Richard Lane (May 28, 1899 – September 5, 1982), more commonly known as Dick Lane, was a television announcer and actor who made his mark broadcasting wrestling and roller derby shows on KTLA, mainly from the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Work with KTLA 3 Later years 4 Partial filmography 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early years

Lane was born in 1899 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin to a farm family. Early in life he developed talents for reciting poetry and doing various song-and-dance acts.

By his teenage years, he was doing an "iron jaw" routine in circuses around Europe and worked as a drummer touring with a band in Australia. After the decline of vaudeville, Lane obtained extensive work in motion pictures and was best known at the time for playing Inspector Faraday or Farraday (depending on the film) in some Boston Blackie features, starting with [[Meet Boston Blackie in 1941. During World War II, he appeared as MC with USO troupes entertaining G.I.'s. His unit appeared at Fort MacArthur in September 1944. Lane also announced for the Jalopy Derby and Destruction Derby at Ascot Park, Gardena California.

[edit] Work with KTLA

Due to his work at Paramount Pictures, Lane was able to obtain work at KTLA, which was owned by the studio at the time. When the station went commercial for the first time in 1947, Lane started work as a news presenter. One of the early highlights of his career was reporting on the first atomic explosion covered by a television newscast.

When KTLA agreed to broadcast wrestling matches from the Olympic Auditorium in 1946, Lane was hired to comment on the action. He started announcing for Roller Derby in 1951, and for Roller Games in the 1960s. His broadcasts featured such personalities as Gorgeous George, Mr. Moto (wrestler) and Doc Grable. Contrary to popular opinion, it was Lane and not former ABC sports announcer Keith Jackson who coined the exclamatory expression "Whoa, Nellie!" when something "bad" happened in the ring or on the track.^[1] Lane was also the character "Leather Britches" on the Spade Cooley show on KTLA.

[edit] Later years

After Lane retired from television full time in 1972, he accepted few offers for work, but did make a notable cameo appearance in Raquel Welch's film Kansas City Bomber. Lane died in Newport Beach, California on September 5, 1982. In 1996, he was posthumously inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.^[2]

[edit] Partial filmography

• Flight From Glory (1937) Mr. Hanson
• Should Wives Work? (1937)
• Radio City Revels (1938) Crane
• I'm from the City (1938) Captain Oliver 'Ollie' Fitch
• Mr. Doodle Kicks Off (1938) Assistant Coach 'Offsides' Jones
• Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938) Mike Hannigan, alias Det. Arnold
• Union Pacific (1939) Sam Reed
• Brother Orchid (1940) Mugsy O'Day
• Boom Town (1940) Assistant District Attorney
• Meet Boston Blackie (1941) Inspector Faraday
• Sunny (1941) Reporter
• Time Out for Rhythm (1941) Mike Armstrong
• Hellzapoppin' (1941) Director
• Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942) Pete Conway
• To the Shores of Tripoli (1942) Lieutenant on Minesweeper
• A-Haunting We Will Go (1942) Parker
• Arabian Nights (1942) Corporal
• Air Force 1943) Major W.G. Roberts
• It Ain't Hay (1943) Slicker
• Corvette K-225 (1943) Vice Admiral
• Crazy House (1943) Hanley
• The Chance of a Lifetime (1943) Insp. John Farraday
• Gung Ho! (1943) Captain Dunphy
• Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944) Sgt. 'Alphabet' Czeidrowski
• Here Come the Co-Eds (1945) Nearsighted man at Miramar Ballroom
• The Bullfighters (1945) Hotshot Coleman
• Pardon My Terror (1946) Dick
• Sioux City Sue (1946) Jefferson Lang
• Devil Ship (1947) Captain 'Biff' Brown
• The Babe Ruth Story (1948) Boston Braves' coach
• He's in Again (1949) Dick
• Mighty Joe Young (1949) Attorney
• That Midnight Kiss (1949) Radio D.J. interviewing Ethel Barrymore
• The Big Wheel (1949) Reno Riley
• The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) Clay Hopper, Montreal Manager
• I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951) Kelley
• Visit to a Small Planet (1960) Superbo Television Spokesman
• The Killers (1964) Demolition Derby Announcer
• Dear Brigitte 1965) Track Announcer
• The Shaggy D.A. 1976) Roller Rink Announcer
• The One and Only (1978) (uncredited)

[edit] References

• Dick Lane, Pioneer TV Announcer, Dead at 83, Los Angeles Times, September 6, 1982.

[edit] External links

• http://www.tvparty.com/nitro.html Rare online clips of Dick Lane calling wrestling matches.
• “Whoah, Nellie!” Happy Birthday, Richard “Dick” Lane
• Dick Lane at the Internet Movie Database