 (4
June 1899, Culbertson, Montana - 14 September 1972, Los Angeles,
California)
Born Robert Chandler Oakes
In the early 1920s, he moved to Los Angeles, California and started
working as an auto mechanic. His real-life experiences growing up on
a horse ranch landed him bit parts in westerns for Paramount
Pictures. Studio executives suggested changing his name to Lane
Chandler, and as such he began achieving leading roles opposite
stars like Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, Betty Bronson and Esther Ralston.
As a silent film star, Chandler performed well, but when talkies
arrived, he was cast more in supporting roles. Chandler would later
claim some of these smaller parts (often for major directors like
Cecil B. DeMille) were actually his favorite roles.
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
Pictures, all a far cry from his days under contract with Adolph
Zukor. Despite the relatively poor production values, several of his
early talkies (Hurricane Horseman (1931) and The Cheyenne Cyclone
(1931)) rise above similar fare in entertainment value. 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).
With the advent of television, Chandler began appearing on numerous
TV programs, making more than 50 guest appearances on shows like
Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, and Rawhide. He continued acting on TV and in
films through 1966, retiring comfortably owning both industrial and
property holdings. |
