A. C. Lyles

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A.C. Lyles (b. May 17, 1918 in Jacksonville, Florida) is a movie producer for Paramount Pictures who produced westerns in the 50's and 60's, and has been a major player in Hollywood for the past 78 years.

"I was lucky to know at the age of 10 exactly what I wanted to do with my life," he says. Lyles remembers seeing the film Wings (which was produced by Paramount and was the first film to win the Oscar for Best Picture) on his 10th birthday at a theater owned by Paramount in his native Jacksonville, FL. "I just fell in love with the picture and the people who made it. I had a great admiration for Adolph Zukor [the movie mogul who founded and ran the studio]." Lyles quickly went to the theater manager, asked for a job, and began distributing bumper stickers and handbills, working his way up to usher in three months.

Working at the theater created an opportunity to meet Zukor himself four years later when the studio head came to visit the theater. Lyles says he was absolutely positive that his brief introduction to Zukor as an adolescent would ultimately lead to Lyles working at the studio in Hollywood. One incident can change your life, he says. Zukor told Lyles to finish high school before pursuing his Hollywood dreams. Having already gotten a job at a Paramount theater, the young Lyles was so determined to work at the actual Paramount studios that he began writing letters to Zukor every week. My whole life was writing Mr. Zukor every Sunday. I was quite obsessed....He was the dean of movie moguls at the time.

Fate also intervened when Lyles introduced himself to Gary Cooper when the star came to Jacksonville on his way to Miami. Lyles told him about his weekly letters, although he hadn't yet received any response. The star gave the boy a note to include in his next letter: I am looking forward to A.C. Lyles being with us at the studio. That led to a response from Zukors secretary, and Lyles began writing letters to her as well.

After graduating high school, Lyles traveled across country with $28 in his pocket to pursue his dream of working at Paramount. "I just wanted to make them [movies]. I didnt want to be in them." After he arrived in Hollywood, Lyles found that his persistence paid off, and Zukor hired Lyles as an office boy making $15 per week. Lyles quickly began making friends with as many people as possible on the lot, including Bing Crosby and Cooper. "Everybody knew me because I was Mr. Zukors office boy."

One of Lyles new friends was Jimmy Cagney's sister, who had a contract with Paramount at the time. She told Lyles that Cagney wanted to meet him, and, after getting over the initial shock of being asked to meet the superstar, Lyles became friends with Cagney. But Lyles would soon meet someone who would ultimately become bigger than Cagney. "There's a young fellow in town I want you to meet. You'll be inseparable," Lyles remembers Cagney telling him. The young fellow turned out to be Ronald Reagan, who would become one of Lyles best friends. "We were so close. We were like brothers," he says. In fact, Lyles has a video of Reagan saying that he was the first person who predicted that Reagan would one day become president of the United States.

Lyles was also headed for success. At age 19 he became a publicity director and over the next decade he worked on more than 70 films. In 1954 he was associate producer on The Mountain, which starred Spencer Tracy, and in 1957 he became a full producer on Short Cut to Hell, starring Cagney. (It was also in the 50s that Lyles married his wife, Martha, with whom he is celebrating 51 years of marriage.) He also served as associate producer on the TV series Rawhide, which gave Clint Eastwood his breakthrough role. Lyles found a niche producing Westernsmany of them in the 1960sand recently he worked as a consultant on HBOs Deadwood, created by David Milch (NYPD Blue), whom Lyles says is as close to being a genius as anyone I know....If you listen to his dialogue, its like Shakespeare.

Lyles also serves as Paramounts ambassador, representing the company at countless functions. I speak once or twice a week at luncheons and dinners, he says. This makes perfect sense considering the passion he still has for the studio after so many years. Every morning when I drive on the lot, I get the same thrill as when I first came to the lot. Everything I have in life, Paramounts made possible. I dont know what Id do if I wasn't here.

The walls of Lyles office are covered with photos of himself and a plethora of celebritiesElvis, John Travolta, Bob Hope, Shirley Temple, Eddie Murphy, Ted Koppel, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Johnny Carson, Helen Hayes, Henry Mancini, and Ernest Borgnine, just to name a few. (Plus, of course, photos of Lyles with Reagan at the White House.) Theyve all meant so much to me, says Lyles, not just referring to the celebrities but also to the grips, electricians, security guards, and everybody else on the lot. They all have really helped me, he says, adding that hes made an effort to get to know as many people at the studio as humanly possible. On a set with 150 extras, Before the day is out, I will have talked to every one of them. I cant go in a room and not know someone. I love people.

Lyles relationship with Paramount is apparent to everybody at the studio. When Brad Grey took over as the new studio head, he asked Lyles to introduce him at his first official speech. A.C., youre Mr. Paramount, Lyles remembers Grey telling him. After all, Lyles has worked under every Paramount head beginning with Zukor, whom he stayed friends with until his death at age 103. (Lyles remembers Zukors 98th birthday party, when half of the birthday cake was left and he asked Zukor what he should do with the remainder. He said, Save it for next year. Thats having confidence. Its a great insight into Mr. Zukor, says Lyles.)

Just as Zukor mentored him, Lyles often gives advice to college students who work as pages on the Paramount lot. Be the best page on the lot and well find you, says Lyles. Be aggressive without being intrusive. Know that the next person you meet might change your life. Lyles would know. It worked for him numerous times.

Looking back at his career path, he says he has no regrets at all. I dont know of anything I wanted to do that I havent done. Ive been lucky. I cant think of anything I would have done differently. Except try to get a job at Paramount on my 9th birthday instead of my 10th. I wasted a year. Obsession, obsession, obsession.

Written By: John Irwin

Lyles has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the El Capitan Theatre. And has a building named inhis honor at Paramount Studios.