Lupino Lane

2022-04-02T10:12:24Z

2A02:C7D:D627:9100:FD10:A962:E937:E00C:

{{short description|British actor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2011}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lupino Lane
| image = Lupino Lane - Jan 1922 EH.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Lane in 1922
| birthname = Henry William George Lupino
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1892|6|16|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]], [[London]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1959|11|10|1892|6|16|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|theatre manager|director|producer}}
| years_active = 1896–1940
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Violet Blythe]]|1917}}
| children = 1
| relatives = {{hlist|[[Wallace Lupino]] (brother)|[[Stanley Lupino]] (brother)|[[Ida Lupino]] (cousin) [[Richard Lupino]] (nephew)}}
| family = [[Lupino family|Lupino]]
}}
'''Henry William George Lupino''' (16 June 1892 – 10 November 1959) professionally '''Lupino Lane''', was an English actor and [[Actor-manager|theatre manager]], and a member of the famous [[Lupino family]], which eventually included his cousin, the screenwriter/director/actress [[Ida Lupino]]. Lane started out as a child performer, known as 'Little Nipper', and went on to appear in a wide range of theatrical, [[music hall]] and film performances. Increasingly celebrated for his silent comedy short subjects, he is best known in the United Kingdom for playing Bill Snibson in the play and film ''[[Me and My Girl]]'', which popularized the song and dance routine "[[The Lambeth Walk]]".<ref name="odd">''Oxford Dictionary of Biography'' "Lupino Lane"</ref>

== Early life and career ==
Lane was born in [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]], London, son of Harry Charles Lupino (1867–1925), part of the [[Lupino family]]. He adopted the surname Lane from his great-aunt Sarah Lane (1822–1899, née Borrow), the director of the [[Britannia Theatre]], [[Hoxton]].<ref name="odd" /> Lane married actress Violet Blythe on 10 February 1917, and their son was the actor Lauri Lupino Lane (1921–86).{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} Lane's brother was the actor [[Wallace Lupino]], and his nephew, Wallace's son, was another actor, [[Richard Lupino]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/10/arts/television/richard-lupino-75-tv-and-stage-actor-is-dead.html|title=Richard Lupino, 75, TV and Stage Actor, Is Dead|newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 March 2005}}</ref>

Lane made his first stage appearance at the age of four in a benefit in [[Birmingham]] for [[Vesta Tilley]]. He made his London début in 1903 as Nipper Lane at the [[London Pavilion]].<ref name="odd" /> He worked steadily as a performer thereafter. In 1915, he appeared at the [[Empire, Leicester Square|Empire Theatre]] and played comic roles in theatre and film on both sides of the Atlantic from then on. In 1921, he dived through sixty three stage traps in six minutes while performing in a 1921 [[pantomime]] production of ''[[Aladdin]]'' at the Hippodrome.<ref name="odd" /><ref>''Daily Graphic'', 8 January 1921</ref> Lane and his wife Violet Blythe were both in the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production of the musical ''[[Afgar]]'', at the Central Theatre, in 1920–21, and he appeared in the ''[[Ziegfeld 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, receiving good reviews.<ref name="odd" />

Lane's silent film career started in 1915 in a series of British short films, including the experimental ''Mr Butterbuns'' series.<ref name=allmovie/> As a comedy actor, he appeared in 40 [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] films made in the 1920s.<ref name="odd" /> After several shorts and features for Fox in 1922–23, Lane appeared as Rudolph in [[D. W. Griffith]]'s 1924 feature ''[[Isn't Life Wonderful|Isn't Life Wonderful?]].'' He signed with [[Educational Pictures]] for a series of short comedies that featured his acrobatic flips and falls.{{citation needed|date=January 2011}} [[Roscoe Arbuckle]] was one of his directors, but Lane was soon directing the films himself under the pseudonym "Henry W. George" (his given names). These comedies displayed Lane's agility and versatility: in one film he played 27 characters (''Only Me'', 1929).<ref>{{cite book|last=Donati|first=William|title=Ida Lupino: A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Whjb4eJKkHYC&pg=PT36|year=2013|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-4352-1|page=36}}</ref> Lane's brother Wallace Lupino, who usually co-starred in Lane's comedies, also starred in his own comedies, of which only three are known to survive. (Archivist Ben Model discovered one of them and posted it on YouTube.)

