- Born
- Died
- Richard Lane was born on May 28, 1899 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Le grand départ (1949), Meet Boston Blackie (1941) and Match d'amour (1949). He died on September 5, 1982 in Newport Beach, California, USA.
- Yelled "Whooooaaaah Nellie" everytime something happened during his announcing of Hot Rod Derby, Roller Derby, and Wrestling.
- As a wrestling announcer during the 50s and 60s, Lane made up names for numerous wrestling moves on the spur of the moment, most of which are still in common use today.
- In the early 1940s, while working at Paramount Pictures, Dick Lane watched as television genius Klaus Landsberg worked on the studio's experimental TV station, W6XYZ. On January 22, 1947, KTLA became the first commercial TV station west of the Mississippi and Dick was one its first on-camera personalities. On the Spade Cooley Show, he wore cowboy chaps and became known as "Leather Britches", accentuating each Chevrolet commercial by slapping the fender.
- Dick Lane is remembered as the voice of local roller derby and midget car racing in the Los Angeles area, throughout the 1950s and 60s, most notably the Los Angeles Thunderbirds roller derby team.
- Dick also starred on KTLA's weekly variety show, Dixieland Showboat, as the interlocutor/master of ceremonies.
- Began his career in show business as a song-and-dance man in vaudeville. On screen, he often played tough cops or reporters. He had a recurring role as a police inspector in Columbia's Boston Blackie series of the 1940's. He joined Paramount after a wartime stint as emcee for the USO.
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