Among his most cherished possessions is a letter from director Frank Capra declaring, "Well, Charlie, you've been my No. 1 crutch." Capra cast him in 10 films.
Began his acting career performing Chekhov, Shakespeare and Noel Coward at the Pasadena Playhouse during the 1930s.
Born to Alice G. and Jacob B. Levison.
Despite being frequently cast as the perfect foil for Lucille Ball's scatterbrained TV character, he and Lucy were actually good friends. They met when she was a chorus girl and he worked in RKO musicals.
Father of Tom Lane.
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 rent collector.
Had lived in his Brentwood home from 1964 until his death.
He was one of the last survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
January 30th was named "Charles Lane Day" by the Screen Actors Guild in 2005.
Made frequent guest appearances on "I Love Lucy" (1951) and "The Lucy Show" (1962), almost always playing some sort of unfriendly bureaucrat with no patience for Lucy's addle-brained schemes.
On a short PBS interview about movies, the interviewer asked him if he had any regrets about the movies. He said that he never got to ride a horse in any of his performances. He told the interviewer he was an excellent horseman and had trained some of the western actors how to ride.
One of the first actors to join Screen Actors Guild.
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 its oldest surviving member.
Perhaps remembered as Homer Bedloe, the scheming railwayman in TV's "Petticoat Junction" (1963).
Starting on the stage in the late 1920s, he was a founding member of SAG at its first public meeting on October 8, 1933.
Survived by his son, Tom; his daughter, Alice; and granddaughter, 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!"