Charles Lane is a character actor who's been around forever, or so it seems. The movie most frequently mentioned for him is "It's A Wonderful Life" - his character worked for Mr. Potter.
But for Toobworld, he was Homer Bedloe on 'Petticoat Junction', Lucille Carmichael's first boss on 'The Lucy Show', and Judge Petrillo on 'Soap'. (That character might have been related to Sophia Petrillo of 'The Golden Girls'.) Those are just a few of the many roles he created for the TV Universe.
If you don't know him by name or recognize his credits (listed at imdb.com), you'd recognize his description - flinty, sour-pussed, mean, weaselly and wearing wire-framed glasses. Sometimes it's hard for me to imagine that he was ever a young man.
Playing such old characters certainly must have agreed with him; it's possible that it acclimated him to the fact that eventually he would become old, because today we're celebrating his 102nd birthday!
He's been out of the public eye for about two years. His last appearance was at the TV Land Awards after he turned 100, and he let the industry know that he was still available for work. I loved that!
Happy birthday, sir! Toobworld would be a poorer place without you.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
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