Rusty Lane (born James Russell Lane; May 31, 1899 – October 10, 1986),
[James Russell Lane in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997, retrieved from ]Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
was a college professor who in his forties left academia to become a professional actor. He appeared in several Broadway productions during the 1940s and 1950s, including three years as an original cast member for ''
Mister Roberts''.
He was in the original cast for another
Tony award-winning play, ''
The Desperate Hours''.
Lane also took up screen acting, performing in 21 films and making hundreds of televisions appearances from 1950 up through 1973, including as the star of the TV series ''
Crime with Father
''Crime with Father'' is an early American police drama that aired on ABC on Friday nights from August 31, 1951, to January 18, 1952.
Plot
The series centered on Captain Jim Riland of the homicide squad, and his daughter Chris, who "had a knack ...
'',
and as a regular cast member of the daytime serial ''
The Clear Horizon
''The Clear Horizon'' is an American soap opera which ran on CBS Daytime from July 11, 1960 to March 10, 1961 and February 26 to June 15, 1962. Manya Starr created the program and was its head writer.
Premise
''The Clear Horizon'' (titled ''The Ar ...
''.
Early life
James Russell Lane was born in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, Illinois, the younger of two children for Mack M. Lane, a school teacher and principal, and Cora Barr Lane.
[1900 United States Federal Census for Russell J Lane, Illinois > Cook > Chicago Ward 34 > District 1078, retrieved from ]Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
[1910 United States Federal Census for J Russell Lane, Illinois > Cook > Chicago Ward 7 > District 0431, retrieved from ]Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
As a young man he used his middle name in preference to his first, but otherwise was known by his nickname "Rusty". Later, as a teacher and professor he used "J. Russell Lane" for formal situations.
By age 17, his family had moved to suburban
Crete, Illinois
Crete is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States, a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 8,259 at the 2010 census. Originally named Wood's Corner, it was founded in 1836 by Vermonters Dyantha and Willard Wood.
Geography
Crete i ...
, from where Lane enlisted in the U.S. Army on July 17, 1917.
[James Russell Lane, in the U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940, retrieved from ]Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
[James R Lane, in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010, retrieved from ]Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
Sent for training with the
Illinois National Guard
The Illinois National Guard comprises both Army National Guard and Air National Guard components of Illinois. As of 2013, the Illinois National Guard has approximately 13,200 members. The National Guard is the only United States military force emp ...
at
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...
,
he was assigned to the US 124th Field Artillery Regiment.
By October, his regiment had moved to
Camp Logan
Camp Logan was a World War I-era army training camp in Houston, Texas named after U.S. Senator and Civil War General John A. Logan. The site of the camp is now primarily occupied by Memorial Park where it borders the Crestwood neighborhood, n ...
in Houston, Texas.
He received a medical discharge on December 24, 1917,
due to a foot injury.
He then worked as a teacher in
Pisgah, Iowa
Pisgah is a city in Harrison County, Iowa, United States, along the Soldier River. The community is located in the midst of the Loess Hills.
The population was 249 at the time of the 2020 census.
History
Pisgah was laid out in 1899. The town's ...
.
[U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, for James Russell Lane, Iowa > Harrison County > ALL > Draft Card L, retrieved from ]Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
College
Lane was a student at the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
from 1922
thru 1926 when he graduated.
He played football his first two years under coach
Bob Zuppke
Robert Carl Zuppke (July 2, 1879 – December 22, 1957) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1913 until 1941, compiling a career college football record of 131–81 ...
, was a member of the 1923 championship team with
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...
, but lost part of that season due to academic probation.
His later college years were focused on theater and public speaking under the mentorship of Professor W. C. Troutman. He was elected president of the college dramatic society,
took part in plays,
and in his senior year represented Illinois at an interstate public speaking competition held in Madison, Wisconsin.
Academic career
After graduation Lane took up a teaching position in Iowa City, Iowa.
Lane taught public speaking at
Iowa City High School
Iowa City High School is a state school, public high school in Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa and is part of the Iowa City Community School District. The present high school was completed as part of the Public Works Administration, Public Works ...
, served as its dramatics director, and also took part in theater productions at the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
.
