Nathan Lane is an American theater, film and television actor, singer and producer. He is best known for his roles in the films “Mouse Hunt”, “Birdcage” and “Producers”, the voice of Timon’s role in the cartoon “The Lion King” and work in the TV series “American Family” and “The Good Wife”. For work in the theater he won the prestigious Tony Award three times.
Childhood and youth
Nathan Lane was born on February 3, 1956 in Jersey City. Real name is Joseph Lane. Father, a truck driver, died when the future actor was only eleven, from alcoholism. Mother, secretary, suffered from a diagnosed bipolar personality disorder.
As a child, Nathan Lane studied at several Catholic schools in the city, everywhere participated in theatrical productions and in 1974 was recognized as the best actor in one of them. After graduation, he entered the University of St. Joseph, but left the institution after he discovered that the scholarship did not cover the entire cost of study. He moved to New York, where he changed his name, as Joseph Lane was already registered in the Acting Guild.
Carier start
At the beginning of his career, the young actor played in small theaters, in 1982 he first appeared on Broadway and was immediately nominated for his work for the prestigious Drama Desk award. In the same year, Nathan Lane got the lead role in the series One of the Guys, which was closed after the first season.
In subsequent years, the actor continued to work actively in the theater, appearing in several productions a year on Broadway and not only. Also played small roles in the films "Thistle" and "Joe Against the Volcano", the popular TV series "Miami Police" and "Mary Dodd's Days and Nights."
First successes
In the early nineties, two successful romantic comedies featuring Nathan Lane appeared on the screen. The actor played minor roles in the films "He said, she said" and "Frankie and Johnny", having worked with Hollywood stars Al Pacino, Kevin Bacon and Michelle Pfeiffer.
The actor also appeared in several successful musicals on Broadway, receiving many prestigious theater awards. In many ways, a breakthrough work for Nathan Lane was voicing the role of Timon in the incredibly popular Disney studio animated film The Lion King. Later, he again voiced the role of the character in the animated series.
Career heyday
In 1996, a breakthrough project in the creative biography of Nathan Lane was released. He starred in the comedy of legendary director Mike Nichols "Birdcage" along with Robin Williams and Gene Hackman. The picture was a hit rental and was able to collect more than one hundred eighty million dollars.
A year later, the actor played a major role in the family comedy "Mouse Hunt", which collected more than one hundred and twenty million dollars at the box office. These two projects made of Nathan Lane, in those days already a very successful theater actor, a big screen star.
In subsequent years, Lane again successfully worked in voice acting, giving his voice to the cat Snezhka in the family film "Stuart Little" and its continuation, again returned to the role of Timon, and also participated in the creation of the animated films "Astroboy" and "Titan: After the death of the Earth" .
In addition, Nathan Lane appeared in the films "Producers", "The Nutcracker and the Rat King", "Snow White: Revenge of the Dwarves" and "Sober". He also played guest roles in the popular television series Die Your Enthusiasm, Sex and the City, Studio 30, and Another One.
The actor also starred in several sitcoms, all of them were closed after the first season due to too low ratings. During this period, Nathan Lane continued to work successfully in the theater, in 2001 received the second Tony Award in his career for his role in the musical The Producers, which he later appeared in the film adaptation.
Nathan Lane also performed several times as the host of the Tony Award ceremony, once solo and three times with co-hosts, who have become famous actors Glenn Close and Matthew Broderick over the years.
Recent projects
In recent years, feature films with Nathan Lane in the lead role are becoming less and less frequent. The actor prefers to work on television. Since 2010, he has been playing a minor role in the popular sitcom "American Family", where he plays a friend of the main characters Pepper. For seven years, the actor appeared in seven episodes of the series and four times was nominated for the prestigious Emmy Award in the category "Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series."
In 2012, Nathan Lane began to play the role of Clark Hayden in the legal drama "The Good Wife", in two years appeared in fifteen episodes of the project. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award for this work.
In 2016, the actor appeared in the first season of the anthology series "American Crime History", where he played the role of one of the lawyers of the popular football player and actor O. Jay Simpson named F. Lee Bailey. The project was well received by critics and became a real hit. In 2018, Nathan Lane appeared in one of the episodes of the popular spy series Black List. In the same year, the actor received the third Tony Award in his career for his leading role in the play Angels in America.
Personal life
The personal life of Nathan Lane for a long time was discussed in the media, there were rumors about his unconventional sexual orientation, which the actor himself did not comment on. In 1998, he officially declared his homosexuality after a resounding homicide-motivated student, Matthew Shepard.
After that, Lane began to actively support charitable foundations to combat HIV and discrimination in society, and received many awards for his contribution to the fight for LGBT rights. In 2015, Nathan Lane officially married writer and producer Devin Elliott, with whom he had been in a relationship for eighteen years.