Lupino Lane made the transition to talking pictures, starring in a few sound shorts for Educational and making a guest appearance in the [[Warner Bros.]] feature ''[[The Show of Shows]]''. He also played a major role in the 1929 musical film ''[[The Love Parade]]'', but within two years he left Hollywood for his native England.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-love-parade-v100446|title=The Love Parade (1929) - Ernst Lubitsch - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related|website=AllMovie}}</ref><ref name=allmovie>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/lupino-lane-p40368|title=Lupino Lane - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos|website=AllMovie}}</ref>

== 1930s ==
In the 1930s, Lane directed and acted in mostly British feature films.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} With Sir [[Oswald Stoll]], Lane co-produced ''[[Twenty to One]]'', written by L. Arthur Rose and [[Frank Eyton]] with music by [[Billy Mayerl]], on the [[West End theatre|West End]]. Lane made his first appearance as Bill Snibson in this production, in which Snibson, a [[tout]], was a big hit. The production ran for a year starting from November 1935 and went on a long British tour after that.<ref name="odd" />

''[[Me and My Girl]]'', the follow-up show, written by Rose and [[Douglas Furber]] with music by [[Noel Gay]], was an even bigger hit. Snibson inherits 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 1,550 performances between 1937 and 1940.<ref name="British Cinema page 109">Jeffrey Richards editor ''The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929–1939'' I. B. Tauris, 1991, p. 109</ref> It was the first British musical comedy to be televised and was made into a film in 1939.<ref name="odd" /> The film was known as ''The Lambeth Walk''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-lambeth-walk-v98581|title=The Lambeth Walk (1940) - Albert de Courville - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related|website=AllMovie}}</ref> due to the popularity of the dance.<ref name="British Cinema page 109"/>

== Later career and death ==
The success of ''Me and My Girl'' made Lane a rich man. Lane continued to act on stage and on television in England for the rest of his life.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} In 1946, after it sustained damage during [[World War II]], he purchased the shell of the [[Gaiety Theatre, London|Gaiety Theatre]] in London to rescue it from dereliction, intending to produce comedies. He failed to win the financial backing to refurbish it and sold it in 1950. The theatre was demolished in 1956.

He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in March 1956 when he was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]] at London's BBC Television Theatre.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} He also appeared as the castaway on ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' in 1957.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009y8jy|title=BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Lupino Lane|website=BBC}}</ref>

Lane died on 10 November 1959, in London, at age 67<ref name="odd" /> and is buried at [[Streatham Park Cemetery]]. His wife, Violet Blythe, died 17 March 1983, aged 93.

To mark the 50th anniversary of his death, [[the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America]] restored his memorial at Streatham Park Cemetery and held a memorial service at [[St Paul's, Covent Garden|St Paul's]], [[Covent Garden]], with a reception at [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]].<ref>''The Stage'' newspaper, 5 November 2009</ref>

A commemorative [[blue plaque]] was erected to Lupino Lane on 15 June 2014 at his former home 32 [[Maida Vale]], Paddington, by [[The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themusichallguild.com/news.php |title=Music Hall Guild |publisher=Music Hall Guild |date=25 September 2011 |accessdate=23 July 2014}}</ref>

==Partial filmography==
{{div col}}
* ''[[A Friendly Husband]]'' (1923)
* ''[[Fool's Luck]]'' (1926)
* ''[[His Private Life (1928 film)|His Private Life]]'' (1928)
* ''[[The Love Parade]]'' (1929)
* ''[[Golden Dawn (film)|Golden Dawn]]'' (1930)
* ''[[The Yellow Mask]]'' (1930)
* ''[[Never Trouble Trouble]]'' (1931)
* ''[[No Lady]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Love Lies (1931 film)|Love Lies]]'' (1931)
* ''[[The Innocents of Chicago]]'' (1932)
* ''[[Letting in the Sunshine]]'' (1933)
* ''[[A Southern Maid (film)|A Southern Maid]]'' (1933)
* ''[[My Old Duchess]]'' (1934)
* ''[[The Deputy Drummer]]'' (1935)
* ''[[Trust the Navy]]'' (1935)
* ''[[Who's Your Father]]'' (1935)
* ''[[Hot News (1936 film)|Hot News]]'' (1936)
* ''[[The Lambeth Walk (film)|The Lambeth Walk]]'' (1939)
{{div col end}}

==DVD release==
On 26 December 2012, [[Alpha Video]] released ''Lupino Lane Silent Comedy Collection, Volume 1'' on [[DVD region code|Region 0]] [[DVD-R]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oldies.com/product-view/6894D.html |title=Alpha Video – Lupino Lane Silent Comedy Collection, Volume 1 |accessdate=30 January 2014}}</ref> <BR>
On 28 January 2014, they released ''Lupino Lane Silent Comedy Collection, Volume 2''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oldies.com/product-view/7286D.html |title=Alpha Video – Lupino Lane Silent Comedy Collection, Volume 2 |accessdate=30 January 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}

*{{Cite book |last=Lane |first=Lupino |title=How To Become A Comedian |publisher=F. Muller Ltd.|location=London|year=1946}}
*{{cite book |author=White, James Dillon|title=Born to Star: The Lupino Lane Story|publisher=[[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]]|location=London|year=1957}}
*{{Cite book |last=Balducci |first=Anthony |title=Eighteen Comedians of Silent Film |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|location=Seattle|year=2012|isbn=978-1479152926}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Lupino Lane}}
*{{IMDb name|name=Lupino Lane|id=0313449}}
*{{IBDB name|name=Lupino Lane|id=48871}}
*[http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/1536/lupino-lane Lupino Lane] at Virtual History
*{{IMDb name|name=Violet Blyth|id=0090062}}
*{{IBDB name|name=Violet Blyth|id=32352}}
*{{IMDb name|name=Lauri Lupino Lane|id=0485421}}
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/9399fe0a#p009y8jy Lupino Lane on Desert Island Discs]

