Before helming such hits as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining, Stanley Kubrick directed
the controversial cult comedy Lolita, adapted from the Russian novel of the same name.
The film followed a man that became romantically obsessed with his teenage stepdaughter, who
was played by 14-year-old actress Sue Lyon.
Sue went on to lead a tragic life, and she blamed much of her troubles on the experiences
she had behind the scenes of Lolita.
Join Facts Verse as we explore the tragic life and death of Sue Lyon.
Sue Lyon was born in Davenport, Iowa, on July 10, 1946.
Her father died before her first birthday, leaving her and her four elder siblings alone
with their mother.
The family moved to Dallas, Texas, for a short period of time before eventually landing in
Los Angeles, California.
It was here that a 14-year-old Sue was cast to play the titular role in Stanley Kubrick’s
adaptation of the Russian novel Lolita.
Lolita premiered on January 13, 1962.
While the film would likely not even get produced nowadays due to its problematic plot, it was
controversial even for the time period.
The film notably came out in the days before the creation of film ratings, when all films
were forced to follow the strict guidelines of the Motion Picture Production Code.
Because of this, the adaptation was forced to eschew much of the sexual material of the
novel.
As well, a creative decision was made to increase the titular character’s age from 12 to 14,
hence the hiring of 14-year-old Sue.
Although the guidelines of the Motion Picture Production Code meant that Lolita was essentially
a film that had been approved for all audiences, it still received a good deal of controversy
upon its release.
However, the adaptation was also met with a great deal of praise and continues to receive
critical acclaim to this day.
Although the film arguably isn’t as widely remembered as Stanley Kubrick’s later works,
it’s one of the most widely known of his earlier features.
Lots of attention was given to Sue’s performance upon the film’s release, and the young actress
even found herself blessed with a Golden Globe.
Sadly, the impact that both Lolita and its success had on Sue’s life was anything but
positive.
Like the novel that inspired it, the film adaptation of Lolita was controversial for
its depiction of a romantic relationship between a teenage character and her adult stepfather.
In the film, actor James Mason played the stepfather.
The stepfather is no hero, and his obsessive pursuit of his underage stepdaughter is played
for ridicule and laughs.
However, the film’s humor was likely lost on producer James Harris, who was mirroring
the actions of the character behind the scenes with his pursuit of Sue Lyon herself.
Sue became involved in an affair with James sometime during Lolita’s production.
Sources vary whether they became involved during the time the movie was being filmed
or closer to its release, which would make her somewhere between the ages of 14 and 16.
James was in his 30s, and friends of Sue recalled that he looked old enough to be her grandfather.
James apparently took Sue’s virginity.
Despite the fact that Sue and James never married, their romantic relationship was mentioned
in a newspaper article around the time of Lolita’s premiere.
Like the film itself, the article kept from referencing the problematic relation too explicitly,
though it did mention that the two had been spending a lot of time together.
At the time of the film’s premiere, Sue was 16 and James was 33.
Lolita remained controversial well after its release, and Sue became a vocal detractor
of the film later in her life.
According to her, no child should have been asked to perform in that role.
Sue went on to have lots of problems with mental illness.
She married and divorced five times before her death in 2019, and maintained a tumultuous
relationship with her only daughter.
Sue continued acting until 1980, at which point she officially retired.
James Harris had previously produced two of Stanley Kubrick’s features, 1956’s The
Killing and 1957’s Paths of Glory.
However, the two never worked together again after Lolita.
Perhaps, the director had taken offense to the producer’s apparent lack of understanding
of its themes.
James’ career continued successfully after Lolita, regardless of never again working
with Stanley.
James made his directorial debut in 1965 with The Bedford Incident and directed four more
films over the ensuing decades.
Today, James is 93 years old, having outlived both Stanley Kubrick and Sue Lyon.
When asked about his relationship with Sue, he refuses to talk about it.
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Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of Lolita had to change a lot from the Russian novel
that inspired it in order to meet the strict guidelines of the Motion Picture Production
Code.
The Motion Picture Production Code was a self-imposed standard that Hollywood studios followed in
order to keep their films from offending the audience.
