Allan Lane

Allan "Rocky" Lane (September 22, 1909 – October 27, 1973) was an American studio leading man and the star of many cowboy B-movies in the 1940s and 1950s. He appeared in more than 125 films and TV shows in a career lasting from 1929 to 1966. He is best known for his portrayal of Red Ryder and for being the voice of the talking horse on the television series Mister Ed, beginning in 1961.

Biography
Lane was born as Harry Leonard Albershardt or Albershart (sources differ) in Mishawaka, Indiana to Linnie Anne and William H. Albershardt. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Lane had been a photographer, model and stage actor by age 20.

Lane played varsity sports (baseball, football, and basketball) at the University of Notre Dame but dropped out in order to pursue his interests in acting.

Film career
He was spotted by Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox) talent scouts and was signed to a contract. His first film role for Fox was as a romantic lead opposite June Collyer in the 1929 release, Not Quite Decent (now a lost film). He made several other films at Fox but jumped ship to Warner Bros. in the early 1930s.

While at Warner his career foundered, and after a number of bit parts he left films in the early 1930s. By 1936, Lane returned to films and to 20th Century Fox, taking supporting roles in the drama Laughing at Trouble and the Shirley Temple film Stowaway. After several more supporting roles at Fox, Lane longed for a starring role; therefore, he took the lead in a Republic Pictures' short feature, The Duke Comes Back (1937).

From 1929 through 1936, he appeared in twenty-four films. He was in 1938's The Law West of Tombstone. In 1940, he portrayed "RCMP Sergeant Dave King", the role becoming one of his most notable successes. The first was King of the Royal Mounted, a 12-part 1940 serial adaptation of Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted. He starred in several Royal Canadian Mounted Police films, including the serials The Yukon Patrol and King of the Mounties. He is best remembered for these today.

In 1946 and 1947, he portrayed Red Ryder in seven films, replacing Wild Bill Elliott in that role. The following year, he became "Rocky Lane" in Western films.

Between 1940 and 1966, Lane made eighty-two film and television series appearances, mostly in westerns. Between 1947 and 1953, he made over 30 B-movie westerns (as "Rocky" Lane) with his faithful horse 'Black Jack'.

His last roles were in voice over acting, including providing the speech for Mister Ed (1961–1966). He was never credited on-screen for providing the voice for Mister Ed.

In 2003, he won the TV Land Award posthumously for the category "Favorite Pet-Human Relationship" as Mr. Ed.

Death
Lane died in California of cancer in 1973, at age 64.