After one year he left to take up a position at La Crosse State Teachers College (now the
University of Wisconsin–La Crosse
The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL or UW Lax) is a public university in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Established in 1909, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. With 9,600 ...
).
He spent two years there, teaching public speaking and staging college plays, then was selected by his former college mentor, W. C. Troutman, who was now at the
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
, to be business manager for the university theater in Madison.
Lane would spend nearly fourteen years at the University of Wisconsin, managing the university theater and teaching public speaking. During this time he brought many top stage stars to the university for performances, and helped develop some future stars (
Don Ameche
Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which l ...
,
Tom Ewell
Tom Ewell (born Samuel Yewell Tompkins, April 29, 1909 – September 12, 1994) was an American film, stage and television actor, and producer. His most successful and most identifiable role was that of Richard Sherman in ''The Seven Year Itch'' ...
,
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a p ...
,
Don Fellows
Don Fellows (December 2, 1922 – October 21, 2007) was an American actor known for his roles in British theater and television.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Fellows served in the United States Merchant Marine ...
,
Cy Howard
Cy Howard (September 27, 1915 - April 29, 1993) was an American director, producer and screenwriter. He won an Primetime Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for the television program ''The Smothers Brothers C ...
) as well.
He also oversaw the opening of the new
Wisconsin Union Theater
The Wisconsin Union Theater is a performing arts center in Madison, Wisconsin, located in the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Memorial Union. Wisconsin Union Theater performances include world stage, concerts, dance, jazz and other special ev ...
, at which in April 1942, ''Knickerbocker Holiday'', the one hundredth production of his college directing career was staged.
Lane resigned his position the same month.
After several months doing radio and stage work in New York City, he took a position with the American Red Cross, producing entertainment for servicemen in England.
East Coast career
Stage work
While in London, Lane persuaded playwright
Maxwell Anderson
James Maxwell Anderson (December 15, 1888 – February 28, 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist.
Background
Anderson was born on December 15, 1888, in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to ...
to allow the US Army to stage his play ''
The Eve of St. Mark
''The Eve of St Mark'' is a 1942 play by Maxwell Anderson set during World War II. It later became a 1944 film by 20th Century Fox that featured some of the same actors who repeated their roles in the film. The title is derived from the legend of ...
'' as a non-profit production.
Lane supervised the production, which was mounted in the
Scala Theatre
The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and the theatre was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was kn ...
and featured American soldiers and Red Cross workers in the cast.
Lane returned to New York to direct Anderson's new play ''Storm Operation''.
Rehearsals began in November; by December 13, 1943, the play had its first tryout in Baltimore, followed by a week in Pittsburgh.
However, in between tryouts Lane was replaced as director.
Lane then went into the cast of ''Decision'' by
Edward Chodorov
Edward Chodorov (April 17, 1904 – October 9, 1988), was a Broadway playwright, and the writer or producer of over 50 motion pictures.
Filmography
* '' Kind Lady'' (1951, writer)
* '' Road House'' (1948, writer/producer)
* ''The Hucksters'' ( ...
, which had its first tryout on January 21, 1944, at the
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
Playhouse.
It premiered at the
Belasco Theatre
The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York Ci ...
on February 2, 1944, with Lane drawing mild praise for his supporting role from ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
John Chapman of the ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' was more generous, writing: "Rusty Lane, a drama professor and director, makes his acting debut in the role of a lawyer, and proves that self-taught or not, he is well taught".
''Decision'' ran until June 17, 1944,
after which Lane went into the cast of ''Lower North'' by Martin Bidwell.
A weak war training
comedy drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...
,
it closed after just nine days.
Lane was then cast in his first screen role, ''Now It Can Be Told'', a movie being made in New York by
Louis de Rochemont
Louis Clark de Rochemont (January 13, 1899 – December 23, 1978) was an American film maker known for creating, along with Roy E. Larsen, the monthly theatrically shown newsreels ''The March of Time''. His brother, Richard, was also a prod ...
for
20th Century-Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
.
The film was released as ''
The House on 92nd Street
''The House on 92nd Street'' is a 1945 black-and-white American spy film directed by Henry Hathaway. The movie, shot mostly in New York City, was released shortly after the end of World War II. ''The House on 92nd Street'' was made with the full c ...
