The Road to Rocky Lane

Born this day, yet 50 years gone, actor Allan Lane (Harry Leonard Albertshardt, 1909-1973). We cut to the chase to let you know that of Lane’s over 125 screen credits, the best known are these: from 1946 to 1947 he replaced Wild Bill Elliottas the title character in the Red Ryder series of B movie westerns; then he starred in his own “Rocky Lane” series at Republic from 1947 to 1953; and finally, the pinnacle (or the nadir, however you look at it) he supplied the voice of the titular horse in the popular TV series Mr. Ed (1961-66). Not to be confused with that other sometime western star Alan Ladd!

Born in Mishiwaka, Indiana, raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Lane briefly attended Notre Dame before dropping out to tour with midwestern stock companies. A tour with a Cincinnati troupe brought him to New York, where he was spotted by a talent scout for Fox. He was only 20 when he sign with that studio, beginning auspiciously with a third-billed role in Not Quite Decent (1929) with June Collyer and Louise Dresser. That same year he was in a couple of Clark and McCullough shorts Knights Out and Detectives Wanted. Through 1932 he was in numerous pre-code classics, although in small supporting roles, things like Madame Satan (1930), Night Nurse (1930), and the Joe E. Brown comedies Local Boy Makes Good (1931) and The Tenderfoot (1932). Fed up with the tiny roles, he left film acting for a bit, making ends meet by modeling and running his own commerical photography studio.

Lane returned to the screen for good in 1936, with more fortunate results. From supporting roles in films like Stowaway (1936) with Shirley Temple, and Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937) he ascended pretty rapidly to lead roles and second leads in B movies, like the boxing picture The Duke Comes Back(1937) and the comedies Night Spot (1938) with Parkyakarkus,Panama Lady (1939) with Lucille Ball, and Grand Ole Opry (1940) with the Weaver Brothers and Elviry. He played the title character in the Republic serial King of the Royal Mounted (1940) and the feature King of the Mounties (1942), then starred in another serial Daredevils of the West (1943).

Laurel and Hardy fans will know Lane from his supporting part in The Dancing Master (1943). In 1945 he married actress Sheila Ryan, who had also co-starred with L&H in Great Guns (1941) and A-Haunting We Will Go (1942).

Throughout the early ’40s, Lane starred in a number of western features for Republic like The Silver City Kid (1944) and The Topeka Terror (1945), before finally landing the Red Ryder and Rocky Lane series, which him going through 1953. Here he is as Rocky, with his horse Black Jack:

After the Rocky Lane series ended, the star had another brief lull in his career before landing regular work on television, in shows like Cheyenne, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wagon Train, and Alfred Hitchock Presents and in low budget westerns like The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958) with Rory Calhoun, and the Audie Murphy pictures Hell Bent for Leather (1960) and The Posse from Hell (1961). Then came his most widely known role, though at the time, no one knew he played it, that of the talkative equine Mr. Ed:

Lane was only in his mid ’50s when Mr. Ed wrapped, but he chose this moment to retire. When he passed away six years later, only three people attended his funeral.

There is a terrific, very thorough fan site devoted to Allan Lane here.