Rusty Lane
Rusty Lane, was a college professor and professional actor. He left academia in his forties to appear in several Broadway productions during the 1940s and 1950s, including three years as an original cast member for Mister Roberts. He was in the original cast for another Tony award-winning play, The Desperate Hours. Lane also performed in 21 films and made hundreds of televisions appearances from 1950 up through 1973, including as the star of the TV series Crime with Father, and as a regular cast member of the daytime serial The Clear Horizon.
Early life
James Russell Lane was born in Chicago, Illinois, the younger of two children for Mack M. Lane, a school teacher and principal, and Cora Barr Lane. As a young man he used his middle name in preference to his first, coming to be known by his nickname "Rusty". Later, as a teacher and professor he used "J. Russell Lane" for formal situations.By age 17, his family had moved to suburban Crete, Illinois, from where Lane enlisted in the U.S. Army on July 17, 1917. Sent for training with the Illinois National Guard at Champaign, Illinois, he was assigned to the US 124th Field Artillery Regiment. By October, his regiment had moved to Camp Logan in Houston, Texas. He received a medical discharge on December 24, 1917, due to a foot injury. He then worked as a teacher in Pisgah, Iowa.
College
Lane was a student at the University of Illinois from 1922 thru 1926 when he graduated. He played football his first two years under coach Bob Zuppke, was a member of the 1923 championship team with Red Grange, but lost part of that season due to academic probation. His later college years were focused on theater and public speaking under the mentorship of Professor W. C. Troutman. He was elected president of the college dramatic society, took part in plays, and in his senior year represented Illinois at an interstate public speaking competition held in Madison, Wisconsin.Academic career
After graduation Lane took up a teaching position in Iowa City, Iowa. Lane taught public speaking at Iowa City High School, served as its dramatics director, and also took part in theater productions at the University of Iowa. After one year he left to take up a position at La Crosse State Teachers College. He spent two years there, teaching public speaking and staging college plays, then was selected by his former college mentor, W. C. Troutman, who was then at the University of Wisconsin, to be business manager for the university theater in Madison.Lane would spend nearly fourteen years at the University of Wisconsin, managing the university theater and teaching public speaking. During this time he brought many top stage stars to the university for performances, and helped develop some future stars as well. He also oversaw the opening of the new Wisconsin Union Theater, at which in April 1942, Knickerbocker Holiday, was staged as the one hundredth production of his college directing career. Lane resigned his position the same month. After several months doing radio and stage work in New York City, he took a position with the American Red Cross, producing entertainment for servicemen in England.
East Coast career
Stage work
While in London, Lane persuaded playwright Maxwell Anderson to allow the US Army to stage his play The Eve of St. Mark as a non-profit production. Lane supervised the production, which was mounted in the Scala Theatre and featured American soldiers and Red Cross workers in the cast. Lane returned to New York to direct Anderson's new play Storm Operation. Rehearsals began in November; by December 13, 1943, the play had its first tryout in Baltimore, followed by a week in Pittsburgh. However, in between tryouts Lane was replaced as director. Lane then went into the cast of Decision by Edward Chodorov, which had its first tryout on January 21, 1944, at the Wilmington, Delaware Playhouse. It premiered at the Belasco Theatre on February 2, 1944, with Lane drawing mild praise for his supporting role from The New York Times. John Chapman of the New York Daily News was more generous, writing: "Rusty Lane, a drama professor and director, makes his acting debut in the role of a lawyer, and proves that self-taught or not, he is well taught".Decision ran until June 17, 1944, after which Lane went into the cast of Lower North by Martin Bidwell. A weak war training comedy drama, it closed after just nine days. Lane was then cast in his first screen role, Now It Can Be Told, a movie being made in New York by Louis de Rochemont for 20th Century-Fox. The film was released as The House on 92nd Street in late 1945 to generally good reviews. In May 1945 Lane was hired by the USO to produce and direct stage plays that its various entertainment troupes could take to overseas bases. During the next year he would craft five productions of popular plays for USO companies.
Lane next performed in Bathsheba by Jacques Deval, which opened March 26, 1947 and starred James Mason in his Broadway debut. Lane portrayed Joab, for which he received mild commendation from the Daily News critic, who was a bit hard on the two leads, James Mason and Pamela Kellino. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said Deval's characters "seem to have gotten into his play simply because some clothes had come from a costumer's and needed men and women to fill them". The play closed on April 19, 1947. Two years later Lane told Earl Wilson "Oooh, what a stinker that one was!"
The Experimental Theatre presented Bertolt Brecht's Galileo in a limited engagement of six performances from December 7 through December 14, 1947. The play was translated by Charles Laughton, who would also star as the Italian astronomer. Lane was part of a supporting cast that included Joan McCracken, Wesley Addy, and John Carradine, under the direction of Joseph Losey.