Soon after the release of Lolita, the Motion Picture Association of America, or the MPAA,
replaced the guidelines of the Motion Picture Production Code with the modern film rating
system that is still being used today.
The introduction of film ratings allowed for films to feature more inappropriate content.
Lolita was a hit with audiences, and the film even spawned a successful hit single for Sue
Lyon in the form of “Lolita Ya Ya”, which was a song that had been featured in the movie.
Following Lolita, Sue appeared in Night of the Iguana, a film adaptation of the Tennessee
Williams play.
In addition to Sue, the film featured both Richard Burton and Deborah Kerr.
The film was another big success, and many predicted that Sue was on the path to true
Hollywood stardom.
Night of the Iguana premiered in 1964, and Sue next appeared in 1966’s 7 Women.
Directed by John Ford, the film featured Anne Bancroft, Margaret Leighton, and Sue as missionaries
working in China.
Sue followed her appearance in 7 Women up with many more film roles.
She appeared in 1967’s Tony Rome alongside Frank Sinatra and a 1971 biopic of Evil Knievel
that featured George Hamilton in the lead.
Despite Sue’s continued appearances in films, true stardom seemed to somehow be eluding
her.
Sue appeared in diminishing roles throughout the 1970s before officially retiring from
acting in 1980.
Her final role came in the 1980 film Alligator, an exploitation horror picture about a pet
alligator tormenting the people of Chicago after being flushed down the toilet.
In addition to her many film roles, Sue also made guest appearances on several TV shows.
Some of the many shows she appeared on including Police Story, Fantasy Island, and Night Gallery.
One of the reasons that Sue had a hard time maintaining success was her failing mental
health.
Sue suffered from bipolar disorder throughout her life, which affected both her career and
her relationships.
Sue was married and divorced five times over the course of her life, and had one daughter.
Sue’s first husband was an actor named Hampton Fancher, whom she married in 1963.
The two were only together for a few years before divorcing in 1965.
During their marriage, Hampton was an actor on television Westerns.
However, he later became better known as a screenwriter, penning such films as 1982’s
Blade Runner.
After divorcing from Hampton in 1965, Sue didn’t marry again for six years.
However, she did have a relationship with folk singer Donovan during this period of
time.
Sue’s second husband was Roland Harrison.
Roland was a photographer, and he and Sue had a daughter.
That daughter was named Nona Harrison, and she and her mother maintained a tumultuous
relationship up until the latter’s death in 2019.
Sue divorced Roland even sooner than she had divorced from Hampton, and was onto her third
husband by 1973.
Though it is unclear how the two met, Sue’s third husband was incarcerated at the time
they were married.
Because of this, the ceremony was held at the Colorado State Penitentiary, where the
man, named Cotton Adamson, was imprisoned after being convicted of murder and robbery.
He broke out of prison in 1974, though Sue apparently wasn’t happy to see him.
They quickly divorced.
In a little over a decade, Sue had married and divorced three times.
After divorcing Cotton, Sue didn’t marry again for nearly 10 years.
Her fourth husband was a man named Edward Weathers, and their marriage was as ill-fated
as Sue’s prior three.
They were divorced a year later, in 1984.
Sue married a fifth and final time in 1985, to a man by the name of Richard Rudman.
This marriage proved to be Sue’s most successful yet, as it lasted until 2002.
After divorcing Richard, Sue never married again.
Sadly, Sue’s relationship with her daughter was as unsuccessful as her many marriages.
Nona has been open about her troubled relationship with her mother, saying that Sue kicked her
out when she was only 12 years old.
Nona has said she blames the way her mother treated her on her mother’s bipolar disorder.
This kept the two from having a very close relationship, and Sue likely died very lonely.
Not much was revealed about Sue’s 2019 death besides the fact that her health had been
suffering for some time.
She passed away the day after Christmas and was 73 years old.
Lolita is still arguably just as controversial nowadays as it was upon its initial release,
even if it’s not the most widely known of director Stanley Kubrick’s films.
Comment down below to share what your feelings on the controversial cult comedy are, or if
you were saddened to learn about the tragic life and death of its 14-year-old star, Sue
Lyon.
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