Charles Lane Dies

Charles Lane, the prolific character actor whose name was little known but whose crotchety persona and roles in hundreds of films made him recognizable to generations of moviegoers, has died. He was 102.

His son, Tom Lane, said he was talking with his father at 9 p.m. Monday. “He was lying in bed with his eyes real wide open,” his son said. “Then he closed his eyes and stopped breathing.”

Lane, whose career spanned more than 60 years, appeared in such film classics as “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” and “Twentieth Century.” He also had a recurring role as the scheming railroad man Homer Bedloe on the 1960s TV sitcom “Petticoat Junction” and appeared often on “I Love Lucy.”

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In 1934, Frank Capra, on his rise to prominence, cast Lane in a horse-racing film, “Broadway Bill.” Capra liked the actor’s work so much he included him in nine more movies, including “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “You Can’t Take It With You.” In Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” he was a rent collector who shocks his boss, the evil Lionel Barrymore character, by telling him that hero James Stewart’s character is a good businessman.

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When it came to alcohol, he was a lifelong teetotaler. But his son noted that his father smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 70 years, quitting only when he became short of breath.

“I know that smoking kills people, and I must be the exception,” Lane said then.

Tom Lane said there would be no funeral.

Survivors also include a daughter, Alice Deane, and granddaughter, Lucy Graves.

Rest In Peace, Charles.