''Mister Roberts''
After doing a trio of unsuccessful plays, Lane was cast in a critical and popular hit, the 1948 Tony Award winner Mister Roberts. This had an opening tryout at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut on January 23, 1948, where the reviewer predicted immediate success on Broadway and mentioned Lane favorably. Another tryout was mounted at Philadelphia's Walnut Theatre, before the play premiered on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on February 18, 1948.Lane's character, Chief Johnson, was a supporting role, the first on stage each night. However, he also understudied the lead role of "Doc", played by Robert Keith. When Keith was in an auto accident during May 1948, Lane took over as Doc until Keith was able to return, while his own part was played by ensemble cast member Robert Keith Jr, later better known as Brian Keith. Besides Doc, Lane was also understudy for the role of the Captain.
Though his evenings were committed to Mister Roberts, Lane was able to utilize his days to do a number of radio broadcasts for the anthology series Grand Central Station. He also had time to perform in his second movie, Johnny One-Eye, for a segment filmed near Washington Square Park during late July 1949. And he also moonlighted during June 1950 for his first known television performance on Hands of Destiny.
After almost three years of playing Chief Johnson, Lane was promoted to the lead role of the Captain, taking over from William Harrigan, who left in November 1950 for an RKO movie contract. Lane's name then appeared in the newspaper ads for the play along with the other three principals. He would play that part on tour even after the original Broadway production closed at the Alvin Theatre during January 1951 and formed a second road company. Lane's involvement with Mister Rogers finally came to end when the road company closed during May 1951. According to columnist Irvin Farman, Lane had played in "1,382 performances... He was the only member of the cast who played every Broadway and road tour performance, playing the chief 1,063 times, Doc 56 times, and the captain 263 times".
''Crime with Father''
With no stage commitments at hand, Lane moved into television acting during 1951. Besides doing anthology shows, he also starred in his own mystery series, Crime with Father. This program, debuting on ABC television on August 31, 1951, had him as police homicide detective Jim Riland, a widower whose daughter Chris Riland often aided and complicated his investigations. According to columnist Terry Vernon, the show was filmed on actual streets without using stock clips or background projections, and showed the home life of the Rilands. The New York Times review of the first episode said it was "...an obviously low-budgeted series, has a far better than average quality of production, even if the pistol shots still sound like cap pistols".The series lasted for 21 episodes, its final original broadcast coming on January 18, 1952. Because it was a filmed series, it played longer in some markets. After it ended, Lane went right back to doing anthology series. He also did a recurring character called Porphory Pete on the family-orientated Captain Video and His Video Rangers. This was a live daily science-fiction program on the DuMont Television Network. Porphory Pete was a "raffish, interplanetary prospector" who was friends with Captain Video. A newspaper article by Robert Downing, who played a villain, establishes that Lane's participation in the daily show may have lasted for weeks, however, very few actual episodes can be identified today. Another television program for which Lane had at least a recurring, if not a regular role, was a short-lived NBC fantasy-adventure series, Operation Neptune.
Return to stage
Stockade was a grim play, "a sobering drama" according to Brooks Atkinson, taken from chapters of From [Here to Eternity |From Here to Eternity] that were left out of the film version. Atkinson praised the "vivid characterizations" of Lane and other actors, but Louis Sheaffer felt the play was "drab" and "uninspired", while John Chapman called it "cheerless, sadistic and pointless". The play flopped quickly at the Off Broadway President Theatre during early 1954, and Lane went on with doing anthology series on television.However, the number of television episodes he did declined during the second half of 1954. The New York-based DuMont Television Network was failing, and the bulk of new production work was moving towards Hollywood. Lane, still resident in New York City, now filled the gaps between TV spots with lower-paying regional theater work. Towards the end of December 1954 he was cast in what would be his final Broadway performance.
''The Desperate Hours''
The Desperate Hours was adapted by Joseph Hayes from his novel. The story concerns a suburban family of four whose quiet home is invaded by three escaped convicts. Staged by Robert Montgomery, it starred Karl Malden and Nancy Coleman as the parents, with Paul Newman as the convict leader. The play had its first tryout at the Shubert Theater in New Haven, Connecticut on January 6, 1955.It then went to Locust Street Theatre in Philadelphia, on January 12, 1955, for a highly praised three-week run.
The play opened on February 10, 1955, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. Lane's role in this play as a police lieutenant was smaller than his parts in Mister Roberts and Stockade, and reviewers mention him only in passing. Besides an excellent cast, taut writing and staging, the production had an extraordinary set design by Howard Bay.
After 212 performances, The Desperate Hours closed on Broadway on August 13, 1955, and a road company was sent out to the West Coast that included Lane and his wife Sara Anderson. By late October 1955, Lane was back in New York for filming of The Harder They Fall, but he returned to Los Angeles for Beyond a Reasonable Doubt in March 1956.
