Henry Aldrich's Little Secret
	When the Lights Go On Again	Ted Benson
	The Town Went Wild	Bob Harrison
1945	Strange Illusion	Paul Cartwright
	Twice Blessed	Mickey Pringle
1946	Affairs of Geraldine	Willy Briggs
1947	Life with Father	Clarence Day, Jr.
	Cynthia	Ricky Latham
	Sweet Genevieve	Bill Kennedy
	Good News	Tommy's classmate	Uncredited
1948	The Time of Your Life	Dudley Raoul Bostwick
	Out of the Storm	Donald Lewis
	Joan of Arc	Pierre d'Arc
1949	An Old-Fashioned Girl	Tom Shaw
	Miss Mink of 1949	Joe Forrester
	Bad Boy	Ted Hendry
	Tucson	Andy Bryant
1950	When Willie Comes Marching Home	Charles Fettles
	Tarnished	Junior Bunker
	Destination Big House	Freddy Brooks
	September Affair	Johnny Wilson
	Hot Rod	David Langham
	The Magnificent Yankee	Clinton
1951	Gasoline Alley	Skeezix
	Oh! Susanna	Trumpeter Benton
	Corky of Gasoline Alley	Skeezix Wallet
1953	Island in the Sky	Murray
1954	The Desperado	Tom Cameron
1955	Rage at Dawn	Dedrick - Fisher's Clerk	Uncredited
1956	Battle Stations	Squawk Hewitt
1957	Chain of Evidence	Steve Nordstrom
1960	The Hypnotic Eye	Emergency doctor
	I Passed for White	Jay Morgan
1961	The Last Time I Saw Archie	Pvt. Billy Simpson
1969	Death of a Gunfighter	Luke Mills
1971	Scandalous John	Grotch
1973	Bonnie's Kids	Motel Manager
1976	Vigilante Force	Tom Crousy

Short Subjects:

• Home Early (1939) as Junior Doakes (uncredited)
• A Letter from Bataan (1942) as Chuck Lewis
• The Aldrich Family Gets in the Scrap (1943) as Henry Aldrich
• Caribbean Romance (1943) as Peter Conway
• The Shining Future (1944) as Danny Ames
• Road to Victory (1944) as Danny Ames
• Time to Kill (1945) as Lou

References

1. Erickson, Hal. "Jimmy Lydon biography". The New York Times. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
2. Feldberg, Robert. "HOW WE HAD FUN", The Record (Bergen County), May 7, 1995. Accessed October 25, 2009. "And Bergenfield-bred Jimmy Lydon, who played the eternal teenager Henry Aldrich on radio and in B movies, had married his high-school sweetheart."
3. "Jimmy Lydon; stage, film, television and behind the camera". The Milwaukee Journal. January 20, 1983. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
4. "Tom Brown's School Days; Adventures at Rugby". Variety. January 1, 1940. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
5. "SCREEN NEWS; Jimmy Lydon Gets Term Contract With Republic" (PDF). The New York Times. December 23, 1944. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
6. "Life with Father". Variety. January 1, 1947. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
7. "Colt .45". ctva.biz. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
8. Billy Hathorn, "Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Longley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr., and the Texas Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television, 1955 to 1967", West Texas Historical Review, Vol. 89 (2013), pp. 106-109
9. "Actor Jimmy Lydon To Be Wed Tomorrow". Tucson Daily Citizen. April 13, 1945. p. 9. Retrieved July 7, 2016.

External links

• Jimmy Lydon on IMDb
• Jimmy Lydon at the Internet Broadway Database