Sue Lyon was born July 10, 1946, in Davenport, Iowa, the last of five children to Sue Karr Lyon. Her mother was 56 when her husband died and Sue was 10 months old. Her mother had to work as a hospital house mother to take care of her children and money was tight. Around this time, the Lyon family moved out to Los Angeles, hoping that Sue could help them out financially as a model. She got jobs modeling for JC Penny, and doing a commercial, which featured her dyed blonde hair. She also got small parts on Dennis the Menace and The Loretta Young Show. Director Stanley Kubrick saw Sue on the show and suggested to his partner that they should see her for the role of Lolita. Sue had been signed by the Glenn Shaw agency, and Pat Holms, an agent, brought her down to Kubrick for audition. She duly won the part of Lolita.

In 1964 she married Hampton Fancher III but the marriage was a short one. She did other movies like 7 Women, The Flim-Flam Man and Tony Rome. She married Roland Harrison, a black photographer and football coach. The controversy over their marriage made them decide to move to Spain. She continued in movies like Evel Knievel, Tarot, and Clockwork Terror, but divorced Harrison, due to pressure over racism and other problems.

She met Gary "Cotton" Adamson at the Colorado State Penitentiary, where he was currently serving time for murder and robbery. She worked as a cocktail waitress and lived in an hotel in Denver nearby. She married him in 1973 and began working for prison reform and conjugal rights. Unfortunately this was another short-lived marriage as she divorced him after he committed yet another robbery. More films followed including Smash-Up on Interstate 5, Invisible Strangler, Who Stole My Wheels?, _Crash! (1977/I)_ , _Don't Push, I'll Charge When I'm Ready (1977)_ and her final film, Alligator. She married a radio engineer, Richard Rudman and they live together in Los Angeles. Sue has retired from acting and avoids interviews.



7 Women (1966): 150,000
The Night of the Iguana (1964): $75,000
Lolita (1962): 25,000

Met, married, and divorced Gary "Cotton" Adamson while he was a prison inmate convicted of murder. She retired from acting after her marriage to Richard Rudman. Measurements: 34-22-35 She and her mother were in a bad car accident on the Pacific Coast Highway. She suffered head, neck and back injuries, leaving her in and out of a wheelchair for two years. Was diagnosed as a manic-depressive and was prescribed lithium. She later said she had struggled on and off with this since she was 16. At the end of the shoot, Shelley Winters, her Lolita (1962) co-star, gave Sue Lyon two pink Persian kittens, which were originally Elizabeth Taylor's.