Jeffrey Lyons (television critic)
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey Lyons is an American television
and film critic
.
, one of the four sons of Sylvia and Leonard Lyons
. His godfather was the playwright Sidney Kingsley
and his godmother was the actress Madge Evans
.
Lyons was the film critic
for WPIX
from 1970 to 1991, and a co-host of the movie review show Sneak Previews
from 1982 to 1996. He appeared on MSNBC's "AT THE MOVIES" with his son Ben from 2004-6. On American AM radio, he hosted a show, "The Lyons Den", on WCBS (AM)
from 1975 to 1993. The title "The Lyons Den" is taken from the New York Post
column that his father wrote for 40 years. He joined WNBC
in 1996 as the station's film
and theatre
critic. His last report on WNBC was on June 26, 2009. He reported during Live at Five
and NewsChannel 4 newscasts
. Lyons created and co-hosted the NBC syndicated movie review TV show Lyons & Bailes Reel Talk from 2005-09. He currently hosts a syndicated radio program called "LYONS DEN RADIO" and appeares on several national TV shows talking movies. In addition to his work as a critic, he has appeared as himself in The French Connection
, Deathtrap
, and the TV series Wiseguy
.
Lyons studied acting witih Lee Strasberg at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York and earned a Law degree from Syracuse University School of Law. He began his professional career working on the city desk of the Jersey Journal, writing sports and obituaries, then as an intern on the Metropolitan desk of the New York Times where he pubished a story, then at WINS radio where he covered the two national political conventions of 1968; the Democratic convention in Chicago and the Republicans in Miami.
Lyons is the author or co-author of seven books, including Jeffrey Lyons' 101 Great Movies for Kids. He and his brother Douglas have written several baseball
trivia books, Out of Left Field, Curveballs and Screwballs, and Short Hops and Foul Tips. He's recently had two books published, Stories My Father Told Me: Notes From 'The Lyons Den, about his father's iconic Broadway column, and Catching Heat, co-authored with his brother Douglas and former Yankee
Jim Leyritz
, whose biography it is. Jeffrey and Douglas Lyons have lectured at the Smithsonian Institution
and at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown
, New York. Lyons has been a guest announcer, both as play-by-play and analyst, for the Boston Red Sox
radio network and Red Sox games in Spanish. He trained as a field goal kicker with the New York Giants
for three seasons (1961-63) and studied bullfighting for seven summers touring Spain with Antonio Ordonez
, arranged by mutual friend Ernest Hemingway
who anointed Ordonez as the greatest matador of them all in his book, "The Dangerous Summer."
Lyons has received two honorary degrees, from Hofstra University
in 2000 and St. Mary's College in 2002. He also holds a Juris Doctor
degree from Syracuse Law School. Lyons' son is the television personality and movie critic Ben Lyons, who also uses the name "The Lyons Den" in his own work as a critic and correspondent on the E! Channel's "E!News" show, and hasd appeared on "Good Morning, America" and the "Joy Behar Show."
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and film critic
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
.
Life and career
Lyons was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, one of the four sons of Sylvia and Leonard Lyons
Leonard Lyons
Leonard Lyons was an American newspaper columnist.Leonard Sucher grew up in a large family of Jewish immigrants from the town of Horodenka in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father Moses, a tailor, died when he was six. His mother sold cigarettes and candy on the Lower East Side...
. His godfather was the playwright Sidney Kingsley
Sidney Kingsley
Sidney Kingsley was an American dramatist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Men in White in 1934.- Biography :...
and his godmother was the actress Madge Evans
Madge Evans
Madge Evans was an American stage and film actress. She began her career as a child performer and model.-Child model and stage actress:...
.
