'''Nathan Lane''' (born February 3, 1956 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is a contemporary award-winning American actor of the stage and screen.

Early life

Born '''Joseph Lane''' to Irish American Catholic parents; he was named after his paternal uncle, a Jesuit priest. His father, Daniel Lane, was a truck driver and an aspiring tenor who died from alcoholism when Lane was 11; his mother, Nora, was a manic-depressive housewife. Lane attended Catholic schools, including Jesuit St. Peter's Preparatory High School where he was elected Best Actor in 1974, in Jersey City. He changed his name to Nathan after the character Nathan Detroit from the musical ''Guys and Dolls'', in a revival of which he appeared with Peter Gallagher and Faith Prince.

Between choosing college or pursuing his acting career, Lane chose to go with the latter, saying that college was for people who didn't know what they wanted to do, while he did. He moved to New York City where, after a long struggle, his career began on Broadway, most notably in the first production of Terrence McNally's ''Lips Together, Teeth Apart''.

Selected filmography

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'''Year'''	'''Title'''	'''Role'''	'''Other notes'''
2005	''Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild''	Snowbell	Voice only
2005	''The Producers''	Max Bialystock
2002	''Stuart Little 2''	Snowbell	Voice only
2000	''Nicholas Nickleby''	Vincent Crummles
2000	''Isn't She Great''	Irving Mansfield
1999	''Stuart Little''	Snowbell	Voice only
1998	''The Lion King II: Simba's Pride''	Timon	Voice only
1997	''Mousehunt''	Ernie Smuntz
1996	''The Birdcage''	Albert Goldman
1994	''The Lion King''	Timon	Voice only

Trivia

*Has redone two stage Zero Mostel roles - Pseudolus (''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'') and Max Bialystock (''The Producers'').

External links

*Nathan Lane Online
*Lifetime Achievement Award for Nathan Lane
*Lane interview, 2004, Guardian Unlimited
*Lane interview, 1996, TIME Magazine
*http://www.nathanlane.com/ An unofficial fan site

For more information about Nathan Lane, please visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Lane

Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!