Happy 100th Birthday CHARLES LANE!

[bweir]

January 26 is veteran character actor Charles Lane's 100th birthday. Charles has made countless appearances in SO many classic movies like It's A Wonderful Life, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, as well as hundreds of television appearances in I Love Lucy, Petticoat Junction, Soap, Bewitched, etc. The AP has released two photos of Charles for his 100th birthday taken on January 19 and an interview with the groovy guy:



Veteran character actor Charles Lane marks 100th birthday

Associated Press


EDITOR'S NOTE: One in an occasional series on an earlier time in Hollywood. The author has been covering the movie world for the AP for more than 60 years.

By: Bob Thomas
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Most moviegoers and TV viewers wouldn't know his name. But they've seen him often enough. During a 60-year career, Charles Lane appeared in about 800 feature films and TV shows.

He brought to the screen a formidable presence with his long, dour, bespectacled face and leathery, slightly nasal voice. He was routinely cast as a judge, lawyer, capitalist or some other authority figure.

He could be mean, even sadistic, though often with a soft spot in his heart. And although he turns 100 on Wednesday, the voice still commands attention.

Lane received a pre-birthday visitor at his Brentwood home, which he and his late wife, Ruth, bought for $46,000 in 1964 and is now worth more than $1 million.

He had been a horse jumper and an expert golfer, and there's a wall full of trophies to prove it. He seemed dressed for another 18 holes: jaunty cap, cardigan sweater, checkered shirt, chinos.

He claimed a faulty memory, yet he could recount plenty of anecdotes about his days working with leading stars and directors. "Look at this," he said, producing a nearly completed crossword puzzle. "I do this every day. My doctor says it's good for my memory."

Getting typed as the irascible voice of authority, he declared firmly, "was a pain in the ... You did something that was pretty good, and the picture was pretty good. 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."

Born and raised in San Francisco, Lane started out in the insurance business while also dabbling in local theater. A well-known actor of the time persuaded him to train at the storied Pasadena Playhouse, which in those days was a source of new talent for the burgeoning film industry down the road.

So before long, Lane was in the movies, playing opposite the likes of Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney in 1931's "Smart Money."

Studio work for supporting players was tough in those pre-union years. Lane could act in four different movies in one day, delivering two lines and moving on to the next set. "And I was being paid $35 a day," he muttered. "When the Screen Actors Guild was being organized, I was one of the first to join."

With 1934's "Broadway Bill," Lane began an association with Frank Capra that lasted through nine movies, including such classics as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (Lane played a nosy newsman) and "It's a Wonderful Life" (as the rent collector).

He considered Capra "the outstanding motion picture maker of my time," and Capra's feelings toward him are evidenced in a framed letter in Lane's bedroom. "Well, Charlie," Capra wrote, "you've been my No. 1 crutch."

Lane also had a long friendship with Lucille Ball, with whom he appeared on "I Love Lucy" and her later shows.

"She was a chorus girl at RKO, and I did a number of musicals there," he recalled. "We got to be friends, and I had lunch with her every day."

Lane had great respect for her professionalism on the "Lucy" shows, and for husband, Desi Arnaz, as well. His eyes lit up as he recalled the famed episode in which Lucy gave birth to Little Ricky, and Arnaz and Lane performed a sequence in the waiting room. "This old guy who is expecting his 10th child or something, and this nervous young man who's expecting his first. It was a marvelous scene, and Desi was a fine actor."

The show appeared Jan. 19, 1953, and it drew the biggest TV audience up to that time, with Ball giving birth to her real son, Desiderio IV, that evening.

Lane went on to appear in many other sitcoms, notably as railroad magnate Homer Bedloe in "Petticoat Junction."

All interviews with centenarians must include the obligatory question: "Why have you lived so long?"

"I have no idea," he replied.

His son, Tom Lane, noted his father smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 70 years.

"One day about 15 years ago, he was short of breath, and we took him to (the hospital)," Tom explained. "After he was examined, a doctor asked him if he had stopped smoking. Dad answered 'yes.' When? `About 45 minutes ago.' And he hasn't smoked since."


HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLES LANE (Judge Petrillo)!!!!!!!!

[ThomasE]

Happy Birthday Mr. Homer Bedloe!