West Coast career
Films and television
James Mason cast Lane for Bigger Than Life, which was filmed during May 1956 under the working title of One in a Million. Going forward, all of Lane's screen work would be produced in Los Angeles. Lane made ten films during 1957–1958, but the quality of the pictures trailed off considerably in the latter year, and it would be 1963 before he made another. His television work expanded during that same period, with some guest star parts in narrative series. However, a great many of his small screen roles were character bits, often as a sheriff or judge or police detective.''The Clear Horizon''
Lane was cast in a major role for the CBS daily daytime drama, The Clear Horizon, starting in July 1960. This show followed an Army officer, Roy Selby and his wife Anne after his transfer to an Army space program test site near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Third-billed Lane played Harry Moseby, a sergeant formerly under Selby's command and godfather to his young son. Moseby was on his second marriage, and his wife Frances was discovering she didn't care for Army life. The show's creator and head writer, Manya Star, a former WAVES officer, was adamant the program was not a soap opera: "The emphasis is on the men, and the women know how to cope with things, instead of wringing their hands". Among the show's secondary storylines was that of Corporal Davis, a Negro soldier who fights to get into Officer Candidate School, and the difficulty in finding housing for his wife after he does. Another storyline concerned a Jewish army officer who was married to a French Catholic woman.The show was filmed, not broadcast live. Six episodes were made each week, to build up a reserve for vacations. During March 1961 CBS stopped broadcasting original episodes; however, stations behind the network feed used filmed copies to keep showing it into April. Columnist Allen Rich queried CBS VP for Daytime Programs Bruce Lansbury about the switch from soap operas like Clear Horizon and Full Circle to game shows. Lansbury claimed the network was trying to provide entertainment instead of displaying other people's problems, and that reader mail favored the changes. Less than a year later, a new CBS VP for Daytime Programs, Lawrence White, announced that The Clear Horizon would resume new episodes on February 26, 1962, citing popular demand for its return.
The second life of The Clear Horizon lasted only until June 15, 1962, when it was dropped from the CBS daytime schedule in favor of a traditional soap opera, The Brighter Day, which was expanded from 15 minutes to a half-hour. This was in spite of a letter-writing campaign to CBS by fans of The Clear Horizon.
Later life
Television continued to be Lane's main source of acting work during the 1960s. He made only five films during that decade, but performed in 64 television episodes, not counting The Clear Horizon. He had a small recurring role as a court clerk on the legal drama Sam Benedict, and another as police Sgt. Murchison on 87th Precinct. Lane's performing work wound down to just five television episodes during the early 1970s. His last known acting job was for an episode of Gunsmoke in 1973.Lane lived for another thirteen years after retiring.
Personal life
At age 43, Lane stood tall, weighed, and had gray eyes and brown hair.While teaching at Iowa City High School in 1926, Lane met Laura Koch, who was also a teacher there. They were married on August 1, 1928, at her parents' home in St. Ansgar, Iowa. During their fifteen years of marriage they had two daughters, Laura Lee Lane and Carol Anne Lane, who were occasionally cast in University of Wisconsin stage productions. They were divorced in May 1946.
Columnist Whitney Bolton reported that whenever Lane found himself in a long-running stage production, he'd populate his theatre dressing room with small pets. During Mister Roberts it was cages of hamsters, while for The Desperate Hours he had a large aquarium stocked with Apistogramma from Venezuela.
Lane had often cast two sisters from Madison named Gloria and Sara Anderson while staging plays at the university during 1940–1941. Gloria stayed with the university, but Sara went on to New York where she found stage work on Broadway. Several years later Lane also went to New York, and eventually met up with Sara Anderson again when both were in Storm Operation. Despite a twenty-year age difference, they married on May 21, 1947. Their first child, Susan Russell Lane, later became an actress under the stage name Sara Lane, though she was called "Russell" by her family. They also had two other children together, Walter and Margarethe. After their move to California, they lived at a cabin in Topanga Canyon, near the south entrance close to the ocean.
