OK "I Love Lucy" fans, remember the character of Mr. Hickox who was hired as the Ricardo's business manager? How 'bout the passport office guy who Fred, Ricky, Lucy and Ethel tricked into staying past closing time? Here's one of his lines from that episode courtesy of my friend Eddie: "I'm a civil servant, madam. if you want to get me fired, you'll have to wait til I die." Then there's the guy holding auditions in the "Lucy Tells the Truth" episide and the expectant father in the hospital with Ricky who had already had six girls.
All of these character were played by the same man, Charles Lane, who has died at the age of 102! My friend Henry is the one who provided me with a quick rundown of the episodes Lane appeared in so thanks Henry! Feel better soon...and I hope you live another 75 years!
"They were all good parts, but they were jerks," he told The LA Times in 1980 of his characters in "I Love Lucy." "If you have a type established, though, and you're any good, it can mean considerable work for you."
He has hundreds of film and television roles to his credit stretching from the early 1930s to the mid-90s.
He appeared in small roles in many classic films ("It's A Wonderful Life" and "You Can't Take It With You") , often as a suffering no fools kinda guy. Lane was pretty sharp until the end, attending the 2005 TV Land Awards and joking that he was still available for work.