{{Lupino Lane}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Lupino}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male silent film actors]]
[[Category:English theatre managers and producers]]
[[Category:Actor-managers]]
[[Category:Silent film comedians]]
[[Category:Music hall performers]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:People from Hackney Central]]
[[Category:Male actors from London]]
[[Category:20th-century English comedians]]
[[Category:British male comedy actors]]
[[Category:Lupino family]]
[[Category:Burials at Streatham Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century theatre managers]]
[[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]]

Stan Stennett

2022-04-02T10:00:10Z

2A02:C7D:D627:9100:FD10:A962:E937:E00C:

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Stan Stennett
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE}}
| image = Stan Stennett.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Stennett in 2008
| occupation = Musician, comedian, actor
| birth_name = Stanley Llewelyn Stennett
| birth_date = {{birth_date|1925|07|30|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Pencoed]], [[Bridgend]], Wales
| death_date = {{death_date_and_age|2013|11|26|1925|07|30|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Cardiff]], Wales}}

'''Stanley Llewelyn Stennett''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE}} (30 July 1925 – 26 November 2013) was a [[Welsh people|Welsh]] [[comedian]], [[actor]] and [[jazz]] [[musician]].

==Biography==
Stennett was born in [[Pencoed]], [[Bridgend]].<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/nov/26/stan-stennett|title=Stan Stennett obituary|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=26 November 2013|author=Dennis Barker|access-date=26 January 2019}}</ref> During [[World War II]], he served in the [[British Army|army]] and also worked as an [[entertainer]]. He made his professional stage debut with a group called the Harmaniacs. In 1940, he became resident comedian on variety radio show, ''[[Welsh Rarebit (radio programme)|Welsh Rarebit]]'', and he gained further success as one of the regular comedy guests on ''[[The Black and White Minstrel Show]]''.<ref name="Guardian"/>

In the 1990s Stennett presented a [[country music]] show on Pontypridd Community Radio Station [[GTFM]], having been introduced by former Valleys Radio/BBC presenter Steve Powell.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

===Television===
Although primarily a comedian, who appeared in variety shows and [[pantomime]] throughout the UK, Stennett played "straight" acting roles in television programmes such as ''[[Coronation Street]]'' and ''[[Casualty (TV series)|Casualty]]''. He was best known as Sid Hooper in the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] soap opera, ''[[Crossroads (British TV series)|Crossroads]]'', before taking a lease in 1980 on the [[Roses Theatre]] in [[Tewkesbury]], Gloucestershire.<ref name="Guardian"/>

Stennett was a friend of [[Eric Morecambe]], and hosted a show at The Roses that was to be Morecambe's final appearance, on 27 May 1984, immediately after which Morecambe died of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2010/01/07/10297/poignant_tribute_to_eric?rss|title=Poignant tribute to Eric|publisher=Chortle|date=27 May 1984|accessdate=16 April 2012}}</ref>

Stennett played trumpet and guitar. In his 80s he was still performing onstage. His autobiography, ''Fully Booked'', was published in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.welshicons.org.uk/news/people/profile-stan-stennett|title=Welsh Icons: profile of Stan Stennett|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727195443/http://www.welshicons.org.uk/news/people/profile-stan-stennett/|archivedate=27 July 2011}}</ref>

==Honours==
Stennett was initiated into the exclusive fraternity, the [[Grand Order of Water Rats]] in 1959 and was a Fellow of the [[Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gowr.co.uk/all-water-rats/v/40|title=Biography of a Water Rat|website=Gowr.co.uk}}</ref>
He was awarded an [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]] in the [[1979 New Year Honours]] list, for services to entertainment and to charities.<ref name="Guardian"/>

==Death==
Stennett died at the [[University Hospital of Wales]], in Cardiff on 26 November 2013, at the age of 88.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-25102700|title=Entertainer Stan Stennett dies aged 88|date=26 November 2013|publisher=BBC}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0826637}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stennett, Stan}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:People from Bridgend]]
[[Category:Male actors from Cardiff]]
[[Category:Welsh male comedians]]
[[Category:Welsh male soap opera actors]]
[[Category:Welsh male stage actors]]
[[Category:Welsh male television actors]]
[[Category:Welsh jazz guitarists]]
[[Category:British jazz trumpeters]]
[[Category:Male trumpeters]]
[[Category:Musicians from Cardiff]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]

The Goon Show Depository - User contributions [en]

Lupino Lane

Stan Stennett