Charles Lane

At 102 years old, Charles Lane has this physical status:

Born Charles Gerstle Levison (January 26, 1905 to July 9, 2007) was an American character actor and centenarian whose career spanned 72 years.

In 2000, Lane appeared as a narrator in his last appearance at the age of 95.

Lane appeared in many Frank Capra films, including You Can't Take It With You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), and Riding High (1950).

On her television series I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show and The Lucy Show, he was a favored support actor of Lucille Ball, who often portrayed him as a no-nonsense authority figure and comedic antagonist of her scatterbrained TV character.

In Smart Money (1931), starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney, he made his first film of more than 250 people.

Early life

Lane's father, a founder of the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, was instrumental in San Francisco's reconstruction following the 1906 earthquake.

Personal life

Lane married Ruth Covell in 1931 and the pair stayed together for 70 years until her death in 2002. They had a son, Tom, and Alice, their daughter.

Despite his stern, hard-hearted demeanour in most of his film and television roles, colleagues and acquaintances have all described Lane as a warm, funny, and generous individual. Lane's 102nd birthday was on January 26, 2007. He continued to live in the Brentwood house he bought with Ruth (for $46,000 in 1964) until his death. "He was lying in bed with his eyes wide open," his son, Tom Lane, said after dinner on Monday, July 9, 2007. "I closed his eyes and stopped breathing." Charles Lane was 102. He died as a result of natural causes. Alice Lane's mother, Alice, lived a long life; she died in 2002 at the age of 99, just before her 100th birthday.

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Career

Before appearing on the Pasadena Playhouse, Lane spent a short time as an insurance salesman. In 1929, actor/director Irving Pichel suggested that Lane begin acting, and four years later, Lane became a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He became a favorite of director Frank Capra, who used him in several films. Lane played a lovable rent collector in It's a Wonderful Life. Lane appeared in the film Mighty Joe Young (1949) as one of the reporters chastising Max O'Hara (Robert Armstrong) for details about the identity of "Mr. Joseph Young," the persona given featured billing on the front of the building on opening night.

Lane played Mr. Fosdick in Dear Phoebe, a comedy that aired on NBC from 1954 to 1955. In the comedy Petticoat Junction, he also portrayed mean-spirited railroad executive Homer Bedloe. As well as ABC's Guestward, Ho!, starring Joanne Dru, and The Bing Crosby Show, as well as the American Civil War's syndicated drama The Gray Ghost, he appeared on such series as ABC's Guestward, Ho!, as well as the syndicated drama The Gray Ghost.

He was a good friend of Lucille Ball and his speciality in playing scowling, short-tempered, no-nonsense professionals provided the perfect antidote to Ball's scatterbrained television personality. He appeared in several guest appearances on I Love Lucy, including an appearance in the episode "Lucy Goes To the Hospital," in which he is seated in the waiting room with Ricky while Lucy gives birth to their son. In addition, he appeared in "The Business Manager," the casting director in "Lucy Tells The Truth," and "Staten Island Ferry" as the passport clerk. Lane appeared in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour twice. Mr. Finch on Dennis the Menace, and playing banker Mr. Barnsdahl in the first season (1962–1963). Lane was allowed to leave because he had trouble reciting his lines correctly, according to Geoffrey Fidelman's book The Lucy Book. However, Lane was in fact a placeholder for Ball's original pick, Gale Gordon, who joined the scheme in 1963 as Mr. Mooney after being free from other contractual obligations.

Lane appeared in the classic film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World, as the airport boss. "You do not have a comedy unless you have Charles Lane in it," historian Michael Schlesinger wryly stated.) In 2006's The Night Before Christmas, he appeared in his final acting role. When he appeared in the 1995 Disney TV remake of its 1970 teen comedy The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes with Kirk Cameron, his last television appearance was at the age of 90. The TV Land Awards in 2005 paid tribute to Lane by commemorating his 100th birthday. Lane was presented with his award by Haley Joel Osment, who was sitting in a wheelchair in the audience, who had sung "Happy Birthday" and then announced, "I'm still available [for work]!" The audience gave him a standing ovation.

Lane appeared in more than 250 films and hundreds of television shows, and in some of them, she was uncredited. Lane said on his busiest days, he often played more than one role, getting to costume and filming his two to three lines, then rushing off to a new set or studio for a different costume and a different role. Lane characterized it as "a pain in the ass." since being typecast. And the photos were fantastic, so you did something that was really good. However, you were led by pedigree to this particular role, which I also found to be ignorant and unfair. I didn't have a chance, but it made the casting process much more convenient for the studio." Lane has been known as appearing in sixty-seven parts in a span of just two years, 1940 to 1942.

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