Lupino Lane
Encyclopedia
Lupino Lane was an English actor and theatre manager
, and a member of the famous Lupino family
. Lane started out as a child performer, known as 'Little Nipper', and went on to appear in a wide range of theatrical, music hall
and film performances. He is best known for playing Bill Snibson in the play and film Me and My Girl
, which popularised the Lambeth Walk
.
, London, son of Harry Charles Lupino (1867–1925), part of the Lupino family
. He adopted the surname Lane from his great-aunt Sarah Lane (1822–1899, née Borrow), the director of the Britannia Theatre
, Hoxton
. Lane married actress Violet Blythe on 10 February 1917, and their son was the actor Lauri Lupino Lane (1921–86). Lane's brother was the actor Wallace Lupino
, and his nephew, Wallace's son, was another actor, Richard Lupino
. Lane's niece, Ida Lupino
, the daughter of actors Stanley Lupino
and Connie Emerald (1892–1959), was the most famous member of this acting family.
Lane made his first stage appearance at the age of four in a benefit in Birmingham
for Vesta Tilley
. He made his London début in 1903 as Nipper Lane at the London Pavilion
. He worked steadily as a performer thereafter. In 1915, he appeared at the Empire Theatre and played comic roles in theatre and film on both sides of the Atlantic from then on. In 1921, he dived through seventy-four stage traps in six minutes while performing in a 1921 pantomime
production of Aladdin
at the Hippodrome. Lane and his wife Violet Blythe were both in the Broadway
production of the musical Afgar
, at the Central Theatre, in 1920–21, and he appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies
of 1924 at the New Amsterdam Theatre
, from June 1924 to March 1925, and subsequently played Ko-Ko in The Mikado
on Broadway in 1925, receiving good reviews.
Lane's silent film career started in 1915 in a series of British short films, including the experimental Mr Butterbuns series. As a comedy actor, he appeared in 40 Hollywood films made in the 1920s. After several shorts and features for Fox in 1922–23, Lane appeared as Rudolph in D. W. Griffith
's 1924 feature Isn't Life Wonderful?
. He signed with Educational Pictures
for a series of short comedies that featured his acrobatic flips and falls. Roscoe Arbuckle was one of his directors, but Lane was soon directing the films himself under the pseudonym "Henry W. George" (his given names). Lane's brother, Wallace Lupino, usually co-starred. These comedies displayed Lane's agility and versatility: in one film he played 24 characters (Only Me, 1929).
Lane made the transition to talking pictures, starring in a few sound shorts for Educational and making a guest appearance in the Warner Bros.
feature The Show of Shows (1929). He also played a major role in the 1929 musical film The Love Parade
, but within two years he left Hollywood for his native England.
, Lane co-produced Twenty to One
, written by L. Arthur Rose and Frank Eyton
with music by Billy Mayerl
, on the West End
. Lane made his first appearance as Bill Snibson in this production, in which Snibson, a tout
, was a big hit. The production ran for a year starting from November 1935 and went on a long British tour after that.
Me and My Girl
, the follow-up show, written by Rose and Douglas Furber
with music by Noel Gay
, was an even bigger hit. Snibson inherits a country estate and invites his mates from Lambeth
to stay with him. It featured a hit song and dance routine from Lane called "The Lambeth Walk
", which became popular throughout Europe in the late 1930s. Lane directed and produced the show as well as starring in it for 1,550 performances between 1937 and 1940. It was the first British musical comedy to be televised and was made into a film in 1939. The film was known as Lambeth Walk due to the popularity of the dance.
, he purchased the shell of the Gaiety Theatre
in London to rescue it from dereliction, intending to produce comedies. He failed to win the financial backing to refurbish it and sold it in 1950. The theatre was demolished in 1956.
Lane died on 10 November 1959, in London, at age 67.
He is buried at Streatham Park Cemetery. His wife, Violet Blythe, died 17 March 1983, aged 93.
To mark the 50th anniversary of his death, the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America
restored his memorial at Streatham Park Cemetery and held a memorial service at St Paul's
, Covent Garden
, with a reception at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
.
Actor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the company's business and financial arrangements, sometimes taking over the management of a theatre, to perform plays of their own choice and in which they will usually star...
, and a member of the famous Lupino family
Lupino family
Lupino was the surname of a British theatre family tradition that could trace their roots back to an Italian émigré of the early 17th century. This family tradition comprised two actual families *the earlier Luppino or Lupino family...
. Lane started out as a child performer, known as 'Little Nipper', and went on to appear in a wide range of theatrical, music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
and film performances. He is best known for playing Bill Snibson in the play and film Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....
, which popularised the Lambeth Walk
Lambeth Walk
Lambeth Walk is a street in Lambeth, London, England, off Lambeth Road. It was an old street market and housing area.After some bomb damage during the Blitz in World War II on September 18, 1940, the area became rather run down and was subsequently rebuilt....
.
Early life and career
Lane was born Henry William George Lupino, in HackneyLondon Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, London, son of Harry Charles Lupino (1867–1925), part of the Lupino family
Lupino family
Lupino was the surname of a British theatre family tradition that could trace their roots back to an Italian émigré of the early 17th century. This family tradition comprised two actual families *the earlier Luppino or Lupino family...
