Charles Lane (actor, born 1905)


Charles Lane was an American character actor and centenarian whose career spanned 76 years.
A prolific actor who played hundreds of roles in both film and TV, Lane often played sour, scowling and disagreeable clerks, doctors, judges, and middle-management authority figures. Recalling in 1981 his many roles, he said "They were all good parts, but they were jerks. If you have a type established, though, and you're any good, it can mean considerable work for you." The New York Times reported that Lane's persona was so familiar to the public, "that people would come up to him in the street and greet him, because they thought they knew him from their hometowns." Lane's first film role, of more than 382, was as a hotel clerk in Smart Money starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney. Lane appeared in many Frank Capra films, including Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It with You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic and Old Lace, It's a Wonderful Life and Riding High.
Lane transitioned smoothly into television, and is probably best remembered to TV viewers for his recurring role as the ever-scheming Homer Bedloe on Petticoat Junction. As well, Lucille Ball frequently cast Lane as a no-nonsense authority figure and comedic foe of her scatterbrained TV character on her TV series I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour and The Lucy Show. Lane gave his last performance at the age of 101 as a narrator in 2006.

Early life

Lane was born Charles Gerstle Levison on January 26, 1905, in San Francisco, California, to Jewish parents Alice and Jacob B. Levison, an executive at the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company who was instrumental in rebuilding the city after the 1906 earthquake.

Career

Lane spent a short time as an insurance salesman before taking to the stage at the Pasadena Playhouse. Actor/director Irving Pichel first suggested that Lane go into acting in 1929, and four years later Lane was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He appeared unbilled but always making his presence known in many famous early-1930s Warner Bros. films, beginning with Smart Money then going on to other Pre-Code classics such as Blonde Crazy, Employees' Entrance, Blessed Event, 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933, and She Had to Say Yes, finally getting billing when away from Warners' in My Woman, Looking for Trouble, and Twentieth Century. He became a favorite of director Frank Capra; in It's a Wonderful Life, Capra gave Lane a twist on his usual screen persona by casting him as an apparently hard-nosed rent collector who startles his employer, Mr. Potter by speaking highly of James Stewart's character. Lane also appeared in the film Mighty Joe Young as one of the reporters cajoling Max O'Hara for information about the identity of "Mr. Joseph Young", the persona given featured billing on the front of the building, on opening night.
Among his many roles as a character actor, Lane played Mr. Fosdick in Dear Phoebe, which aired on NBC in 1954–1955. He also portrayed mean-spirited railroad executive Homer Bedloe in the situation comedy Petticoat Junction. He guest starred on such series as ABC's Guestward, Ho!, starring Joanne Dru, and The Bing Crosby Show, as well as the syndicated drama of the American Civil War, The Gray Ghost.
He was a good friend of Lucille Ball, and his specialty in playing scowling, short tempered, no-nonsense professionals provided a comic foil for Ball's scatterbrained television character. He played several guest roles on I Love Lucy, including an appearance in the episode "Lucy Goes To the Hospital", where he is seated in the waiting room with Ricky while Lucy gives birth to their son; he later cited this as one of his favorite parts. He also played the title role in the episode "The Business Manager", the casting director in "Lucy Tells The Truth," and the passport clerk in "Staten Island Ferry." Lane appeared twice in The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour. He later had recurring roles as shopkeeper Mr. Finch on Dennis the Menace and during the first season of Ball's The Lucy Show, playing banker Mr. Barnsdahl. According to The Lucy Book by Geoffrey Fidelman, Lane was let go because he had trouble reciting his lines correctly. However, Lane was in reality a placeholder for Ball's original choice, Gale Gordon, who joined the program in 1963 as Mr. Mooney after he was free from other contractual obligations.
In 1963, Lane appeared in the classic comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, playing the airport manager. His final acting role was at the age of 101 in 2006's The Night Before Christmas. His last television appearance was at the age of 90, when he appeared in the 1995 Disney TV remake of its 1970 teen comedy The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, with Kirk Cameron. In 2005, the TV Land Awards paid tribute to Lane by celebrating his 100th birthday. Seated in a wheelchair in the audience, which had sung Happy Birthday to him, Lane was presented with his award by Haley Joel Osment and then announced "If you're interested, I'm still available !" The audience gave him a standing ovation.
Lane appeared in more than 250 films and hundreds of television shows and was uncredited in many of them. On his busiest days, Lane said he sometimes played more than one role, getting into costume and filming his two or three lines, then hurrying off to another set or studio for a different costume and a different role. As for being typecast, Lane described it as "... a pain in the ass. You did something that was pretty good, and the picture was pretty good. But that pedigreed you into that type of part, which I thought was stupid and unfair, too. It didn't give me a chance, but it made the casting easier for the studio." Lane is recorded as having appeared in sixty-seven parts in a span of just two years, 1940 to 1942.

Personal life

In 1931, Lane married Ruth Covell, and they remained together for 70 years until her death in 2002. They had a son, Charles Jr., and a daughter, Alice.

