Anecdotes

Following his suicide with a gun in 1934, fellow Danish actor and MGM star Jean Hersholt, concerned that Dane would be placed in a pauper's grave, insisted that MGM step in and give him a proper burial. They did and he is interred in Hollywood Memorial cemetery. Hersholt and actor/former "Big Parade" co-star Tom O'Brien served as pallbearers.

A noted animal lover, he rescued two dogs following the making of his movie The Trail of '98 (1928).

Became a star in King Vidor's classic The Big Parade (1925) as the tobacco-chewing riveter Slim. The popularity extended to Denmark, where his long-estranged brother and children from his first marriage saw it. They reconnected and he enjoyed a reunion with them.

Karl was also an auto racer and an aviator, being one of the first Danish aviators with the Danish Flying Corps.

The son of a Danish glove maker, he had an older brother (by a year), Reinald Marius Gottlieb. His parents divorced in 1903. He and his brother apprenticed as machinists for a railroad equipment company during their teens.

His second wife died in childbirth as did his child, a daughter.

Lived with Russian dancer/actress Anastasia Georgina Kissel for several months in 1928. Though they told people they were married, in reality they never wed. In December 1928, after their split, she filed a lawsuit against him for $75,000 claiming breach of promise.

Quite athletic in his youth, he was an excellent swimmer, bicyclist and horseman. In his early years in Hollywood he was a sometime stunt man.

Emigrated to the US (Ellis Island) on 11 February 1916 and settled in Brooklyn, taking on various jobs as a machinist, carpenter and auto mechanic. His wife and children stayed in Copenhagen. His wife, too ill to make the journey to America, eventually divorced him and he lost touch with his children, until the success of The Big Parade (1925), when they regained contact.

Before being in movies Dane worked as a carpenter.

He and George K. Arthur formed the early comedy team of "Arthur and Dane."

In October 2009, as part of its 87th anniversary, The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles held a screening of The Big Parade (1925) in honor of him.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. pg. 28-29 (article titled 'Arthur and Dane'). New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Was involved in Children's Theater, or "Dukketeater" (doll theatre) in his early career, which was instigated by his father's love for Toy Theatre, a popular art form throughout Europe during the Victorian era.

In addition to playing himself, Dane also plays a chef in 'Crazy House' (1930).