Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Charles Lane, 1905-2007


Charles Lane was already 41 when he appeared in a bit part as a rent collector in It's a Wonderful Life in 1946, but as LL Cool J would say, he was just gettin' warm. Lane's career still had 60 years to run at that point, and wasn't snuffed out for good until he passed away earlier this week at the age of 102. His last credit was narrating a new version of The Night Before Christmas in a short that came out last year; he was onscreen as late as the age of 90, opposite Kirk Cameron in a remake of The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.

By that time he had already appeared in over 200 movies, and made at least as many television appearances. This tribute from TV Land (which I found on the invaluable newsfromme.com) recaps more than a few of them: How many other actors appeared both in Gold Diggers of 1993 and an episode of Mork and Mindy? Not many, I'd guess.

1 comment:

MJN said...

At least we can be certain that his dying words were not "[Name of contemporary] lives on," for the simple reason that none of his contemporaries are still living.