Death

On January 26, 2007, Lane celebrated his 102nd birthday. He continued to live in the Brentwood home he bought with Ruth until his death. In the end, his son, Charles Lane Jr., said he was talking with his father at 9 p.m. on the evening of July 9, 2007, "He was lying in bed with his eyes real wide open. Then he closed his eyes and stopped breathing."

Filmography

1930s

  • City Girl as Pedestrian walking in train station
  • Smart Money as Hotel Desk Clerk
  • The Road to Singapore as Desk Clerk at Club
  • Blonde Crazy as Four-Eyes
  • Manhattan Parade as Desk Clerk
  • Union Depot as Luggage Checkroom Clerk
  • The Mouthpiece as Hotel Desk Clerk
  • Blessed Event as Kane
  • Employees' Entrance as Shoe Salesman
  • Grand Slam as Ivan
  • Blondie Johnson as Cashier
  • 42nd Street as Author of 'Pretty Lady'
  • Central Airport as Amarillo Radio Operator
  • Gold Diggers of 1933 as Society Reporter
  • Private Detective 62 as Process Server
  • She Had to Say Yes as Mr. Bernstein
  • My Woman as Conn - Bothersome Agent
  • The Bowery as Doctor
  • Broadway Through a Keyhole as Columnist #2
  • Advice to the Lovelorn as Circulation Manager
  • Mr. Skitch as Hotel Clerk
  • The Show-Off as Mr. Weitzenkorn
  • Looking for Trouble as Switchboard Operator
  • Twenty Million Sweethearts as Reporter
  • Twentieth Century as Max Jacobs aka Max Mandelbaum
  • Let's Talk It Over as Reporter
  • I'll Fix It as Al Nathan
  • Broadway Bill as Morgan's Henchman
  • A Wicked Woman as Defense Attorney Beardsley
  • The Band Plays On as Shyster Lawyer
  • One More Spring as Representative
  • Princess O'Hara as Morris Goldberg
  • Ginger as Judge
  • Woman Wanted as Defense Attorney Herman
  • Here Comes the Band as Mr. Scurry
  • Two for Tonight as Writer
  • The Milky Way as Willard
  • It Had Happened as State Examiner
  • Mr. Deeds Goes to Town as Hallor, crook lawyer
  • Neighborhood House
  • Ticket to Paradise as Shyster
  • The Crime of Dr. Forbes as Defense Attorney
  • The Bride Walks Out as Judge
  • 36 Hours to Kill as Rickert
  • Two-Fisted Gentleman as Joe Gordon
  • Lady Luck as Feinberg
  • Easy to Take as Skip - Reporter
  • Come Closer, Folks as Prosecutor
  • Three Men on a Horse as Cleaner
  • Criminal Lawyer as Nora's Attorney
  • We're on the Jury as Mr. Horace Smith
  • Sea Devils as Judge
  • Internes Can't Take Money as Grote
  • Venus Makes Trouble as District Attorney
  • The Jones Family in Big Business as Webster - Bank Representative
  • Born Reckless as Walden's Lawyer
  • One Mile From Heaven as Webb
  • Bad Guy as Walden's Lawyer
  • Fit for a King as Spears
  • Trapped by G-Men as Fingers
  • Hot Water as Grayson
  • Danger – Love at Work as Gilroy
  • Partners in Crime as Druggist
  • Ali Baba Goes to Town as Doctor
  • Nothing Sacred as Rubenstein
  • In Old Chicago as Booking Agent
  • City Girl as Dr. Abbott
  • Joy of Living as Fan in Margaret's Dressing Room
  • Cocoanut Grove as Weaver
  • The Rage of Paris as Department Head
  • Professor Beware as Joe - Photographer
  • You Can't Take It with You as Wilbur G. Henderson
  • Three Loves Has Nancy as Cleaning Store Manager
  • Always in Trouble as Donald Gower
  • Blondie as Furniture Salesman
  • Thanks for Everything as Dr. Olson
  • Kentucky as Auctioneer
  • Boy Slaves as Albee
  • Inside Story as District Attorney
  • Let Us Live as Auto Salesman
  • Lucky Night as Carpenter
  • Rose of Washington Square as Sam Kress, booking agent
  • Unexpected Father as Department of Health Quarantine Man
  • Second Fiddle as Studio Chief
  • News Is Made at Night as District Attorney Rufe Reynolds
  • They All Come Out as Psychiatrist
  • Miracles for Sale as Fleetwood Apartments Desk Clerk
  • Fifth Avenue Girl as Union Representative
  • Golden Boy as Drake - Reporter
  • Thunder Afloat
  • Honeymoon in Bali as Photographer for Morrissey's
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as "Nosey", reporter
  • Television Spy as Mr. Adler
  • Beware Spooks! as Mr. Moore, Credit Man
  • The Cat and the Canary as Reporter
  • The Honeymoon's Over as D.W. O'Connor
  • Charlie McCarthy, Detective as Charlie's Doctor