Allan "Rocky" Lane (born Harry Leonard Albershardt; September 22, 1909 – October 27, 1973) was an American studioleading man and the star of many cowboyB-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, from 1961 to 1966.
Lane's 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.[1]
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).
In 1946 and 1947, he portrayed Red Ryder in seven films, replacing Wild Bill Elliott in that role.[6] 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.[7]
Lane was one of the movie cowboys named in the lyrics of the song “Whatever Happened To Randolph Scott” by The Statler Brothers, which became a hit single in 1974.
Comics
Rocky Lane Western #78 (December 1957), Charlton Comics, art by Rocke Mastroserio.
Allan "Rocky" Lane was often portrayed in the celebrity comics by his nickname, Rocky Lane, primarily during the heyday of Western-themed comics in the 1940s and 1950s.[9]
The actor was featured in the comic book Rocky Lane Western, published in 1949 by Fawcett Comics. The series was published by the company until 1954, when it left the comics market following the lawsuit "National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc.." Charlton Comics took over the title that same year, starting with issue #56 and ending with issue #87, published in 1959. The publisher also released a comic series starring his horse, Black Jack, titled Rocky Lane's Black Jack.[9]
In Brazil, the Rocky Lane stories were published by Rio Gráfica Editora (RGE) in the 1960s. Between 1965 and 1968, the publisher even commissioned local stories from Primaggio Mantovi, an Italian cartoonist who became a naturalized Brazilian citizen. [10]
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