Posted on 01/28/2006 6:27:48 PM PST by abb
For prime displays of Lane's acting forte, one may see him as the stage manager (billed as "Charles Levison") in Howard Hawks' Twentieth Century (1934), in which he played with John Barrymore, or as the tax assessor in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It with You (1938), pitted against - coincidentally enough - Lionel Barrymore. Thus may one learn who ordinarily got the better (or the worst) of whom! Years later Lane would again star with Lionel in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), as mean Mr. Potter's tax collector.
Perhaps remembered as Homer Bedloe, the scheming railwayman in TV's "Petticoat Junction" (1963).
Made very frequent guest appearnances on "I Love Lucy" (1951), almost always playing some sort of unfriendly bureaucrat with no patience for Lucy.
Was honored on March 16, 2005 at the TVLand Awards for his long career and his 100th birthday. When he received his award, he said in his still-booming voice, "In case anyone's interested, I'm still available!"
January 30th was named "Charles Lane day" by the Screen Actors Guild in 2005.
One of the founders of the television academy, he was honored at the Emmy Awards in 2005, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, as being it's oldest surviving member
A very happy 100! Never knew his name, but he was one of my old time favorites.
No wonder it seems like he's been around forever, he has!
Geez Louise...I get stunned every time one of these people from another era turn out to still be alive. It's amazing, like looking at living history. And Charles Lane has been a part of a lot of memorable moments for me in movies and TV. Happy birthday, Mr. Lane.
"In case anyone's interested, I'm still available!"
GOOD ATTITUDE! God bless this man, many happy returns to him.
bump
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