Charles Lane (actor, 1905)

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Charles Lane (born January 26, 1905 in San Francisco , California - † July 9, 2007 in Brentwood , California; actually Charles Gerstle Levinson ) was an American actor with a 75-year film career. The character actor specialized in the representation of ill-tempered and pessimistic characters in smaller roles.

life and career

Charles Lane was born into a working class family in San Francisco under the name Charles Gerstle Levison. As a one year old he saw the earthquake in San Francisco and was one of the last survivors of the disaster when he died. Lane initially worked as an insurance salesman and occasionally, more in his spare time, played in theater shows. His friend, director and actor Irving Pichel , eventually convinced Lane to pursue acting as a profession. He became a member of the Pasadena Playhouse and made his film debut in 1931 in a minor supporting role as a hotel servant in Easy Money . His first roles were usually not mentioned in the credits, but many of his short appearances were striking. This was also due to his appearance, which "made him instantly recognizable for generations of film fans". With his hair, which was already quite thin at a young age, and his gaunt figure, he worked as a character actor from the beginning of his career and played characters who were significantly older than himself.

Charles Lane specialized in the impersonation of ill-tempered, cunning or pessimistic characters; often as a civil servant, doctor, lawyer or businessman. He was one of the favorite actors of the director Frank Capra , in nine of his films Lane was seen. He starred for example in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington A Insidious Reporter and in Isn't Life Beautiful? a dissatisfied house marketer who works for the film villain Mr. Potter (this character was later modeled on the blue-haired lawyer from The Simpsons ). With the advent of television in the 1950s, Lane received numerous guest roles there over the next decades and into old age. Lucille Ball in particular often cast him in her series as an extremely serious authority figure. In total, he made over 360 film and television appearances by 2006, but without getting beyond supporting roles.

Charles Lane was one of the first actors to join the Screen Actors Guild in the early 1930s . The Screen Actors Guild declared January 30, 2005 "Charles Lane Day" (English: "Charles Lane Day"). On March 16, 2005 he received a TV Land Award for his life's work. As the co-founder and oldest living member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences , Lane was honored on the occasion of his 100th birthday in 2005 at the Emmy Awards. He had his last role at the age of 101 as the narrator of the film The Night Before Christmas .

Charles Lane was married to Ruth Covell († 2002) from 1931, with whom he had a son and a daughter. He died at the age of 102 on July 9, 2007 while in conversation with his son.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary at Fox News
personal data
SURNAME Lane, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Levinson, Charles Gerstle (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH San Francisco , California
DATE OF DEATH July 9, 2007
Place of death Brentwood (Los Angeles)