Stage performances
Listed by year of first performance, excluding student productions| Year | Play | Role | Venue | Notes/source |
| 1943 | The Eve of St. Mark | Scala Theatre | Though Lane's role was producer, he is often credited with directing this production. | |
| 1944 | Decision | Bennett | Belasco Theatre Ambassador Theatre | Lane was an honest lawyer for a group battling racism in war factory work. |
| 1944 | Lower North | Pratzell | Belasco Theatre | Lane played the CPO of a US Navy training unit in this flop. |
| 1947 | Bathsheba | Joab | Ethel Barrymore Theatre | |
| 1947 | Galileo | Barbarini | Maxine Elliott's Theatre | This was a limited engagement of six performances with the actors working at scale. |
| 1948 | Mister Roberts | Chief Johnson | Alvin Theatre | Tony award winner for Best Play of 1948. Lane also played Doc and the Captain during the original run. |
| 1951 | Mister Roberts | The Captain | Touring Company | |
| 1953 | Mister Roberts | Doc | Berkshire Playhouse | One week run for the end of the Berkshire Theatre Festival. |
| 1954 | Stockade | Jack Molloy | President Theatre | Lane was an incarcerated soldier in this grim short-lived Off Broadway production. |
| 1954 | My Aunt Daisy | Westport Country Playhouse | Original play by Albert Halper and Joseph Schrank, starred Jo Van Fleet. | |
| 1954 | Mister Roberts | The Captain | Paper Mill Playhouse | Three week run; with Jeffrey Lynn, Daniel Keyes, Casey Walters, Sara Anderson. |
| 1954 | Sabrina Fair | Paper Mill Playhouse | Lane's wife Sara Anderson starred in this two-week run. | |
| 1955 | The Desperate Hours | Lieutenant Carl Fredericks | Ethel Barrymore Theatre | Tony award winner for Best Play of 1955. |
| 1955 | The Desperate Hours | Lieutenant Carl Fredericks | Touring Company |
Radio performances
Filmography
Film| Year | Title | Role | Notes/source |
| 1945 | The House on 92nd Street | Admiral | Filmed in New York under the working title Now It Can Be Told. |
| 1950 | Johnny One-Eye | Filmed in New York, Lane had a small uncredited bit in this while still playing in Mister Roberts. | |
| 1951 | Fourteen Hours | Henry Hathaway hired over 300 actors to do small bits in this film. | |
| 1956 | The Harder They Fall | Danny McKeogh | |
| 1956 | Beyond a Reasonable Doubt | Judge | |
| 1956 | Bigger Than Life | Bob LaPorte | |
| 1957 | The Shadow on the Window | Captain McQuade | Filmed in July 1956, with a working title of The Missing Witness. |
| 1957 | Fury at Showdown | Riley | |
| 1957 | Johnny Tremain | Samuel Adams | |
| 1957 | Portland Exposé | Tom Carmody | |
| 1957 | Appointment with a Shadow | Pat O'Connell | |
| 1958 | The Rawhide Trail | Captain | Filmed during October 1957, under the working title The Rawhide Breed. |
| 1958 | Damn Citizen | Police Inspector Sweeney | At least one newspaper account had the working title as Damned Citizen. |
| 1958 | High School Confidential | Desk Sergeant | |
| 1958 | Party Girl | Judge Davis | |
| 1958 | I Want to Live! | Judge | |
| 1963 | Spencer's Mountain | Dean Buck | |
| 1964 | The New Interns | Dr. Morton Gardner | |
| 1964 | Fate Is the Hunter | Supervisor | |
| 1964 | Youngblood Hawke | Gus Adam | |
| 1967 | Banning | Guard |
Television performances 1950–1959
Listed in original broadcast order| Year | Series | Episode | Role | Notes/source |
| 1950 | Hands of Destiny | "Hold Hands with the Devil" | Lane's first known television appearance was with this anthology series. | |
| 1950 | The Big Story | Season 1 Episode 24: "Roy J, Battersby, New York Reporter" | ||
| 1951 | Shadow of the Cloak | Season 1 Episode 2: "Mightier Than the Sword" | Both Lane and his second wife Sara Anderson were in this episode. | |
| 1951 | Cameo Theatre | Season 2 Episode 1: "Special Delivery" | ||
| 1951 | Hands of Destiny | Season 2 Episode 45: "The Squealer" | With Charles Lewis, Joe Silver, and Sydma Scott. | |
| 1951 | Big Town | Season 1 Episode 42: "Neighborhood Story" | ||
| 1951 | Suspense | Season 3 Episode 48: "The Incident at Stony Point" | With Donald Buka and Russell Hardie. | |
| 1951 | Crime Photographer | Season 1 Episode 14: "Sudden Death" | ||
| 1951 | Somerset Maugham Theatre | "The Great Man" | Murray Matheson tangles with a jealous husband while traveling in Peru. | |