'' in late 1945 to generally good reviews.
In May 1945 Lane was hired by the
USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
to produce and direct stage plays that its various entertainment troupes could take to overseas bases.
During the next year he would craft five productions of popular plays for USO companies.
Lane next performed in ''Bathsheba'' by
Jacques Deval
Jacques Deval (1895–1972) was a French playwright, screenwriter and film director.
Novels
*''Marie Galante'' (1931)
Plays
*''Une faible femme''; a comedy in three acts (1920)
*''Dans sa candeur naïve''; a comedy in three acts (1926); translate ...
, which opened March 26, 1947 and starred
James Mason
James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...
in his Broadway debut.
Lane portrayed
Joab
Joab (Hebrew Modern: ''Yōʼav'', Tiberian: ''Yōʼāḇ'') the son of Zeruiah, was the nephew of King David and the commander of his army, according to the Hebrew Bible.
Name
The name Joab is, like many other Hebrew names, theophoric - derive ...
, for which he received mild commendation from the ''Daily News'' critic, who was a bit hard on the two leads, James Mason and
Pamela Kellino
Pamela Mason (10 March 1916 – 29 June 1996), also known as Pamela Kellino, was an English actress, author, and screenwriter, known for being the creative partner and first wife of English actor James Mason.
Early life and personal life
Born ...
.
''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' said Deval's characters "seem to have gotten into his play simply because some clothes had come from a costumer's and needed men and women to fill them".
The play closed on April 19, 1947.
Two years later Lane told
Earl Wilson "Oooh, what a stinker that one was!"
The Experimental Theatre presented
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
's ''
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
'' in a limited engagement of six performances from December 7 through December 14, 1947.
The play was translated by
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...
, who would also star as the
Italian astronomer.
Lane was part of a supporting cast that included
Joan McCracken
Joan Hume McCracken (December 31, 1917 – November 1, 1961) was an American dancer and actress who became famous for her role as Sylvie ("The Girl Who Falls Down") in the original 1943 production of ''Oklahoma!'' She also was noted for her per ...
,
Wesley Addy
Robert Wesley Addy (August 4, 1913 – December 31, 1996)R Wesley Addy in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claim Index, 1936-2007, retrieved froAncestry.com/ref> was an American actor of stage, television, and film.
Early years
A ...
, and
John Carradine
John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later Jo ...
, under the direction of
Joseph Losey
Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Blackliste ...
.
''Mister Roberts''
After doing a trio of unsuccessful plays, Lane was cast in a critical and popular hit, the 1948 Tony Award winner ''
Mister Roberts''. This had an opening tryout at the
Shubert Theatre in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
on January 23, 1948, where the reviewer predicted immediate success on Broadway and mentioned Lane favorably.
Another tryout was mounted at Philadelphia's Walnut Theatre,
before the play premiered on Broadway at the
Alvin Theatre
The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for ...
on February 18, 1948.
Lane's character,
Chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
Johnson, was a supporting role, the first on stage each night.
However, he also understudied the lead role of "Doc", played by
Robert Keith.
When Keith was in an auto accident during May 1948, Lane took over as Doc until Keith was able to return, while his own part was played by ensemble cast member
Robert Keith Jr.
Besides Doc, Lane was also understudy for the role of the Captain.
Though his evenings were committed to ''Mister Roberts'', Lane was able to utilize his days to do a number of radio broadcasts for the
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
''
Grand Central Station
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
''.
He also had time to perform in his second movie, ''
Johnny One-Eye
''Johnny One-Eye'' is a 1950 film noir crime film from a story by Damon Runyon, directed by Robert Florey starring Pat O'Brien, Wayne Morris, Dolores Moran and Gayle Reed.
Plot
In Manhattan, former gangster turned legitimate businessman Mar ...
'', for a segment filmed near
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...
during late July 1949.
And he also moonlighted during June 1950 for his first known television performance on ''
Hands of Destiny''.
After almost three years of playing Chief Johnson, Lane was promoted to the lead role of the Captain, taking over from
William Harrigan
William Harrigan (March 27, 1894 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor who performed in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s and on stage.
Early years
Harrigan was born in New York City and attended New York Military Academy. Harrigan was ...
, who left in November 1950 for an RKO movie contract.
