Charles Lane Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Charles Lane (born January 26, 1905 in San Francisco, California as Charles Gerstle Levinson) is a skinny, hatchet-faced, bespectacled American character actor, ubiquitous in literally hundreds of films. With his prominent nose, his rimless eyeglasses and his permanent scowl, he typically portrayed short-tempered and often loudmouthed bureaucrats, yes-men and other minor minions, principally in lighter fare. A graduate of the fabled Pasadena Playhouse, he made his film debut in 1931 and hasn't stopped working since. Appeared in most Frank Capra films.
Lane has appeared in episodes of many television shows including I Love Lucy, Perry Mason, Dennis the Menace, Bachelor Father, The Twilight Zone, Mister Ed, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction (as Homer Bedloe), The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C, Get Smart, Bewitched, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, The Munsters, F Troop, The Wild Wild West, Nanny and the Professor, The Odd Couple, Rhoda, One Day at a Time, Maude, Soap (as Judge Anthony Petrillo), Lou Grant, Little House on the Prairie, St. Elsewhere, L.A. Law, and the remake of Dark Shadows.
Notable Movie Roles
His voice appeared on the Stan Freberg comedy recording "Freberg: Underground" (1966) in the sketch "All Digit Dialing" as "I.B. Emerson".