| 1951 | Crime with Father | Captain Jim Riland | The only TV series in which Lane starred; with Peggy Lobbin as his daughter. | |
| 1951 | The Web | Season 1 Episode 57: "According to Regulations" | With Edward Binns and Harry Landers, the story of a policeman protecting an outlaw's innocent wife and son by violating departmental rules. | |
| 1952 | The Web | Season 2 Episode 19: "Honeymoon at the Grand" | Stolen diamonds bring Lane, Billy Redfield, and Haila Stoddard together. | |
| 1952 | The Web | Season 2 Episode 25: "The Phantom of the Bridge" | With Bobby Santon and Paul Langton. | |
| 1952 | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | Season 3 Episode 4: "Birth of the Galaxy" | Porphory Pete | Lane had a recurring role on this family-orientated science fiction series. |
| 1952 | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | Porphory Pete | This was a live daily show whose episode names, if any, were seldom published. | |
| 1952 | Captain Video and His Video Rangers | Porphory Pete | ||
| 1952 | The Big Story | Season 3 Episode 34: "The Case of the Weeping Crocodile" | Frank Winge | Lane starred as a reporter who solves a murder mystery. |
| 1952 | Suspense | Season 4 Episode 36: "The Debt" | Jesse | |
| 1952 | Suspense | Season 4 Episode 41: "Fifty Beautiful Girls" | With Grace Kelly, Robert Keith Jr, Rod Steiger, and Joseph Anthony. | |
| 1952 | Treasury Men in Action | "The Case of the Sparkling Alibi" | With Edward Binns and Joe Mantell. | |
| 1952 | Police Story | Season 1 Episode 18: "The Newark, New Jersey Case" | Detective Sergeant Kinney | Lane stars in this true crime dramatisation. |
| 1952 | Dark of Night | Season 1 Episode 7: "Brewery" | ||
| 1952 | The Adventures of Ellery Queen | Season 3 Episode 5: "Death in the Sorority House" | Sheriff | |
| 1952 | Television Playhouse | "The Darkness Below" | Drama of a coal mine cave-in starred Ralph Meeker, Mike Kellin, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, and Kim Stanley. | |
| 1953 | The Web | Season 3 Episode 19: "Long Shot" | ||
| 1953 | The Web | Season 4 Episode 6: "Strange Sanctuary" | With E. G. Marshall, Jack Warden, and Marion Nobel. | |
| 1953 | The Web | Season 4 Episode 15: "The Blue Glass Bottle" | With Virginia Gilmore and Bill Sharon. | |
| 1953 | The Big Story | Joseph O. Haff | New York Times reporter clears man of forgery charge. | |
| 1953 | You Are There | Season 1 Episode 10: "The Conquest of Mexico " | Captain de Olid | |
| 1953 | You Are There | Season 1 Episode 13: "The Signing of the Declaration of Independence " | Samuel Adams | |
| 1953 | Eye Witness | Season 1 Episode 6: "The Righteous" | Story of a lynch mob, with Henry Jones and Barbara Joyce. | |
| 1953 | Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop | Premiere | Inspector Ferguson | With Wendy Drew. |
| 1953 | Operation Neptune | Admiral Bigelow | NBC short-lived fantasy series, with Ted Griffin, Richard Holland, Harold Conklin, and Jim Boles. | |
| 1953 | Danger | "Windy" | Youth lives in his own dream world; with Rod Steiger and Georgianna Johnson. | |
| 1953 | The Revlon Mirror Theater | Season 1 Episode 10: "One Summer's Rain" | Franchot Tone is a playwright with only one long-ago success; with Joseph Anthony and Barbara Baxley. | |
| 1953 | Circle Theatre | Season 4 Episode 3: "A Story to Whisper" | Cartoonist draws comic strip from the lives of real people; with Hildy Parks and Leslie Nielsen. | |
| 1953 | Kraft Theatre | Season 7 Episode 7: "Keep Our Honor Bright" | Harvey Wilson | Live NBC play, with Michael Higgins, James Dean, Addison Richards, and Joan Potter. |
| 1953 | The Man Behind the Badge | Season 1 Episode 8: "The Nebraska Story" | ||
| 1953 | Danger | Season 4 Episode 11: "The Man with the Gun" | With William Prince and Norma Crane. | |
| 1953 | Span of Time | |||
| 1954 | Medallion Theatre | Season 2 Episode 18: "The Magic Touch" | ||
| 1954 | Inner Sanctum | Season 1 Episode 1: "The Stranger" | Innkeeper | |
| 1954 | Inner Sanctum | Season 1 Episode 11: "The Sound of Birds" | Brule | |
| 1954 | Inner Sanctum | Season 1 Episode 22: "The Silent Bride" | Frisby | |
| 1954 | Inner Sanctum | Season 1 Episode 39: "Blind Luck" | Brenner | |
| 1954 | The Man Behind the Badge | Season 1 Episode 16: "The Ohio State Prison Story" | With Leslie Nielsen and Dick Moore. | |