Lane's name now appeared in the newspaper ads for the play along with the other three principals. He would play that part on tour even after the original Broadway production closed at the Alvin Theatre during January 1951 and formed a second road company.
[There had been a road company of ''Mister Roberts'' for the previous eighteen months.] Lane's involvement with ''Mister Rogers'' finally came to end when the road company closed during May 1951. According to columnist Irvin Farman, Lane had played in "1,382 performances... He was the only member of the cast who played every Broadway and road tour performance, playing the chief 1,063 times, Doc 56 times, and the captain 263 times".
''Crime with Father''
With no stage commitments at hand, Lane moved into television acting during 1951. Besides doing anthology shows, he also starred in his own mystery series, ''
Crime with Father
''Crime with Father'' is an early American police drama that aired on ABC on Friday nights from August 31, 1951, to January 18, 1952.
Plot
The series centered on Captain Jim Riland of the homicide squad, and his daughter Chris, who "had a knack ...
''. This program, debuting on ABC television on August 31, 1951, had him as police homicide detective Jim Riland, a widower whose daughter Chris Riland (Peggy Lobbin) often aided and complicated his investigations. According to columnist Terry Vernon, the show was filmed on actual streets without using stock clips or background projections, and showed the home life of the Rilands.
''The New York Times'' review of the first episode said it was "...an obviously low-budgeted series, has a far better than average quality of production, even if the pistol shots still sound like cap pistols".
The series lasted for 21 episodes, its final original broadcast coming on January 18, 1952. Because it was a filmed series, it played longer in some markets. After it ended, Lane went right back to doing anthology series.
He also did a recurring character called Porphory Pete on the family-orientated ''
Captain Video and His Video Rangers
''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television.
The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apr ...
''. This was a live daily science-fiction program on the
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
. Porphory Pete was a "raffish, interplanetary prospector" who was friends with Captain Video.
A newspaper article by Robert Downing, who played a villain, establishes that Lane's participation in the daily show may have lasted for weeks, however, very few actual episodes can be identified today.
Another television program for which Lane had at least a recurring, if not a regular role, was a short-lived NBC fantasy-adventure series, ''
Operation Neptune
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
''.
Return to stage
''Stockade'' was a grim play, "a sobering drama" according to
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...
, taken from chapters of ''
From Here to Eternity
''From Here to Eternity'' is a 1953 American drama romance war film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel of the same name by James Jones. The picture deals with the tribulations of three U.S. Arm ...
'' that were left out of the
film version
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...
.
Atkinson praised the "vivid characterizations" of Lane and other actors, but
Louis Sheaffer
Louis Sheaffer (né Slung October 18, 1912 – August 7, 1993) was an American journalist for the ''Brooklyn Eagle'' between 1934 and 1955. After the newspaper's closure in 1955, Sheaffer wrote a two part biography on Eugene O'Neill and released th ...
felt the play was "drab" and "uninspired",
while John Chapman called it "cheerless, sadistic and pointless".
The play flopped quickly at the
Off Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
President Theatre during early 1954, and Lane went on with doing anthology series on television.
However, the number of television episodes he did declined during the second half of 1954. The New York-based
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
was failing, and the bulk of new production work was moving towards Hollywood. Lane, still resident in New York City, now filled the gaps between TV spots with lower-paying regional theater work.
Towards the end of December 1954 he was cast in what would be his final Broadway performance.
''The Desperate Hours''
''
The Desperate Hours'' was adapted by
Joseph Hayes from his
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
. The story concerns a suburban family of four whose quiet home is invaded by three escaped convicts. Staged by
Robert Montgomery, it starred
Karl Malden
Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American actor. He was primarily a character actor, who according to Robert Berkvist, "for more than 60 years brought an intelligent intensity and a homespun aut ...
and
Nancy Coleman
Nancy Coleman (December 30, 1912 – January 18, 2000) was an American film, stage, television and radio actress. After working on radio and appearing on the Broadway stage, Nancy Coleman moved to Hollywood to work for Warner Bros. studios.
Ear ...
as the parents, with
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...
as the convict leader.
The play had its first tryout at the Shubert Theater in New Haven, Connecticut on January 6, 1955.
