American actress Sue Lyon, who had starred in Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita, passed away on Thursday (26 December) at the age of 73, as per reports by Variety.
Her longtime friend Phil Syracopoulos had earlier told The New York Times that the actress had been unwell for some time.
Lyon had played the title role at the age of 14 in Kubrick’s 1962 film Lolita, which was based on the namesake 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. It followed the story of a middle-aged man who becomes sexually obsessed with an adolescent girl. The role proved to be defining for her career and earned her the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer.
Her career in films began in 1959 and lasted until 1980 after which she quit acting. Lyon’s acting credits include The Night of the Iguana (1964), 7 Women (1966), Tony Rome (1967) and End of the World (1977). She had also done television series like Love, American Style, The Virginian, Police Story and Fantasy Island.
Lyon’s final acting role was of a news reporter in the 1980 monster flick Alligator, directed by Lewis Teague.
She had married five times with Hampton Fancher, Roland Harrison, Cotton Adamson, Edward Weathers and Richard Rudman, the last one ended in 2002.
Lyon is survived by her daughter Nona from her marriage to Harrison.