Born in New York City; earned a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland. His first job was as a technical writer for DuPont, but by 1945, he had built his own advertising agency. Eventually specializing in boxing films, his first credit, though, was as writer and producer of the Czech feature CESTA DO PRAVEKU / JOURNEY TO PREHISTORY (a.k.a. "Journey to the Beginning of Time") (1955) about four young boys who visit a dinosaur exhibit at the New York city Museum of Natural History. They then row out onto Central Park Lake where they find a secret cave and paddle into a wondrous prehistoric world filled with the very dinosaurs they had just seen. Outside of work, Cayton's passion was boxing. He combined this interest with his day job by helping Chesebrough Manufacturing Co. advertise its Vaseline Brand Hair Tonic on television. At the time, ad agencies produced their own programs, so Cayton acquired the rights to air boxing matches. "The Greatest Fights of the Century," sponsored by Chesebrough, generated some of network television's highest ratings. Cayton had collected films of old boxing matches for many years and produced LEGENDARY CHAMPIONS (1968), which was written and directed by singer/songwriter Harry Chapin. It focused on heavyweight boxing champs from 1882 to 1929. He then produced A.K.A. CASSIUS CLAY (1970) about Muhhamad Ali, filmed while Ali's future in the ring was still uncertain. Cayton's last project was producing the documentary KNOCKOUT (1977). In the 1970s, Cayton began managing fighters. He worked with Tommy Morrison, Vinny Pazienza, Jeremy Williams, Michael Grant, Wilfred Benitez, and Edwin Rosario. Cayton had a number of companies: He formed Reel Sports, Inc., with partner Jim Jacobs. In 1985, the company was embroiled in a lawsuit between ex-boxer / trainer Kevin Rooney and a then young Mike Tyson, who had just turned professional. He and Jacobs co-managed boxer Tyson to a heavyweight championship in 1986. Two years later, Tyson fired his managers so he could join with Don King. Cayton was named Manager of the Year 14 times in his career. In 2002, Cayton's The Big Fights, Inc., was sued by boxing promoter Russell Peltz, who claimed that he had licensed his private collection of over 200 classic fight tapes to Cayton, who then sold the entire collection (including Peltz's tapes) to Disney/ESPN for $80 million in 1998 and then conspired to hide the sale.  Nominated for Documentary (Features) 1968: LEGENDARY CHAMPIONS - Producer 1 nomination