This file photo taken on October 4, 2007 at Rome’s Palazzo delle Esposizioni shows the iconic poster for Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Lolita,’ starring Sue Lyon and James Mason (VINCENZO PINTO)
<p>Los Angeles (AFP) – Sue Lyon, who at age 14 played the title character in the 1962 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s steamy and scandalous novel "Lolita," has died at age 73.</p><p>Longtime friend Phil Syracopoulos told The New York Times she died Thursday in Los Angeles. He gave no cause of death.</p><p>Director Stanley Kubrick reportedly selected the young and inexperienced Lyon to play "Lolita" — a 12-year-old in Nabokov’s book who enters into a relationship with a middle-aged literature professor — from among 800 aspirants.</p><p>The director described Lyon as the "perfect nymphet."</p><p>The older man obsessed with the girl he calls "Lolita" was played by English actor James Mason, who was 53 when the film was shot.</p><p>Lyon’s role won her a 1963 Golden Globe as most promising female newcomer.</p><p>But Kubrick said his battles with motion picture censors — who insisted he tone down the movie’s sexual underpinnings and huge age difference — were so fierce that he would not have made the film had he known.</p><p>Lyon was 15 when the movie premiered — too young to be allowed into the theater to watch it. She was famously photographed sipping a drink at a nearby soda fountain during the premiere.</p><p>One of the most iconic film posters ever shows Lyon, looking up seductively over heart-shaped sunglasses and licking a red lollipop, under the legend: "How did they ever make a movie of LOLITA?"</p><p>Lyon went on to compile several other screen and television credits, including a role in John Huston’s "The Night of the Iguana" in which she played a young woman stuck in a small Mexican town who tries to seduce a disgraced Episcopal priest played by Richard Burton.</p><p>But she never again achieved the fame or notoriety that "Lolita" brought her.</p><p>Lyon’s last acting role was in 1980 horror film "Alligator," in which she played a reporter.</p><p>She was married five times; she blamed her brief marriage to convicted murderer Gary "Cotton" Adamson for severely damaging her career.</p><p>Lyon is survived by a daughter, Nona.</p><p></p>

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.