Lyons was the film critic
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
for WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
from 1970 to 1991, and a co-host of the movie review show Sneak Previews
Sneak Previews
Sneak Previews was an American film review show, running for over two decades on Public Broadcasting Service . It was created by WTTW, a PBS affiliate in Chicago, Illinois. It premiered on September 4, 1975 as a monthly local-only show called Opening Soon at a Theater Near You, and was renamed in...
from 1982 to 1996. He appeared on MSNBC's "AT THE MOVIES" with his son Ben from 2004-6. On American AM radio, he hosted a show, "The Lyons Den", on WCBS (AM)
WCBS (AM)
WCBS , often referred to as "WCBS Newsradio 880" , is a radio station in New York City. Owned by CBS Radio, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of the CBS Radio Network...
from 1975 to 1993. The title "The Lyons Den" is taken from the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
column that his father wrote for 40 years. He joined WNBC
WNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
in 1996 as the station's film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
critic. His last report on WNBC was on June 26, 2009. He reported during Live at Five
Live at Five (WNBC TV series)
Live at Five was WNBC's 5 p.m. weekday newscast broadcasting from NBC Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Center. A mix of news, features and interviews, the Live at Five concept was first introduced in 1979 by WNBC News Director Ron Kershaw and Bob Davis. Their first anchors were Pia Lindstrom and Melba...
and NewsChannel 4 newscasts
News broadcasting
News broadcasting is the broadcasting of various news events and other information via television, radio or internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or television studio newsroom, or by a broadcast network...
. Lyons created and co-hosted the NBC syndicated movie review TV show Lyons & Bailes Reel Talk from 2005-09. He currently hosts a syndicated radio program called "LYONS DEN RADIO" and appeares on several national TV shows talking movies. In addition to his work as a critic, he has appeared as himself in The French Connection
The French Connection (film)
This article is about the 1971 film. For the British fashion label, see French Connection .The French Connection is a 1971 American crime film directed by William Friedkin. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore...
, Deathtrap
Deathtrap (film)
Deathtrap is a 1982 thriller film based on Ira Levin's play of the same name.The cast includes Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon, Irene Worth and Henry Jones...
, and the TV series Wiseguy
Wiseguy
Wiseguy is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 16, 1987 to December 8, 1990 for a total of four seasons. Starring Ken Wahl, the series was produced by Stephen J...
.
Lyons studied acting witih Lee Strasberg at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York and earned a Law degree from Syracuse University School of Law. He began his professional career working on the city desk of the Jersey Journal, writing sports and obituaries, then as an intern on the Metropolitan desk of the New York Times where he pubished a story, then at WINS radio where he covered the two national political conventions of 1968; the Democratic convention in Chicago and the Republicans in Miami.
Lyons is the author or co-author of seven books, including Jeffrey Lyons' 101 Great Movies for Kids. He and his brother Douglas have written several baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
trivia books, Out of Left Field, Curveballs and Screwballs, and Short Hops and Foul Tips. He's recently had two books published, Stories My Father Told Me: Notes From 'The Lyons Den, about his father's iconic Broadway column, and Catching Heat, co-authored with his brother Douglas and former Yankee
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
Jim Leyritz
Jim Leyritz
James Joseph Leyritz is a former catcher and infielder in Major League Baseball.-Early years:Leyritz attended Turpin High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, Middle Georgia Jr...
, whose biography it is. Jeffrey and Douglas Lyons have lectured at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...
, New York. Lyons has been a guest announcer, both as play-by-play and analyst, for the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
radio network and Red Sox games in Spanish. He trained as a field goal kicker with the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
for three seasons (1961-63) and studied bullfighting for seven summers touring Spain with Antonio Ordonez
Antonio Ordóñez
Antonio Ordóñez Araujo was a famous Spanish bullfighter.-Bullfighting career:Ordóñez was born Antonio Ordóñez Araujo in Ronda, Spain. He was one of the top bullfighters of his time. As a matador, Ordoñez came face to face with over 3000 bulls...
, arranged by mutual friend Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
who anointed Ordonez as the greatest matador of them all in his book, "The Dangerous Summer."
Lyons has received two honorary degrees, from Hofstra University
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private, nonsectarian institution of higher learning located in the Village of Hempstead, New York, United States, about east of New York City: less than an hour away by train or car...
in 2000 and St. Mary's College in 2002. He also holds a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree from Syracuse Law School. Lyons' son is the television personality and movie critic Ben Lyons, who also uses the name "The Lyons Den" in his own work as a critic and correspondent on the E! Channel's "E!News" show, and hasd appeared on "Good Morning, America" and the "Joy Behar Show."