LUPINO LANE

'Henry William George Lupino' or 'Lupino Lane' (June 16, 1892 London – November 10 1959 London) was a British-born actor and theatre manager from the Lupino family. Lane appeared in a wide range of theatrical and film performances but he is best known for playing Bill Snibson in the play and film Me and My Girl which popularised the Lambeth walk. ^[1]

Contents

Theatrical family

Early career

British career in the 1930s

Subsequent career

Brief credits

References

External links

Theatrical family

He was born Henry William George Lupino into a theatre family that could trace their roots back to an Italian immigrant in the 17th century. He adopted the surname Lane from his great-aunt Sarah Lane (1822-1899, née Borrow), the director of the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton.^[1] His wife was actress Violet Blythe, and their son was also an actor, Lauri Lupino Lane. ^[3] His brother, Wallace Lupino (1898 - 1961) was an actor, as was Wallace's son, Richard Lane.
Henry and Wallace Lupino's niece, Ida Lupino, the daughter of actors Stanley Lupino (1893 - 1942)^[4] and Connie Emerald (1892 - 1959), was the most famous member of this acting family.

Early career

Lupino Lane made his first stage appearance at the age of four in a benefit in Birmingham for Vesta Tilley. His London debut was made in 1903 as Nipper Lane at the London Pavilion. ^[5]
He worked hard as a performer steadily making his way towards the top of the bill. 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. Lane played Ko-Ko in ''The Mikado'' on Broadway in 1925 and received good reviews.^[5]
Lane appeared regularly in both British and US silent films. His film career started in 1915 in a series of British short films. As a comedy actor, he appeared in 40 Hollywood films made in the 1920s.^[5] He was known for his acrobatic ability and versatility playing 25 characters in one film. ^[8]

British career in the 1930s

Lane returned to the United Kingdom in the 1930s. In the early 1930s, he appeared in a range of theatrical performances. He dived through seventy-two stage traps in three minutes while performing in a 1930 pantomime show of ''Aladdin''. ^[5]
He made his first appearance as Bill Snibson in ''Twenty to One'' written by L. Arthur Rose and Frank Eyton with music by Billy Mayerl. Lane co-produced this play with Sir Oscar Stoll. The production in which Snibson was a tout was a big hit playing on the West End for a year starting from November 1935 and going on a long British tour after that.^[5]
''Me and my Girl'', the follow up written by Rose and Douglas Furber with music by Noel Gay, was an even bigger hit. Snibson inherited 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 1550 performances between 1937 and 1940.^[11] It was the first British musical comedy to be televised and was made into a film in 1939.^[5] The film was known as ''Lambeth Walk'' ^[13] due to the popularity of the dance.^[11]

Subsequent career

The success of ''Me and my Girl'' made Lane a rich man. In 1946, after damage sustained during World War II, he purchased the shell of the Gaiety Theatre in the Aldwych to rescue it from dereliction, and provide a permanent home for comedic performance. He failed to win the financial backing to refurbish it and sold it in 1950. The theatre was demolished in 1956.
Lupino Lane died on November 10, 1959 in London, England at age 67.^[5] He is buried in the ''South London Crematorium and Streatham Park Cemetery''. ^[16]

Brief credits

★ 1913-1920: Acted in British shorts, including the experimental ''Mr Butterbuns'' series.

★ 1920-1922: Starred in Broadway show Afgar.

★ 1922-1923: Acted in shorts and features for Fox

★ 1924: Acted in D.W. Griffith's feature ''Isn't Life Wonderful?''

★ 1925-1929: Acted and directed in educational shorts.

★ 1929-1930: Played supporting roles in U.S. features

★ 1930-1940: Directed and acted in British features

★ 1939-1959: On stage and television in England.

References

1. ''Oxford Dictionary of Biography'' "Lupino Lane"
2. ''Oxford Dictionary of Biography'' "Lupino Lane"
3. NNDB "Lupino Lane"
4. ''Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Britain "Lupino" accessed through Ebbsco 17 June
5. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' "Lupino Lane"
6. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' "Lupino Lane"
7. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' "Lupino Lane"
8. 40368 class=wikiexternal target=_blank>''New York Times Filmography''
9. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' "Lupino Lane"
10. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' "Lupino Lane"
11. Jeffrey Richards editor ''The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929- 1939'' I.B. Tauris 1991 page 109
12. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' "Lupino Lane"
13. ''New York Times filmography''
14. Jeffrey Richards editor ''The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929- 1939'' I.B. Tauris 1991 page 109
15. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' "Lupino Lane"
16. Lupino Lane at ''Find a grave''

External links

★

★

★ Lupino Lane (credits) at NY Times database