Nathan Lane

I know, I know—I don’t know how I haven’t gotten to him yet, either. I’ve loved him since 1994, when he appeared on Short Attention Span Theater on Comedy Central (which doesn’t appear on his IMDb page, and the page for the show itself is ridiculously incomplete) shilling for The Lion King. This included the repeated statement, “Because Disney needs the money.” He knew that it was kind of silly for him to be doing promotion on Comedy Central, of all places, for Disney’s summer tentpole movie, but by Gods they sent him there and by Gods he was going to do it.

Joseph Lane was a Catholic school boy of Irish descent. He got a scholarship after high school to St. Joseph’s University—that turned out not to be enough to cover all his expenses. He walked away. He said at the time that college is for people who don’t know what they want to do, which I don’t agree with in all cases, but he seems to have had his life plan set already. He moved to New York. There was already a Joseph Lane in Equity, so he took the name Nathan from Nathan Detroit, a role for which he would later be nominated for a Tony.

His first Broadway role was in 1982. He was twenty-six. From there, his career just kept going. He’s done literal dozens of Broadway shows since then, plus a lot of off-Broadway. Plus film. Plus TV. It’s at the point that it’s a crying shame that, at the age of 69 (nice), he’s only halfway to an EGOT. Surely there’s a nice, juicy role someone can put him in for an Oscar, and dear Gods there has got to be a Grammy for the man somewhere. He does have an Olivier Award, for The Producers, but you must all now join me in outrage that he lost his possible Golden Globe for The Birdcage to Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire.

There are so many great roles of his to call out even with the standard caveat that it’s hard to see him in his stage roles. I have, on the other hand, heard the soundtrack to The Frogs, and it’s fantastic. It’s got some great acting in it. Obviously The Birdcage. You can’t say enough positive about The Birdcage. And Only Murders in the Building? Fantastic. So good. He’s, you know, fun as Timon. He’s a delightful successor to Zero Mostel in The Producers. And my Gods does he steal his one scene in The Addams Family Values.

I’ve long been on the record as saying that comedic actors don’t need to be good at drama. If you’re only a comedian, that’s just fine. Being funny is a skill that we don’t reward enough. That being said, Nathan Lane can also do drama. I haven’t seen a ton of it, but even in The Birdcage, his genuine despair at not being good enough for the young man he’s raised as a son is beautiful. That movie is a comedy and he’s great in its few dramatic moments. And Gods bless Robin Williams for protecting him from invasive questions about his sexuality during the press tour. What a great man he was.