Well, one of
the great character actors of all time, Mr.
Charles Lane, turned 102 years old yesterday (Jan 26). No news yet on how Mr. Lane spent his birthday, but work continues on a documentary that is being done that was started shortly before he turned 100 in January of 2005. One might also note that Mr. Lane was born in San Francisco, and that he is also one of the few living survivors of the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.
In an active film career that spanned 1932-1995, Mr. Lane stepped before a camera for more than 600 different productions, but is probably best known for some of his television roles. He was Homer Bedloe on the CBS-TV series
Petticoat Junction during the 1960s. He was Lucy's boss Mr. Barnsdahl on the first season of her second series,
The Lucy Show, from 1962-63. There aren't too many actors that can say they appeared on top rated series in the 1950s like
I Love Lucy and
Perry Mason, as well as top rated series in the 1970s and 80s like
Soap, L.A. Law, Hunter, and others.
Mr. Lane is fond of his association with famed film director Frank Capra, having appeared in several of his films such as
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Dees Goes to Town, State of the Union, and
It's a Wonderful Life. But he also appeared in films with the Marx Brothers, Abbott & Costello, Bob Hope, Jack Benny and Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy and he was in
It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. He was in Blondie, Tarzan, and Ellery Queen movies. He had parts in classics like
42nd Street, In Old Chicago, Mighty Joe Young. 
He worked for the folks at Disney several times in such productions as
The Gnome Mobile, The Ugly Dachshund, My Dog the Thief, and
The Aristocats. The list goes on and on and on and on...
So, a happy, happy birthday to
Charles Lane. More than 75 years in show business, and still everybody's favorite "mean, old, grouchy skinflint".
(photo at left was taken for his 100th birthday two years ago)
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The veteran character actor Victor Millan passed away at his home in Santa Monica April 3, 2009 at at the age of 88. Millan, whose real name was Joseph Brown, was also a beloved faculty member at Santa Monica College, where he was Dean of the Theatre Arts department for many years. Active since about 1950, MIllan appeared in small roles in such films as Touch of Evil, Giant, Terror in a Texas Town, Boulevard Nights and the 1983 Scarface. Much more active in television, Millan appeared in episodes of Hopalong Cassidy, Annie Oakley, and Ramar of the Jungle in the early days of the medium, to Marcus Welby, Columbo, Quincy and others in the 1970s and 1980s.
