Mike Lane

Michael V. Lane (January 6, 1933 – June 1, 2015) was an American actor and professional wrestler.[1]

Mike Lane
Lane in The Harder They Fall (1956)
Birth nameMichael V. Lane
Born(1933-01-06)January 6, 1933
Washington D.C., U.S.
DiedJune 1, 2015(2015-06-01) (aged 82)
Palmdale, California, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Tarzan Mike
Billed height6 ft 8 in (203 cm)
Billed weight275 lb (125 kg)
Debut1952
Retired1959

Biography

Lane's size (height 6'8" or 2.03 m, weight 275 lbs or 125 kg) led him to work in the King Bros. Circus boxing tent and wrestling tent. He also wrestled professionally under the name "Tarzan Mike" in 1952–1959.[2] While filming The Harder They Fall,[3] Lane was given dramatic and boxing lessons to appear as the giant Toro Moreno, an outclassed boxer based on Primo Carnera.[4]

Lane made numerous television appearances including a role as a country bumpkin who gets talked into boxing by Bret Maverick (James Garner) and Dandy Jim Buckley (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) in an epic 1957 episode of Maverick entitled "Stampede." Lane also had a regular role as Frank N. Stein in Monster Squad (1976). On November 25, 1958, in the episode "The Hunted" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Sugarfoot, starring Will Hutchins in the title role, Lane plays a former soldier, John Allman, who has become mentally unbalanced as a result of the terror of an Apache attack on his United States Army unit. Despite the efforts of a sympathetic Sugarfoot, Allman engages in bank robbery and murder and is tracked down by an impatient posse led by Clay Calhoun (R.G. Armstrong). Francis De Sales appears as Major Sterling in the episode, which is based on a story in True West Magazine.[5]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1956 The Harder They Fall Toro Moreno
1957 Hell Canyon Outlaws Henchman Nels
1958 Frankenstein 1970 Hans Himmler / The Monster
1960 Who Was That Lady? Glinka
1961 Valley of the Dragons Anoka
1962 Ulysses Against the Son of Hercules Hercules
1967 The Way West Sioux Chief
1968 Stay Away, Joe Frank Hawk
1972 The New Centurions Lumberjack
1973 The No Mercy Man Big Jack
1973 A Name for Evil Fats
1975 Gone with the West Shark
1975 The Master Gunfighter Frewen
1976 Zebra Force Carmine Longo
1983 Stryker Kardis
1987 Code Name: Zebra Carmine Longo
1988 Grotesque Frank N. Stien Also producer
1991 Curse of the Crystal Eye Hashim
1994 Demon Keeper Asmodeus (The Demon)

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1957 Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers Episode: "Test of a Titan"
1957 Cheyenne Chuck Welch Episode: "Decision at Gunsight"
1957–1958 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Patient 2 episodes
1957–1959 Maverick Horace Cusack / Noah Perkins 2 episodes
1958 Death Valley Days Big Bat Pourier Episode: "The Greatest Scout of All"
1958 The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok Chief Red Cloud Episode: "The Daughter of Casey O'Grady"
1958 Decision Episode: "Night of the Stranger"
1958 Sugarfoot John Allman Episode: "The Hunted"
1959 Steve Canyon Bartender Episode: "The Sergeant"
1959 The Rough Riders Carl Episode: "The Last Rebel"
1959 Man Without a Gun Episode: "The Giant"
1959 Have Gun – Will Travel Waller Episode: "The Black Handkerchief"
1960 The Untouchables James Stenbeck Episode: "Syndicate Sanctuary"
1960 Hotel de Paree Jackson Episode: "Sundance and the Bare-Knuckled Fighters"
1960 The Man from Blackhawk Lembrick Episode: "The Hundred Thousand Dollar Policy"
1960 Bourbon Street Beat Monito Episode: "Green Hell"
1961 The Tab Hunter Show Carlos Episode: "Personal Appearance"
1964 The Outer Limits The Megasoid Episode: "The Duplicate Man"
1965 Branded Trask Episode: "Mightier Than the Sword"
1966–1969 Daniel Boone Bear Barnett / Ike 2 episodes
1967 Batman Daddy Longlegs 2 episodes
1967 Hondo Moon Dog Episode: "Hondo and the Superstition Massacre"
1968 The Monkees Frankenstein Episode: "Monstrous Monkee Mash"
1969 Love, American Style Roger Segment: "Love and the Positive Man"
1970 Get Smart Centurion Episode: "Smartacus"
1971 Mission: Impossible Lew Bates Episode: "The Connection"
1972 Adam-12 Art Moss Episode: "Citizens All"
1972 Gunsmoke Digby Episode: "Sarah"
1972 Ironside Nick Marcatti Episode: "Buddy, Can You Spare a Life?"
1972 The Sixth Sense Sam Fenwick Episode: "If I Should Die Before I Wake"
1973 Emergency! Tall Biker Episode: "Frequency"
1976 Gemini Man Guard Episode: "Pilot"
1976 Monster Squad Frank N. Stein 13 episodes
1976–1977 The Rockford Files Tony / Fred 2 episodes
1977 Kojak Curly Episode: "The Queen of Hearts Is Wild"
1977 Quincy, M.E. Rossi Episode: "A Question of Time"
1977 Starsky & Hutch Eddie Mayer Episode: "The Crying Child"
1982 Matt Houston Reject Episode: "X-22"
1982 Knight Rider Jerry Episode: "Forget Me Not"
1983 Simon & Simon Bodyguard #1 Episode: "Bail Out"
1986 Cold War Killers Foreman Television film

References

  1. Lowrie, Katharine. "MICHAEL V. LANE". theprecis.com. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  2. Mike Lane. wrestlingdata.com
  3. "'Harder They Fall' Opens; Prizefight Film Stars Bogart and Steiger Schulberg Novel Made Into Stinging Movie". The New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  4. LIFE. Time Inc. April 16, 1956. pp. 103–. ISSN 0024-3019.
  5. ""The Hunted", Sugarfoot, November 25, 1958". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
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