Biography for
Nathan Lane More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

3 February 1956, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Birth Name

Joseph Lane

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Trivia

Played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1995) (TV). Co-hosted the 1995 Tony Awards. Hosted the 1996 Tony Awards Telecast.

Originally named Joseph Lane, he changed his name because he heard of another actor named Joseph Lane. He chose the name Nathan after the character of Nathan Detroit from the Broadway musical "Guys and Dolls". Coincidentally, he later played that role in the hugely successful 1992 revival of "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway.

Starred on Broadway as Max Bialystock in The Producers and Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Zero Mostel played both characters in the earlier film versions. Lane won Tony Awards for both roles. When he accepted his second Tony, he looked up and thanked Mostel's spirit for inhabiting him somehow.

May 28, 1991: Starred in the first production of Terrence McNally's play Lips Together, Teeth Apart with Swoosie Kurtz, Christine Baranski, and Anthony Heald.

Attended St. Peter's Preparatory High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, class of 1974, where he was voted Best Actor.

Father was a New Jersey police officer.

His second Broadway show was Merlin, one of the most notoriously expensive flops in Broadway history. The show was conceived as a vehicle for the magic of Doug Henning, with Henning in the title role; other stars of the production included Chita Rivera and a young Christian Slater.

Won two Tony Awards as best actor in a musical: in 1996 for playing Pseudolus in the revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and in 2001 for playing Max Bialystock in The Producers. He was also nominated in the same category in 1992 for playing Nathan Detroit in the revival of Guys and Dolls.

He and Broadway co-star Matthew Broderick were each awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a joint ceremony. [January 9, 2006]

Frequently works with Matthew Broderick. They appeared together in the films The Lion King (1994), The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) (V), The Lion King 1½ (2004) (V) and The Producers (2005). They also appeared together in the original Broadway production of The Producers, and in a revival of The Odd Couple.

Was a guest at Sarah Jessica Parker's 40th birthday.

Was considered to play the role of "George Costanza" in _"Seinfeld (1990)"_.

Personal Quotes

"I don't know what goes on in their heads out in Hollywood."

"I fell in love with the whole ritual. The lights going down, the curtain going up, telling a story to a large group of people in the dark. It was one of those moments where you think, 'I can do that.' You're in control on stage. And I love telling the whole story in one fell swoop. With movies, you never think, 'I nailed it.' In theater you get to go back and do it again, which to me is much more satisfying."

"There's not a day in my life I'm not proud of being gay but I just wasn't ready for that attention to be placed on it. I remember being on Oprah. Well, not on Oprah. Near Oprah. She started saying, 'Now, Nathan, you got all those girlie moves going down in The Birdcage, where's all that coming from? You're so good at all that girlie stuff!'"

[About working in the Broadway flop "Merlin"] "Doug Henning's greatest magic trick was making the audience disappear".

"You have to be loud...it's the theater." - asked by a reporter about his "loud" persona on stage.

[On being gay] "From the time I told my mother, I've been living openly. But really, I was born in 1956. I'm one of those old-fashioned homosexuals, not one of the newfangled ones who are born joining parades. My family referred to them as "fags", and that was it."

[Coming "Out" following the death of Matthew Shepard] "It was like somebody slapped me awake. At this point it's selfish not to do whatever you can....If I do this story and say I'm a gay person, it might make it easier for somebody else."

"I told my mother I was gay, and she s...and she...and then her face went white, and then she said, 'I would rather you were dead'. And I said, 'I knew you'd understand'. And then once I got her head out of the oven, everything was fine. She came from a generation where, yes, of course, she would have preferred if I was straight and had gotten married, but she, uh, you know, she was very accepting. What she enjoyed most is when I was in a musical. She would always say, um, 'I'm not saying this because I'm your mother; I'm saying it because it's true: you were the best one'" [To James Lipton on "Inside the Actors Studio" (1994)].

Where Are They Now

(August 2004) Appeared in a reading of Arthur Miller's newest play (and first comedy), "Resurrection Blues", in New York City.

(October 2004) Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London's West End: flew in at three days' notice to replace Richard Dreyfuss as "Max Bialystock" in the London production of "The Producers", initially until Jan 8 2005. He stars opposite his fellow Mousehunt (1997) star, British comedian Lee Evans.

(December 2004) After replacing Richard Dreyfuss in the London production of "The Producers", a back injury forced him to leave the show 2 weeks before the end of his contract.

(October 2005) Starring in the revival of "The Odd Couple" on Broadway with fellow former star of "The Producers", Matthew Broderick through April 2, 2006.

(April 2006) Will continue starring in extension of "Odd Couple" revival until June 4, 2006

(October 2006) Opened in a Broadway revival of 'Simon Gray''s "Butley". His portrayal of the primarily dramatic title role is a change of pace from his usual comic and/or musical performances.

(March 2008) Currently on Broadway in New York.

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