John S. Lyons
Biography
Biography
John Lyons began his career in the theater as casting director for the Manhattan Theatre Club and Playwrights Horizon, where he assembled such shows as the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Sunday in the Park With George" (1984) by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. He received his first feature "casting" credit for "King Kong Lives" (1986) and then embarked on a long association with Joel and Ethan Coen, serving as casting director on "Raising Arizona" (1987). Although he had cast seven films for the Coens by 1998, Lyons also enjoyed multiple film casting collaborations with directors Frank Oz ("Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" 1988 and "House Sitter" 1992, both with Steve Martin), Bernard Rose ("Paperhouse" 1988 and "Chicago Joe and the Showgirl" 1990), Lapine ("Impromptu" 1991 and "Life With Mikey" 1993) and Andrew Bergman ("It Could Happen to You" 1994 and "Striptease" 1996). He branched into feature producing with Paul Thomas Anderson's directing debut "Hard Eight" (1996) and then shared duties (with Joanne Sellar and Lloyd Levin) on Anderson's "Boogie Nights" (1997). Lapine also worked as a casting director for PBS' "American Playhouse" productions of "The Rise and Fall of Daniel Rocket" (1986) and "Armistead Maupin's 'Tales of the City'" (1994), in addition to producing the TV version of Claudia Shear's one woman show "Blown Sideways Through Life" (1996).
Filmography
Producer (Feature Film)
Casting (Feature Film)
Location Casting (Feature Film)
Producer (Special)
Casting (Special)
Casting (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1984
Cast the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Sunday in the Park With George" by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
1986
For PBS' "American Playhouse", cast "The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket"
1986
First feature "casting" credit, "King Kong Lives"
1987
Initial association with Joel and Ethan Coen, casting "Raising Arizona"
1988
Cast Bernard Rose's "Paperhouse"
1988
Served as casting director for Frank Oz's "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"
1990
Second film cast for Coens, "Miller's Crossing"
1990
Cast second film for Rose, "Chicago Joe and the Showgirl"
1991
Third Coen brothers film as casting director, "Barton Fink"
1991
First feature association with James Lapine, casting "Impromptu"
1992
Another turn as casting director for Frank Oz, "HouseSitter"
1993
Cast second film for Lapine, "Life With Mikey"
1994
Initial film with Andrew Bergman, casting "It Could Happen to You"
1994
Fifth time casting for the Coens, "The Hudsucker Proxy"
1994
Resumed association with "American Playhouse", casting the miniseries "Armistead Maupin's 'Tales of the City'" (PBS)
1995
Produced the TV version of Claudia Shear's one-woman show "Blown Sideways Through Life" for PBS' "American Playhouse"
1996
Cast sixth film for Coens, "Fargo"
1996
First feature credit as producer, Paul Thomas Anderson's directorial debut "Hard Eight"
1997
Shared producing duties (with Joanne Sellar and Lloyd Levin) on Anderson's "Boogie Nights"
1998
Seventh casting assignment for the Coens, "The Big Lebowski"
