Lupino Lane

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Lupino Lane

Born Henry William George Lupino
June 16, 1892(1892-06-16)
Hackney, London
Died November 10, 1959 (aged 67)
London
Spouse(s) Violet Blythe

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

[edit] Theatrical family

He was born Henry William George Lupino into a theatrical family that often claimed that they 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]. Lane married actress Violet Blythe on 10 February 1917, and their son was also an actor, Lauri Lupino Lane (1921-1986). [2] His brother, Wallace Lupino (1898 - 1961) was an actor, as was Wallace's son, Richard.

Henry and Wallace Lupino's niece, Ida Lupino, the daughter of actors Stanley Lupino (1893 - 1942)[3] and Connie Emerald (1892 - 1959), was the most famous member of this acting family.

[edit] Early career

Harry Lupino and Lupino Lane, in Jack and Jill, 1907-8 at The Prince's Theatre, Bristol
Harry Lupino and Lupino Lane, in Jack and Jill, 1907-8 at The Prince's Theatre, Bristol

Lupino Lane made his first stage appearance at the age of four in a benefit in Birmingham for Vesta Tilley. His London début was made in 1903 as Nipper Lane at the London Pavilion.[1]

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 and Blythe were both in the Broadway musical Afgar, at the Central Theatre, in 1921, and then Lane appeared in the Ziegfield 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 and received good reviews.[1]

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.[1] He was known for his acrobatic ability and versatility playing 25 characters in one film.[4]

[edit] 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 [1].

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 [1].

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.[5] It was the first British musical comedy to be televised and was made into a film in 1939 [1]. The film was known as Lambeth Walk [6] due to the popularity of the dance. [7]

[edit] 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 [1]. He is buried in the South London Crematorium and Streatham Park Cemetery. [8]. Violet Blyth died 17 March 1983, aged 93.

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford Dictionary of Biography "Lupino Lane"
  2. ^ NNDB "Lupino Lane"
  3. ^ Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Britain "Lupino" accessed through Ebbsco 17 June
  4. ^ New York Times Filmography
  5. ^ Jeffrey Richards editor The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929–1939 I.B. Tauris 1991 page 109
  6. ^ New York Times filmography
  7. ^ Jeffrey Richards editor The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929–1939 I.B. Tauris 1991 page 109
  8. ^ Lupino Lane at Find a grave

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Lane, Lupino
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lupino, Henry William George
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH June 16, 1892(1892-06-16)
PLACE OF BIRTH Hackney, London
DATE OF DEATH November 10, 1959 (aged 67)
PLACE OF DEATH London