Lyons made his screen debut in the television series I Dream of Jeannie and made his film debut in Pendulum (1969), followed by Getting Straight (1970). Since then he has appeared in such films as Shoot Out (1971) (as the main villain, opposite good guy Gregory Peck), Avenging Angel (1985) and Pray for Morning (2006) and such television shows as Gunsmoke, Medical Center, Falcon Crest, Roswell and Criminal Minds. In 1999 he played Dr Lester Arnold on Days of Our Lives. In 2015 he co-starred with Danny Trejo in the zombie film The Burning Dead.