| 1954 | The Man Behind the Badge | Season 1 Episode 35: "The Case of the Mutinous Crew" | With Mario Gallo, James Bender, and Ernest Parmentier. | |
| 1954 | The Web | Season 4 Episode 19: "The Barrier" | ||
| 1954 | Love Story | Season 1 Episode 1: "Norma Loves Mike" | Premiere episode for this anthology series; with Betty Lou Holland and Perry Fiske. | |
| 1954 | The Steel Hour | "The End of Paul Dane" | Lane played a "broad-minded cop"; with Robert Preston, Theresa Wright, and Warren Stevens. | |
| 1954 | The Adventures of Ellery Queen | Season 4 Episode 5: "Buck Fever" | Sheriff | |
| 1954 | The Marriage | Season 1 Episode 1 | Dr. Carnahan | |
| 1954 | Circle Theatre | Season 5 Episode 4: "Explosion" | Two brothers trapped in coal mine; with Joe Maross, Frank Overton, and Alfreda Wallace. | |
| 1955 | You Are There | Season 3 Episode 20: "The Death of Stonewall Jackson " | ||
| 1955 | You Are There | Season 3 Episode 21: "The First Flight of the Wright Brothers " | Samuel P. Langley | Wilbur and Orville Wright fly at Kitty Hawk. |
| 1955 | Appointment with Adventure | Season 1 Episode 13: "The Bridge of the Devil" | Wallace | With Paul Newman, Nehemiah Persoff, and Monica Lewis. Aired June 26, 1955. |
| 1956 | Crusader | Season 1 Episode 36: "The Secret" | Captain Jethro | |
| 1956 | Crusader | Season 2 Episode 12: "The Cop Killer" | Commander Alfred Ryan | |
| 1956 | Soldiers of Fortune | Season 2 Episode 2: "The Greater Magic" | Professor Winsby Lowe | |
| 1956 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Season 2 Episode 5: "None Are So Blind" | Police Detective | aired October 28, 1956 |
| 1956 | Zane Grey Theater | Season 1 Episode 7: "Stage for Tucson" | Marshal Tharpe | |
| 1956 | Studio 57 | Season 3 Episode 11: "The Blue Wall" | McCloud | |
| 1957 | The [20th Century Fox Hour] | Season 2 Episode 8: "End of a Gun" | Telegrapher | |
| 1957 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Season 2 Episode 18: "The Manacled" | Train Conductor | aired January 27, 1957 |
| 1957 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Season 2 Episode 34: "Martha Mason, Movie Star" | Police Detective | aired May 19, 1957 |
| 1957 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Season 3 Episode 9: "The Young One" | Sheriff Matt | aired December 1, 1957 |
| 1957 | General Electric Theater | Season 5 Episode 20: "No Skin Off Me" | Jasper Jones | |
| 1957 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Season 1 Episode 2: "The Hasty Gun" | Marshal Tom Ogborn | |
| 1957 | State Trooper | Season 1 Episode 23: "Death on the Rock" | Walter Johnson | |
| 1957 | Whirlybirds | Season 1 Episode 30: "Fury Canyon" | Sheriff Bates | |
| 1957 | Climax! | Season 3 Episode 45: "Necessary Evil" | ||
| 1957 | Perry Mason | Season 1 Episode 4: "The Case of the Drowning Duck" | Chief Glass | |
| 1958 | Sugarfoot | Season 1 Episode 11: "Deadlock" | Jed Botts | |
| 1958 | Climax! | Season 4 Episode 17: "Four Hours in White" | Luther Reeves | Lane played father to Steve McQueen in this hospital drama. |
| 1958 | Maverick | Season 1 Episode 20: "The Savage Hills" | Marshal | |
| 1958 | Whirlybirds | Season 2 Episode 6: "Search for an Unknown Man" | Sheriff | |
| 1958 | Mike Hammer |Mike Hammer] | Season 1 Episode 13: "Stay Out of Town" | Sheriff Al Miller | |
| 1958 | M Squad | Season 1 Episode 30: "The Fight" | Mel Harmon | |
| 1958 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Season 3 Episode 32: "Listen, Listen...!" | Father Rafferty | aired May 11, 1958 |
| 1958 | Suspicion | Season 1 Episode 34: "Death Watch" | Glen Squires | |
| 1958 | Have Gun – Will Travel | Season 2 Episode 1: "The Manhunter" | Judge | |
| 1958 | Lassie | Season 5 Episode 6: "The Rocking Chair" | Joe Bascom | |
| 1958 | The Restless Gun | Season 2 Episode 5: "The Nowhere Kid" | Josiah Stevens | |
| 1958 | Wanted [Dead or Alive |Wanted Dead or Alive] | Season 1 Episode 9: "The Fourth Headstone" | Sheriff Sam Gladstone | |
| 1958 | Playhouse 90 | Season 3 Episode 7: "Heart of Darkness" | Griggs | |
| 1958 | Man with a Camera | Season 1 Episode 10: "Six Faces of Satan" | Storekeeper | |
| 1958 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Season 3 Episode 15: "The Happy Tree" | Hank Benson | |