Partial filmography

 * Not Quite Decent (1929)
 * The Forward Pass (1929)
 * Madame Satan (1930)
 * Love in the Rough (1930)
 * Night Nurse (1931)
 * Miss Pinkerton (1932) (scenes deleted)
 * Winner Take All (1932)
 * The Tenderfoot (1932)
 * Week-End Marriage (1932)
 * Honor of the Family (1931)
 * Expensive Women (1931)
 * Stowaway (1936)
 * Laughing at Trouble (1936)
 * Sing and Be Happy (1937)
 * The Duke Comes Back (1937)
 * The Jones Family in Big Business (1937)
 * Fifty Roads to Town (1937)
 * Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
 * Fugitives for a Night (1938)
 * This Marriage Business (1938)
 * The Law West of Tombstone (1938)
 * Night Spot (1938)
 * Crime Ring (1938)
 * Maid's Night Out (1938)
 * Having Wonderful Time (1938)
 * They Made Her a Spy (1939)
 * The Spellbinder (1939)
 * Pacific Liner (1939)
 * Conspiracy (1939)
 * Twelve Crowded Hours (1939)
 * Panama Lady (1939)
 * King of the Royal Mounted (1940)
 * All-American Co-Ed (1941)
 * King of the Mounties (1942)
 * Air Force (1943)
 * Daredevils of the West (1943)
 * The Dancing Masters (1943)
 * Sheriff of Sundown (1944)
 * Silver City Kid (1944)
 * Stagecoach to Monterey (1944)
 * Call of the South Seas (1944)
 * The Tiger Woman (1944)
 * Trail of Kit Carson (1945)
 * Corpus Christi Bandits (1945)
 * Bells of Rosarita (1945)
 * The Topeka Terror (1945)
 * Night Train to Memphis (1946)
 * Out California Way (1946)
 * Gay Blades (1946)
 * A Guy Could Change (1946)
 * Santa Fe Uprising (1946)
 * Stagecoach to Denver (1946)
 * Vigilantes of Boomtown (1947)
 * Homesteaders of Paradise Valley (1947)
 * Oregon Trail Scouts (1947)
 * Bandits of Dark Canyon (1947)
 * The Wild Frontier (1947)
 * Rustlers of Devil's Canyon (1947)
 * Marshal of Cripple Creek (1947)
 * Renegades of Sonora (1948)
 * Oklahoma Badlands (1948)
 * Marshal of Amarillo (1948)
 * The Denver Kid (1948)
 * Desperadoes of Dodge City (1948)
 * The Bold Frontiersman (1948)
 * Sundown in Santa Fe (1948)
 * Carson City Raiders (1948)
 * Frontier Investigator (1949)
 * Powder River Rustlers (1949)
 * Sheriff of Wichita (1949)
 * The Wyoming Bandit (1949)
 * Bandit King of Texas (1949)
 * Navajo Trail Raiders (1949)
 * Death Valley Gunfighter (1949)
 * Code of the Silver Sage (1950)
 * Frisco Tornado (1950)
 * Vigilante Hideout (1950)
 * Rustlers on Horseback (1950)
 * Gunmen of Abilene (1950)
 * Covered Wagon Raid (1950)
 * Salt Lake Raiders (1950)
 * Trail of Robin Hood (1950)
 * Wells Fargo Gunmaster (1951)
 * Night Riders of Montana (1951)
 * Rough Riders of Durango (1951)
 * Fort Dodge Stampede (1951)
 * Desert of Lost Men (1951)
 * Black Hills Ambush (1952)
 * Captive of Billy the Kid (1952)
 * Thundering Caravans (1952)
 * Leadville Gunslinger (1952)
 * Desperadoes' Outpost (1952)
 * El Paso Stampede (1953)
 * Marshal of Cedar Rock (1953)
 * Savage Frontier (1953)
 * Bandits of the West (1953)
 * The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958)
 * Hell Bent for Leather (1960)
 * Posse from Hell (1961)

Television

 * Series
 * Mister Ed, 1961–1966 syndicated and later CBS TV series. Lane provided the voice for Mister Ed. This was an uncredited role.
 * Red Ryder, 1956–1957 TV series. Lane portrayed Red Ryder


 * Guest appearances
 * Cheyenne, episode "Massacre at Gunsight Pass", originally aired May 1, 1961
 * Gunsmoke, episode "Long Hours, Short Pay", originally aired April 29, 1961
 * Bonanza, episode "The Blood Line", originally aired December 31, 1960
 * Gunsmoke, episode "The Badge", originally aired November 12, 1960
 * Lawman, episode "The Payment", originally aired May 8, 1960
 * Bronco, episode "Death of an Outlaw", originally aired March 8, 1960
 * Colt .45, episode "Arizona Anderson", originally aired February 14, 1960
 * Tales of Wells Fargo, episode "The Reward", originally aired April 21, 1958
 * Wagon Train, episode "The Daniel Barrister Story", originally aired April 16, 1958
 * Alfred Hitchcock Presents, episode "Lamb to the Slaughter", originally aired April 13, 1958
 * Gunsmoke, episode "Texas Cowboys", originally aired April 5, 1958
 * Mike Hammer, episode "Husbands Are Bad Luck", originally aired 1957