Joseph M. Schenck Productions / United Artists · Public domain

Ben Lyon acted in Hollywood from the silent era through the 1930s, most notably starring opposite Jean Harlow in Hell's Angels (1930), before moving into a studio executive role at 20th Century-Fox. In that job, in 1946, he met an aspiring actress named Norma Jeane Dougherty, arranged her first screen test, and gave her the name she would become famous under: Marilyn Monroe. He later relocated to Britain, where he continued acting on radio, film and television into the 1950s.