| 1958 | Lawman | Season 1 Episode 13: "The Master" | Cattleman Brady | |
| 1958 | The Veil | Season 1 Episode 2: "Girl on the Road" | Sheriff | |
| 1959 | Perry Mason | Season 2 Episode 14: "The Case of the Glittering Goldfish" | Harry Tiller | |
| 1959 | Union Pacific | Season 1 Episode 18: "Iron West" | Borden | |
| 1959 | Buckskin | Season 1 Episode 28: "Cousin Casey" | Moose | |
| 1959 | Wagon Train | Season 2 Episode 29: "The Clara Duncan Story" | Ron Waldron | |
| 1959 | The Real McCoys | Season 2 Episode 33: "Insurance Policy" | Mr. Simmons | |
| 1959 | The Texan | Season 1 Episode 34: "The Smiling Loser" | W. J. Morgan | |
| 1959 | M Squad | Season 2 Episode 35: "High School Bride" | Jay McCandless | |
| 1959 | One Step Beyond | Season 1 Episode 20: "Echo" | Joe the Bartender | |
| 1959 | Schlitz Playhouse | Season 8 Episode 16: "Hostage" | ||
| 1959 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Season 4 Episode 1: "Young Jim Hardie" | Herman Jackson | |
| 1959 | Rescue 8 | Season 2 Episode 5: "Dangerous Salvage" | Jake Randall | |
| 1959 | Man with a Camera | Season 2 Episode 3: "The Man Below" | Chief of Police | |
| 1959 | Bourbon Street Beat | Season 1 Episode 7: "Secret of Hyacinth Bayou" | Pops Polybe | |
| 1959 | Tightrope | Season 1 Episode 10: "The Money Fight" | Captain Ragland | |
| 1959 | Sugarfoot | Season 3 Episode 8: "The Gaucho" | Mike Travers | |
| 1959 | Special Agent 7 | Season 1 Episode 16: "Bogus Bonds of Balaam" |
Television performances 1960–1973
Listed in original broadcast order| Year | Series | Episode | Role | Notes/source |
| 1960 | Bronco | Season 2 Episode 10: "Masquerade" | Luke Davis | |
| 1960 | The Alaskans | Season 1 Episode 17: "The Long Pursuit" | Doc Williams | |
| 1960 | The Deputy | Season 1 Episode 23: "The Two Faces of Bob Claxton" | Judge Jones | |
| 1960 | Overland Trail | Season 1 Episode 6: "All the O'Mara's Horses" | Rusty Ransom | |
| 1960 | The Detectives | Season 1 Episode 24: "Little Girl Lost" | Johnson | |
| 1960 | Peter Gunn | Season 2 Episode 28: "Slight Touch of Homicide" | Arthur Wilkie | |
| 1960 | The Twilight Zone | Season 1 Episode 35: "The Mighty Casey" | Commissioner | |
| 1960 | Bat Masterson | Season 2 Episode 37: "Barbary Castle" | Marshal | |
| 1960 | The Clear Horizon | Sergeant Harry Moseby | Daily weekday episodes from July 11, 1960, to March 10, 1961, likely with occasional breaks. | |
| 1960 | Tate | Season 1 Episode 12: "Quiet After the Storm" | Jesse | |
| 1960 | Harrigan and Son | "Junior Joins the Law Firm" | The Judge | Premiere episode for this series. |
| 1960 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Season 6 Episode 3: "Very Moral Theft" | Mr. Ivers | aired October 11, 1960 |
| 1960 | The Roaring 20's | Season 1 Episode 1: "Burnett's Woman" | Commissioner | |
| 1960 | One Step Beyond | Season 3 Episode 5: "If You See Sally" | Mr. Casey | |
| 1960 | The Real McCoys | Season 4 Episode 9: "The Hermit" | Sheriff | |
| 1960 | Shotgun Slade | Season 1 Episode 18: "The Lady and the Piano" | Doctor | |
| 1961 | The Bob Cummings Show | Season 1 Episode 1: "Executive Sweet" | ||
| 1961 | 87th Precinct | Season 1 Episode 2: "Lady in Waiting" | Sergeant Murchison | |
| 1961 | The Roaring 20's | Season 2 Episode 5: "Another Time, Another War" | Commissioner | |
| 1961 | Bonanza | Season 3 Episode 8: "The Friendship" | Warden | |
| 1962 | 87th Precinct | Season 1 Episode 18: "Out of Order" | The Desk Sergeant | |
| 1962 | 87th Precinct | Season 1 Episode 20: "A Bullet for Katie" | Sergeant Murchison | |
| 1962 | Outlaws | Season 2 Episode 16: "A Bit of Glory" | Joe | |
| 1962 | Lassie | Season 8 Episode 23: "The Odyssey Part 1" | Mike Finch | |
| 1962 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Season 7 Episode 20: "The Test" | The Judge | aired February 20, 1962 |
| 1962 | The Clear Horizon | Sergeant Harry Moseby | Daily weekday episodes from February 27, 1962, to June 15, 1962, likely with occasional breaks. | |
| 1962 | Adventures in Paradise | Season 3 Episode 25: "The Baby Sitters" | Brady | |
| 1962 | The Tall Man | Season 2 Episode 38: "Phoebe" | Trager | |
| 1962 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Season 1 Episode 4: "I Saw the Whole Thing" | Judge B. Martin | aired October 11, 1962 |
