Lane Chandler(1899-1972)
- Actor
American actor who had a brief flirtation with stardom before settling
into character roles and bit parts. Born in rural South Dakota
(according to government records, though some sources say Walsh County,
North Dakota) as Robert C. Oakes, the son of a horse rancher, he moved
with his family to Culbertson, Montana (not his birthplace as some
sources have it), where he grew up. The family moved again and he
graduated from high school in Helena. A brief attendance at Montana
Wesleyan College was interrupted by the offer of a job driving a tour
bus in Yellowstone National Park.
Drifting down to Los Angeles in the early 1920s, he got work as an auto
mechanic, but his ranch-honed cowboy skills got him bit parts in
pictures at Paramount when director
John Waters offered him work in a
series of Westerns. Paramount recognized possibilities in the tall,
rugged, handsome cowboy and put him (with a new name, Lane Chandler)
into leading roles, first in Westerns, then in contemporary films
opposite some of the biggest star actresses of the time,
Clara Bow,
Greta Garbo,
Betty Bronson, and
Esther Ralston. As silent films were
phased out, Chandler found his stock slipping at Paramount, which had
begun to overtly favor Gary Cooper
in his place. He began appearing in lower-budgeted Westerns, first in
leads, then as second leads to stars such as
John Wayne and
Jack Hoxie. During this period he free-lanced
at Big 4, Syndicate Pictures and Kent (see
Willis Kent) Pictures, all a far cry from
his days under contract with Adolph Zukor.
Despite the relatively poor production values, several of his early
talkies
(The Hurricane Horseman (1931) and
The Cheyenne Cyclone (1931))
rise above similar fare in entertainment value. Unfortunately, Chandler
was also forced to work on other lesser productions helmed by hack
directors such as J.P. McGowan who cared
more about quickly earning a paycheck than the product itself. His
association with Kent ended in 1930s and Chandler drifted to another
independent outfit called Empire Pictures which promised to produce 6
films, although only 2 were ultimately shot, the entertaining quickies
The Lone Bandit (1935) and
The Outlaw Tamer (1935). Now
in his mid-30's Chandler found his career in irreversible decline and
settled into supporting roles. A favorite of director
Cecil B. DeMille, Chandler worked in
many DeMille films, often in tiny bit parts, though he claimed these
were his favorite parts. Eventually Chandler no longer commanded roles
of any substance and he spent the remaining 35 years of his career in
progressively smaller supporting parts, playing in hundreds of films,
often uncredited. A stalwart of television Westerns of the 1950s, he
was a familiar face to movie fans for nearly fifty years. An astute
businessman with industrial and property holdings, he died in Los
Angeles in 1971 at 73.
into character roles and bit parts. Born in rural South Dakota
(according to government records, though some sources say Walsh County,
North Dakota) as Robert C. Oakes, the son of a horse rancher, he moved
with his family to Culbertson, Montana (not his birthplace as some
sources have it), where he grew up. The family moved again and he
graduated from high school in Helena. A brief attendance at Montana
Wesleyan College was interrupted by the offer of a job driving a tour
bus in Yellowstone National Park.
Drifting down to Los Angeles in the early 1920s, he got work as an auto
mechanic, but his ranch-honed cowboy skills got him bit parts in
pictures at Paramount when director
John Waters offered him work in a
series of Westerns. Paramount recognized possibilities in the tall,
rugged, handsome cowboy and put him (with a new name, Lane Chandler)
into leading roles, first in Westerns, then in contemporary films
opposite some of the biggest star actresses of the time,
Clara Bow,
Greta Garbo,
Betty Bronson, and
Esther Ralston. As silent films were
phased out, Chandler found his stock slipping at Paramount, which had
begun to overtly favor Gary Cooper
in his place. He began appearing in lower-budgeted Westerns, first in
leads, then as second leads to stars such as
John Wayne and
Jack Hoxie. During this period he free-lanced
at Big 4, Syndicate Pictures and Kent (see
Willis Kent) Pictures, all a far cry from
his days under contract with Adolph Zukor.
Despite the relatively poor production values, several of his early
talkies
(The Hurricane Horseman (1931) and
The Cheyenne Cyclone (1931))
rise above similar fare in entertainment value. Unfortunately, Chandler
was also forced to work on other lesser productions helmed by hack
directors such as J.P. McGowan who cared
more about quickly earning a paycheck than the product itself. His
association with Kent ended in 1930s and Chandler drifted to another
independent outfit called Empire Pictures which promised to produce 6
films, although only 2 were ultimately shot, the entertaining quickies
The Lone Bandit (1935) and
The Outlaw Tamer (1935). Now
in his mid-30's Chandler found his career in irreversible decline and
settled into supporting roles. A favorite of director
Cecil B. DeMille, Chandler worked in
many DeMille films, often in tiny bit parts, though he claimed these
were his favorite parts. Eventually Chandler no longer commanded roles
of any substance and he spent the remaining 35 years of his career in
progressively smaller supporting parts, playing in hundreds of films,
often uncredited. A stalwart of television Westerns of the 1950s, he
was a familiar face to movie fans for nearly fifty years. An astute
businessman with industrial and property holdings, he died in Los
Angeles in 1971 at 73.