. He adopted the surname Lane from his great-aunt Sarah Lane (1822–1899, née Borrow), the director of the Britannia Theatre
Britannia Theatre
The Britannia Theatre was located at 115/117 High Street, Hoxton, London. The theatre was badly damaged by a fire in 1900. The site was reused as a Gaumont cinema from 1913 to 1940, when this too was destroyed...
, Hoxton
Hoxton
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...
. Lane married actress Violet Blythe on 10 February 1917, and their son was the actor Lauri Lupino Lane (1921–86). Lane's brother was the actor Wallace Lupino
Wallace Lupino
Wallace Lupino was a British-born film actor who was part of the Lupino family. He appeared in 63 films between 1918 and 1940...
, and his nephew, Wallace's son, was another actor, Richard Lupino
Richard Lupino
Richard Lupino , was an American film, stage and television actor, of British parentage, part of the theatrical Lupino family, led to prominence by Lupino Lane....
. Lane's niece, Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino was an English-born film actress and director, and a pioneer among women filmmakers. In her 48-year career, she appeared in 59 films and directed seven others, mostly in the United States. She appeared in serial television programmes 58 times and directed 50 other episodes...
, the daughter of actors Stanley Lupino
Stanley Lupino
Stanley Lupino was an English actor, dancer, singer, librettist, director and short story writer.-Early career:Lupino began his career as an acrobat and made his stage debut in 1913 and first became known as a music hall performer and played in pantomimes at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane...
and Connie Emerald (1892–1959), was the most famous member of this acting family.
Lane made his first stage appearance at the age of four in a benefit in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
for Vesta Tilley
Vesta Tilley
Matilda Alice Powles , was an English male impersonator. At the age of 11, she adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley becoming the most famous and well paid music hall male impersonator of her day...
. He made his London début in 1903 as Nipper Lane at the London Pavilion
London Pavilion
The London Pavilion is a building located on the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Coventry Street on the north-east side of, and facing, Piccadilly Circus in London...
. He worked steadily as a performer thereafter. In 1915, he appeared at the Empire Theatre and played comic roles in theatre and film on both sides of the Atlantic from then on. In 1921, he dived through seventy-four stage traps in six minutes while performing in a 1921 pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
production of Aladdin
Aladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
at the Hippodrome. Lane and his wife Violet Blythe were both in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of the musical Afgar
Afgar
Afgar, or the Andalusian Leisure is a musical with lyrics by Douglas Furber, music by Charles Cuvillier and book by Fred Thompson and Worton David. It is based on Cuvillier's 1909 French operetta of the same name, with words by André Barde and Michel Carré....
, at the Central Theatre, in 1920–21, and he appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
of 1924 at the New Amsterdam Theatre
New Amsterdam Theatre
The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater located at 214 West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Theatre District of Manhattan, New York City, off of Times Square...
, from June 1924 to March 1925, and subsequently played Ko-Ko in The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
on Broadway in 1925, receiving good reviews.
Lane's silent film career started in 1915 in a series of British short films, including the experimental Mr Butterbuns series. As a comedy actor, he appeared in 40 Hollywood films made in the 1920s. After several shorts and features for Fox in 1922–23, Lane appeared as Rudolph in D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
's 1924 feature Isn't Life Wonderful?
Isn't Life Wonderful
Isn't Life Wonderful? is a film, directed by D. W. Griffith for his company D. W. Griffith Productions, and distributed by United Artists. It was based on the novel by Geoffrey Moss and it went under the alternative title Dawn. The title of the film was spoofed in the Charlie Chase comedy Isn't...
. He signed with Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures was a film distribution company founded in 1919 by Earle Hammons . Educational primarily distributed short subjects, and today is probably best known for its series of 1930s comedies starring Buster Keaton, as well as for a series of one-reel comedies featuring Shirley...
for a series of short comedies that featured his acrobatic flips and falls. Roscoe Arbuckle was one of his directors, but Lane was soon directing the films himself under the pseudonym "Henry W. George" (his given names). Lane's brother, Wallace Lupino, usually co-starred. These comedies displayed Lane's agility and versatility: in one film he played 24 characters (Only Me, 1929).
Lane made the transition to talking pictures, starring in a few sound shorts for Educational and making a guest appearance in the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
feature The Show of Shows (1929). He also played a major role in the 1929 musical film The Love Parade
The Love Parade
The Love Parade is a 1929 musical comedy film about the marital difficulties of Queen Louise of Sylvania and her consort, Count Alfred Renard...
, but within two years he left Hollywood for his native England.
1930s
In the 1930s, Lane directed and acted in mostly British feature films. With Sir Oswald StollOswald Stoll
Sir Oswald Stoll was an Australian-born British theatre manager and the co-founder of the Stoll Moss Group theatre company...
, Lane co-produced Twenty to One
Twenty to One
Twenty to One was a British comedy play first performed in 1935. The play was a farce set around the world of horseracing. Bill Snibson , a bookmaker, joins an anti-gambling organisation in a fit of guilt. The play ran for other four hundred performances at the Coliseum Theatre in the West End....
