Lupino Lane (16 June 1892 â€" 10 November 1959) was an English actor
and 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".Lane was
born Henry William George Lupino, in Hackney, London, son of Harry
Charles Lupino (1867â€"1925), part of the Lupino family. He adopted
the surname Lane from his great-aunt Sarah Lane (1822â€"1899, née
Borrow), the director of the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton. Lane married
actress Violet Blythe on 10 February 1917, and their son was the actor
Lauri Lupino Lane (1921â€"86). Lane's brother was the actor Wallace
Lupino, and his nephew, Wallace's son, was another actor, Richard
Lupino.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. He worked steadily as a
performer thereafter. In 1915, he appeared at the 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. Lane and his wife Violet Blythe were both in the
Broadway production of the musical Afgar, at the Central Theatre, in
1920â€"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.
and 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".Lane was
born Henry William George Lupino, in Hackney, London, son of Harry
Charles Lupino (1867â€"1925), part of the Lupino family. He adopted
the surname Lane from his great-aunt Sarah Lane (1822â€"1899, née
Borrow), the director of the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton. Lane married
actress Violet Blythe on 10 February 1917, and their son was the actor
Lauri Lupino Lane (1921â€"86). Lane's brother was the actor Wallace
Lupino, and his nephew, Wallace's son, was another actor, Richard
Lupino.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. He worked steadily as a
performer thereafter. In 1915, he appeared at the 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. Lane and his wife Violet Blythe were both in the
Broadway production of the musical Afgar, at the Central Theatre, in
1920â€"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.
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