A.C. Lyles

In his over three-hour interview, A.C. Lyles (1918-2013) talks about his 77-year-long association with Paramount, for which he holds the record for the longest continuously employed person at a motion picture studio. He details his early years and his work, at the age of ten, with the Florida Theater in Jacksonville, part of the Paramount-Publix theater chain. He talks about meeting Paramount studio head Adolph Zukor and his continual correspondence with him, and recounts visiting and receiving a job at the studio in 1937. He describes his ascent in the ranks at the studio, from working in the publicity department to producing feature films. He discusses the layout of personnel in the publicity department and talks about his work promoting movies and establishing the "golden circle" of talented young performers. He talks about many of Paramount Pictures' notables, including Cecil B. DeMille, John Barrymore, and William Holden. He speaks about Paramount's interest in television and describes the line-up of early shows on Paramount-owned KTLA. He describes the televising and impact of the "Kathy Fiscus tragedy," which aired on KTLA in 1949. Lyles also talks about knowing and working with television luminaries including Lucille Ball, Michael Landon, and DeForest Kelley. He talks about his later associations with television as the producer of Here's Boomer and consulting producer of Deadwood. Finally, Lyles discusses his association and friendship with Ronald Reagan, including his dedicated work for the Reagan administration as advisor and liaison. Gary Rutkowski conducted the interview on August 30, 2015 in Lyles' office at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles, CA.