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Jimmy Lydon
Jimmy Lydon
	Lydon in The First Hundred Years, 1951
Born	May 30, 1923; Harrington Park, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	March 9, 2022 (aged 98); San Diego, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, producer
Years active	1937–1987
Spouses	; Patricia Pernetti (m. 1945, divorced) ; Betty Lou Nedell (m. 1952; died 2022)
Children	2

James Joseph Lydon (May 30, 1923 – March 9, 2022) was an American actor and television producer whose career in the entertainment industry began as a teenager during the 1930s.^[1]

Early life

Lydon was born in Harrington Park, New Jersey on May 30, 1923, the fifth of nine children.^[2] His family was of Irish heritage. He was raised in Bergenfield, New Jersey.^[3]

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.^[4]

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".^[5]

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.^[4] After completing the Aldrich series, the 21-year-old Lydon signed a contract in 1944 with Republic Pictures.^[6]

He appeared 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".^[7]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Lydon easily gained roles in the new medium of television. He portrayed Chris Thayer on The First Hundred Years. The show was CBS's first daytime soap opera. It was performed live for three seasons of 300 episodes.

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".^{[citation needed]} In 1956 he appeared in the episode "One Minute from Broadway" in the series Sneak Preview.^[8]

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 television series Colt .45. Lydon played the role of Willy in the episode "Return to El Paso", with Paul Picerni cast as Jose.^{[citation needed]} He also appeared in the premiere episode of the anthology series New Comedy Showcase in 1960.^{[citation needed]}

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 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.^{[citation needed]}

In 1963, Lydon worked on the Western series Temple Houston on the fall schedule. 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!"^[9]

During the 1970s & 1980s, Lydon continued to act on television, with roles on episodes of Gunsmoke, Lou Grant, Simon & Simon, and St. Elsewhere.

Personal life

Lydon married Patricia Pernetti in 1945. The union was dissolved after a brief period.^[10] He was married to Betty Lou Nedell from 1952 until her death in January 2022. They had two daughters and two granddaughters.^[11]

Lydon died at the age of 98 on March 9, 2022, at his home in San Diego, California.^[11]

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	Naval Academy	Tommy Blake
1941	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	Henry Aldrich
	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	Henry Aldrich
	When the Lights Go On Again	Ted Benson
	The Town Went Wild	Bob Harrison
1945	Strange Illusion	Paul Cartwright
1945	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
1960	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

^ Erickson, Hal (2012). "Jimmy Lydon biography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
^ "Jimmy Lydon, who starred as young Henry Aldrich, dies at 98". The Washington Post. 2022-03-25. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
^ 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."
^ ^a ^b "Jimmy Lydon; stage, film, television and behind the camera". The Milwaukee Journal. January 20, 1983. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
^ "Tom Brown's School Days; Adventures at Rugby". Variety. January 1, 1940. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
^ "SCREEN NEWS; Jimmy Lydon Gets Term Contract With Republic" (PDF). The New York Times. December 23, 1944. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
^ "Life with Father". Variety. January 1, 1947. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
^ "Sneak Preview". ctva.com. CTVA – The Classic TV Archive. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
^ 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
^ "Actor Jimmy Lydon To Be Wed Tomorrow". Tucson Daily Citizen. April 13, 1945. p. 9. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
^ ^a ^b Barnes, Mike (19 March 2022). "Jimmy Lydon, William Powell's Oldest Son in 'Life With Father,' Dies at 98". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 19, 2022.