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Author Topic: Happy birthday to Charles Lane (100) Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-27-2005 10:11 AM                     Veteran character actor ("old hatchet face" as some people have called him) turned 100 yesterday. You probably saw him in some I Love Lucy episodes or Petticoat Junction (as Homer Bedloe) or Bewitched (as numerous clients).  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 01-27-2005 01:09 PM                     Wow, Well Eddie Albert (Oliver Douglas, "Green Acres") is not to far behind him, he's only 97 years old and Frank Cady (Sam Drucker, "Green Acres") is only 90 years old.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 01-27-2005 03:16 PM                        Must have been the water in Hooterville was from the "Fountain of Youth".  |  IP: Logged Ron Yost Master Film Handler Posts: 344 From: Paso Robles, CA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 01-27-2005 10:09 PM                     I wonder if Mr. Albert still tends a vegie garden in his front yard (he really did)? I remember he was quite ahead of his time, being a home-grown healthy foods guy. Doubtless contributed to his long life. Then there's Jack LaLaine (sp?), speaking of living a healthy life, who's getting way up there too. He lives near by over in Morro Bay. Still kickin'. Ron Yost  |  IP: Logged Bruce McGee Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1776 From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular. Registered: Aug 1999 posted 01-28-2005 08:28 AM                     You know that Charles Lane has an uncredited appearance in the 1933 film, "42nd Street," as a writer at Dorothy Brock's cast party. Also, he's Mr. Simmons' attorney in "The Ghost And Mister Chicken." Glad to know that he is still kicking.  |  IP: Logged William Hooper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1879 From: Mobile, AL USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-31-2005 02:22 AM                        The weird thing is that Charles Lane has *always* been 100 years old. He looks like the same old guy in every movie, whatever the decade. "Mr. Fitzgerald is in the billiard room. He's...well, he's sleeping. You can't see him." -- Charles Lane in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World  |  IP: Logged Mark Lensenmayer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1605 From: Upper Arlington, OH Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-31-2005 07:01 PM                     I agree...Charles Lane ALWAYS looked old. He must have been first call in Hollywood for and old, crotchity guy. This guy WORKED. IMDB shows 251 movies (from 1931 to 1995) and 88 TV shows (and I'm sure there were more!) Turner Classic had some special event with him, probably for his birthday. He still sounds robust (and old and crotchity). Looks like he played the role of "Clerk" frequently. Did he ever have a leading role? Does anyone have a longer resume?  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 07-11-2007 03:02 PM                 It has been 890 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 07-11-2007 03:02 PM                     Charles Lane passed away in Santa Monica, Ca. on Monday (07/09/07) at the age of 102. RIP 01/26/1905--07/09/2007  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 07-11-2007 03:25 PM                       Bless his heart. What a great character actor he was! A craftsman who made his roles believable. From SFGate.com: There are two ways for a bit player to screw up. One way, the forgivable way, is to be inconspicuous. The other way is to act as though you're the star of the picture. Lane did neither. He simply brought truth to his brief moments on screen. With Lane, the audience understood that the reporters, clerks, salesmen and managers he played were people in the midst of their own day -- a day that just happened to intersect with the world of the movie. As such, he had no need to be especially patient or ingratiating. He was rarely nasty, but he usually seemed busy and impatient. He had something he was doing, that he wanted to do, and then Gary Cooper or Barbara Stanwyck or somebody had to come over and interrupt him.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-11-2007 11:13 PM                        I always enjoyed him. He made a great TV "pain in the neck" guy.  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 07-12-2007 05:46 AM                     Thanks for the great characters Charles. Almost 340 roles since 1931.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 07-12-2007 11:43 AM                       Charles Lane always reminded me of the projectionist at my home town drive-in, back when I was getting into this game. Pete Butler. They could've been brothers - dead ringers. And ol' Pete was crotchety as hell.  |  IP: Logged Bob Koch Expert Film Handler Posts: 183 From: williams ca Registered: Nov 2001 posted 07-13-2007 07:53 PM                     Tim; When I was a kid in the thirties I tried to get into the projection rooms to see what was cooking, all the booths were union then and all the operators that threw me out,every one, looked exactly like Chas Lane. I guess that was the secret of Charles success, he always looked exactly like who he was playing and the audience so related to him that they always knew him and wanted to see what he would do this time.  |  IP: Logged

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