It then went to Locust Street Theatre in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, on January 12, 1955,
for a highly praised three-week run.
The play opened on February 10, 1955, at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...
on Broadway.
Lane's role in this play as a police lieutenant was smaller than his parts in ''Mister Roberts'' and ''Stockade'', and reviewers mention him only in passing.
Besides an excellent cast, taut writing and staging, the production had an extraordinary set design by
Howard Bay.
After 212 performances, ''The Desperate Hours'' closed on Broadway on August 13, 1955, and a road company was sent out to the West Coast that included Lane and his wife Sara Anderson.
By late October 1955, Lane was back in New York for filming of ''
The Harder They Fall The Harder They Fall may refer to:
* ''The Harder They Fall'' (1956 film), an American boxing film noir directed by Mark Robson.
* ''The Harder They Fall'' (2021 film), an American Western film directed by Jeymes Samuel.
* "The Harder They Fall", ...
'',
but he returned to Los Angeles for ''
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Beyond a reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the balance of probabilities standard commonly used in civil cases, beca ...
'' in March 1956.
West Coast career
Films and television
James Mason cast Lane for ''
Bigger Than Life
''Bigger Than Life'' is a 1956 American drama film directed by Nicholas Ray and starring James Mason, Barbara Rush, and Walter Matthau. Its plot follows an ailing school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control when he misuses c ...
'', which was filmed during May 1956 under the working title of ''One in a Million''.
Going forward, all of Lane's screen work would be produced in Los Angeles.
[His last New York originated TV programs were broadcast in January 1955; his next television work, appearing during summer 1956, would be Hollywood produced.] Lane made ten films during 1957–1958, but the quality of the pictures trailed off considerably in the latter year, and it would be 1963 before he made another. His television work expanded during that same period, with some guest star parts in narrative series. However, a great many of his small screen roles were character bits, often as a sheriff or judge or police detective.
''The Clear Horizon''
Lane was cast in a major role for the CBS daily daytime drama, ''
The Clear Horizon
''The Clear Horizon'' is an American soap opera which ran on CBS Daytime from July 11, 1960 to March 10, 1961 and February 26 to June 15, 1962. Manya Starr created the program and was its head writer.
Premise
''The Clear Horizon'' (titled ''The Ar ...
'', starting in July 1960.
This show followed an Army officer, Roy Selby (
Ed Kemmer
Ed Kemmer (October 29, 1921 – November 9, 2004) was an American motion picture and television actor.
Life
Kemmer was born in Reading, Pennsylvania as Edward William Kemmerer, and served as a fighter pilot in World War II. He was shot down ove ...
) and his wife Anne (
Phyllis Avery
Phyllis Avery (November 14, 1922-May 19, 2011) was an American actress.
Early life
Phyllis Avery was born to screenwriter Stephen Morehouse Avery and his wife Evelyn Martine Avery. ) after his transfer to an Army space program test site near
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral ( es, Cabo Cañaveral, link=) is a city in Brevard County, Florida. The population was 9,912 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne– Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
After t ...
.
Third-billed Lane played Harry Moseby, a sergeant formerly under Selby's command and godfather to his young son. Moseby was on his second marriage, and his wife Frances (
Eve McVeagh
Eva Elizabeth "Eve" McVeagh (July 15, 1919 – December 10, 1997) was an American actress of film, television, stage, and radio. Her career spanned 52 years from her first stage role through her last stage appearance. Her roles included leading ...
) was discovering she didn't care for Army life.
The show's creator and head writer, Manya Star, a former
WAVES
Waves most often refers to:
*Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass.
* Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water.
Waves may also refer to:
Music
* Waves (ban ...
officer, was adamant the program was not a soap opera: "The emphasis is on the men, and the women know how to cope with things, instead of wringing their hands".
Among the show's secondary storylines was that of Corporal Davis (
James Edwards), a Negro soldier who fights to get into
Officer Candidate School
An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. ...
, and the difficulty in finding housing for his wife after he does.
Another storyline concerned a Jewish army officer (
Michael Fox) who was married to a French Catholic woman (Gerry Gaylor).
The show was filmed, not broadcast live.
Six episodes were made each week, to build up a reserve for vacations.