, written by L. Arthur Rose and Frank Eyton
Frank Eyton
Frank Eyton was an English popular music lyricist best known for co-writing the lyrics of Johnny Green's "Body and Soul" with Edward Heyman and Robert Sour....
with music by Billy Mayerl
Billy Mayerl
Billy Joseph Mayerl , was an English pianist and composer who built a career in music hall and musical theatre and became an acknowledged master of light music. Best known for his syncopated novelty piano solos, he wrote over 300 piano pieces, many of which were named after flowers and trees,...
, on the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
. Lane made his first appearance as Bill Snibson in this production, in which Snibson, a tout
Tout
In British English, a tout is any person who solicits business or employment in a persistent and annoying manner...
, was a big hit. The production ran for a year starting from November 1935 and went on a long British tour after that.
Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....
, the follow-up show, written by Rose and Douglas Furber
Douglas Furber
Douglas Furber was a British lyricist and playwright.Furber is best known for the lyrics to the 1937 song The Lambeth Walk and the libretto to the musical Me and My Girl, composed by Noel Gay, from which it came. This show made broadcasting history when in 1939 it became the first full length...
with music by Noel Gay
Noel Gay
Noel Gay was born Reginald Moxon Armitage. He also used the name Stanley Hill professionally. He was a successful British composer of popular music of the 1930s and 1940s whose output comprised 45 songs as well as the music for 28 films and 26 London shows...
, was an even bigger hit. Snibson inherits a country estate and invites his mates from Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
to stay with him. It featured a hit song and dance routine from Lane called "The Lambeth Walk
The Lambeth Walk
"The Lambeth Walk" is a song from the 1937 musical Me and My Girl . The song takes its name from a local street Lambeth Walk once notable for its street market and working class culture in Lambeth, an area of London.The tune gave its name to a Cockney dance first made popular in 1937 by Lupino Lane...
", which became popular throughout Europe in the late 1930s. Lane directed and produced the show as well as starring in it for 1,550 performances between 1937 and 1940. It was the first British musical comedy to be televised and was made into a film in 1939. The film was known as Lambeth Walk due to the popularity of the dance.
Later career and death
The success of Me and My Girl made Lane a rich man. Lane continued to act on stage and on television in England for the rest of his life. In 1946, after it sustained damage during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he purchased the shell of the Gaiety Theatre
Gaiety Theatre, London
The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...
in London to rescue it from dereliction, intending to produce comedies. He failed to win the financial backing to refurbish it and sold it in 1950. The theatre was demolished in 1956.
Lane died on 10 November 1959, in London, at age 67.
He is buried at Streatham Park Cemetery. His wife, Violet Blythe, died 17 March 1983, aged 93.
To mark the 50th anniversary of his death, the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America
The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America
The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America is a registered theatre charity and non-profit making theatre organisation based in London and was founded by Adrian Barry in 1992...
restored his memorial at Streatham Park Cemetery and held a memorial service at St Paul's
St Paul's, Covent Garden
St Paul's Church, also commonly known as the Actors' Church, is a church designed by Inigo Jones as part of a commission by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fitt for the habitacons of Gentlemen and men of ability" in Covent Garden, London, England.As well...
, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, with a reception at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
.
Selected filmography
- The Love ParadeThe Love ParadeThe Love Parade is a 1929 musical comedy film about the marital difficulties of Queen Louise of Sylvania and her consort, Count Alfred Renard...
(1929) - Lady of the Rose (1930)
- The Golden DawnThe Golden DawnThe Golden Dawn were an indie pop/indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland formed in 1986, who were signed to Sarah Records on the strength of a 9-track demo. They had two hits on the UK Indie Chart in 1988 and 1989, with what have been described as "awesomely ragged, feedback-riddled singles"...
(1930) - The Yellow MaskThe Yellow MaskThe Yellow Mask is a 1930 British musical crime film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Lupino Lane, Dorothy Seacombe and Warwick Ward. A criminal plans to rob the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London...
(1930) - Never Trouble Trouble (1931)
- No Lady (1931)
- A Southern MaidA Southern Maid (film)A Southern Maid is a 1933 British musical film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Bebe Daniels, Clifford Mollison and Hal Gordon. It is based on the operetta A Southern Maid by Harold Fraser-Simson...
(1933) - Trust the Navy (1935)
- Who's Your Father (1935)
- The Deputy DrummerThe Deputy DrummerThe Deputy Drummer is a 1935 British musical film directed by Lupino Lane and starring Lane, Jean Denis and Kathleen Kelly.-Cast:* Lupino Lane - Adolphus Miggs* Jean Denis - Bubbles O'Hara* Kathleen Kelly - Peggy Sylvester* Wallace Lupino - Robbins...
(1935) - Hot News (1936)
- The Lambeth WalkThe Lambeth Walk (film)The Lambeth Walk is a 1939 British musical comedy film directed by Albert de Courville and starring Lupino Lane, Sally Gray and Seymour Hicks. It was an adaptation of the 1937 musical Me and My Girl. The film takes its title from the play's best known song The Lambeth Walk...
(1939)