| 1962 | Sam Benedict | Season 1 Episode 8: "Hear the Mellow Wedding Bells" | Court Clerk Kelly | |
| 1962 | Sam Benedict | Season 1 Episode 9: "Life Is a Lie, Love Is a Cheat" | Court Clerk Kelly | |
| 1962 | Sam Benedict | Season 1 Episode 10: "The Bird of Warning" | Court Clerk Kelly | |
| 1962 | Sam Benedict | Season 1 Episode 13: "Too Many Strangers" | Court Clerk Kelly | |
| 1962 | 77 Sunset Strip | Season 5 Episode 12: "The Snow Job Caper" | Police Chief Austin | |
| 1963 | Sam Benedict | Season 1 Episode 20: "Run Softly, Oh Softly" | Court Clerk Kelly | |
| 1963 | The Virginian | Season 1 Episode 23: "The Money Cage" | Ezra Griswold | |
| 1963 | Wagon Train | Season 6 Episode 24: "The Emmett Lawton Story" | Del Masters | |
| 1963 | Death Valley Days | Season 11 Episode 24: "Coffin for a Coward" | Billy Johnson | |
| 1963 | Death Valley Days | Season 12 Episode 5: "Deadly Decision" | Judge | |
| 1963 | My Three Sons | Season 3 Episode 33: "Total Recall" | Skipper Thompson | |
| 1963 | Arrest and Trial | Season 1 Episode 4: "A Shield Is for Hiding Behind" | Wright | |
| 1963 | Temple Houston | Season 1 Episode 4: "Toll the Bell Slowly" | Poag | |
| 1963 | Lassie | Season 10 Episode 9: "Lassie and the Winged Enemy" | Freight Train Conductor | |
| 1963 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Season 2 Episode 9: "The Dividing Wall" | Otto Brandt | aired December 6, 1963 |
| 1964 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Season 1 Episode 11: "The Deep End" | Doc Stacey | |
| 1964 | Hazel | Season 3 Episode 18: "Scheherazade and Her Frying Pan: Part 1" | Fisherman #1 | |
| 1964 | Hazel | Season 3 Episode 19: "Scheherazade and Her Frying Pan: Part 2" | Fisherman #1 | |
| 1964 | Mr. Novak | Season 1 Episode 21: "I'm on the Outside" | Lieutenant Comerford | |
| 1964 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Season 1 Episode 28: "A Cruel and Unusual Night" | Warden | |
| 1964 | McHale's Navy | Season 3 Episode 15: "Fuji's Big Romance" | Chief Wabango | |
| 1965 | Dr. Kildare | Season 4 Episode 24: "All Brides Should Be Beautiful" | Gus Markham | |
| 1965 | Gunsmoke | Season 11 Episode 1: "Seven Hours to Dawn" | Johnson | |
| 1965 | Peyton Place | Season 2 Episode 22 | Jim Fogerty | Few actors in Hollywood escaped doing a bit part in this series. |
| 1965 | Peyton Place | Season 2 Episode 27 | Jim Fogerty | |
| 1965 | The F.B.I. | Season 1 Episode 14: "Pound of Flesh" | Mayor Russell | |
| 1966 | Branded | Season 2 Episode 21: "Nice Day for a Hanging" | Sheriff | |
| 1966 | The Fugitive | Season 3 Episode 30: "Coralee" | Frank Reynolds | |
| 1966 | Bonanza | Season 8 Episode 11: "The Oath" | Fielding | |
| 1967 | Death Valley Days | Season 15 Episode 18: "A Wrangler's Last Ride" | Pa Roberts | |
| 1967 | The Big Valley | Season 3 Episode 4: "Time After Midnight" | Chairman Gaines | |
| 1967 | Bonanza | Season 9 Episode 4: "Judgment at Olympus" | Judge | |
| 1967 | Judd, for the Defense | Season 1 Episode 13: "To Love and Stand Mute" | Dr. Davis | |
| 1968 | Batman | Season 3 Episode 17: "The Joke's on Catwoman" | Judge | |
| 1968 | Death Valley Days | Season 16 Episode 16: "Britta Goes Home" | Preacher | |
| 1968 | The Virginian | Season 6 Episode 26: "Seth" | Sheriff Calder | Lane's daughter Sara Lane was a regular cast member when he did this episode. |
| 1968 | Judd, for the Defense | Season 2 Episode 1: "In a Puff of Smoke" | Magistrate Edgar Brown | |
| 1968 | Disney anthology television series#Walt Disney's [Wonderful World of Color |Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color] | Season 15 Episode 2: "Boomerang, Dog of Many Talents: Part 1" | F. M. Higbee | |
| 1968 | Disney anthology television series#Walt Disney's Wonderful [World of Color |Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color] | Season 15 Episode 3: "Boomerang, Dog of Many Talents: Part 2" | F. M. Higbee | |
| 1968 | This Is the Life | Old Smiley | ||
| 1970 | Gunsmoke | Season 16 Episode 3: "Stark" | Bo | |
| 1971 | Dan August | Season 1 Episode 25: "Prognosis: Homicide" | Bearded Janitor | |
| 1972 | Gunsmoke | Season 17 Episode 23: "Alias Festus Haggen" | Sheriff Buckley | |
| 1972 | The Mod Squad | Season 5 Episode 3: "Yesterday's Ashes" | The Seadog | |
| 1973 | Gunsmoke | Season 19 Episode 11: "The Hanging of Newly O'Brien" | Grandpa |