During March 1961 CBS stopped broadcasting original episodes; however, stations behind the network feed used filmed copies to keep showing it into April. Columnist Allen Rich queried CBS VP for Daytime Programs
Bruce Lansbury
William Bruce Mageean Lansbury (12 January 1930 – 13 February 2017) was a British-born Irish-American television producer, television writer and screenwriter. His career spanned over 30 years, from the 1960s to the 1990s, and included wor ...
about the switch from soap operas like ''Clear Horizon'' and ''
Full Circle'' to game shows.
Lansbury claimed the network was trying to provide entertainment instead of displaying other people's problems, and that reader mail favored the changes.
Less than a year later, a new CBS VP for Daytime Programs, Lawrence White, announced that ''The Clear Horizon'' would resume new episodes on February 26, 1962,
[The actual second debut was the following day, February 27, as it was pre-empted by a CBS news special on an event with ]John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...
, who had returned from his orbital flight the week before. citing popular demand for its return.
The second life of ''The Clear Horizon'' lasted only until June 15, 1962, when it was dropped from the CBS daytime schedule in favor of a traditional soap opera, ''
The Brighter Day
''The Brighter Day'' is an American daytime soap opera which aired on CBS from January 4, 1954, to September 28, 1962. Originally created for NBC Radio by Irna Phillips in 1948, the radio and television versions ran simultaneously from 1954&ndash ...
'', which was expanded from 15 minutes to a half-hour.
This was in spite of a letter-writing campaign to CBS by fans of ''The Clear Horizon''.
Later life
Television continued to be Lane's main source of acting work during the 1960s. He made only five films during that decade, but performed in 64 television episodes, not even counting ''The Clear Horizon''. He had a small recurring role as a court clerk on the
legal drama
A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...
''
Sam Benedict
''Sam Benedict'' is an American legal drama that aired on NBC from September 1962 to March 1963. The series was created and executive produced by E. Jack Neuman. The character Sam Benedict is based on real-life lawyer Jake Ehrlich, who served as ...
'', and another as police Sgt. Murchison on ''
87th Precint''. Lane's performing work wound down to just five television episodes during the early 1970s. His last known acting job was for an episode of ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
'' in 1973.
Lane lived for another thirteen years after retiring.
Personal life
At age 43, Lane stood 5'8 1/2" (174 cm) tall, weighed 160 pounds (72.5 kg), and had gray eyes and brown hair.
[U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, for James Russell Lane, retrieved from ]Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
While teaching at Iowa City High School in 1926, Lane met Laura Koch, who was also a teacher there.
They were married on August 1, 1928, at her parents' home in St. Ansgar, Iowa.
During their fifteen years of marriage they had two daughters, Laura Lee Lane and Carol Anne Lane,
who were occasionally cast in University of Wisconsin stage productions.
They were divorced in May 1946.
Columnist Whitney Bolton reported that whenever Lane found himself in a long-running stage production, he'd populate his theatre dressing room with wildlife.
During ''Mister Roberts'' it was cages of hamsters, while for ''The Desperate Hours'' he had a large aquarium stocked with
Apistogramma
''Apistogramma'' is a large genus of freshwater fish in the family Cichlidae found in South America, but also commonly kept in aquariums. They are dwarf cichlids that mostly feed on tiny animals and have breeding behaviors that vary depending on ...
from Venezuela.
Lane had often cast two sisters from Madison named Gloria and Sara Anderson while staging plays at the university during 1940–1941.
Gloria stayed with the university, but Sara went on to New York where she found stage work on Broadway.
Several years later Lane also went to New York, and eventually met up with Sara Anderson again when both were in ''Storm Operation''. Despite a twenty-year age difference, they married on May 21, 1947.
Their first child, Susan Russell Lane,
later became an actress under the stage name
Sara Lane, though she was called "Russell" by her family.
They also had two other children together, Walter and Margarethe.
After their move to California, they lived at a cabin in Topanga Canyon, near the south entrance close to the ocean.
Stage performances
Listed by year of first performance, excluding student productions
Radio performances
Filmography
Film (by year of first release)
Television performances 1950–1959
Listed in original broadcast order
Television performances 1960–1973
Listed in original broadcast order
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Rusty
1899 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Male actors from Chicago