Classic Movie Journeys: Lola Lane
Lola Lane was born Dorothy H. Mulligan on May 21, 1906 in Macy, Indiana, to Lorenzo and Cora Mulligan. Her father worked as a dentist and rented parts of their 22-room home to Simpson College students. Her mother was a former reporter who dreamed of becoming an actress, but her Methodist parents prevented her from pursuing a career in entertainment. Dorothy was one of five siblings, including Leotabel, Martha, Rosemary, and Priscilla.
Over the years, Dorothy grew up in Indianola, Iowa, where she accompanied silent films on the piano and sang in a flower shop. In fact, all the mulligan girls liked music. As a rebellious child, she once shocked townspeople with a Charleston dance in front of a church ending its Sunday service for the day. Her singing talent was later discovered by Gus Edwards and she soon began gaining professional experience, including training at Simpson College Conservatory.
It was Edwards who changed her name to Lola Lane and included her in his touring production of Ritz Carlton nights. By 1926 she and Leotabal – now Leota – worked in the Greenwich Village Follies. Leota was the first sister to leave home for New York to pursue a career in entertainment. Dorothy soon followed and the sisters toured vaudeville circuits and later worked in Broadway The War Song. The Broadway show resulted in a screen test and Lane made her film debut in speakeasy (1929).
Lane has been married five times to Henry Clay Dunham, Lew Ayres, Alexander Hall, Roland West and Robert Hanlon. She had no children.
The majority of Lane’s films were produced by Warner Bros. and starred Priscilla and Rosemary. Her achievements included Good news (1930), Hollywood hotel (1937), Featured Woman (1937), Torchy Blane in Panama (1938), Four daughters (1938), Four wives (1939) and Four mothers (1941).
On screen, Lane has appeared in films such as B. Adopt a tough personality convicted woman (1940), Gangs of Chicago (1940) and Miss V from Moscow (1942). Her last three films were an attempt to move away from typecasting, which involved roles Why girls leave the house (1945), Deadline at dawn (1946) and You made me a killer (1946). Lane retired from acting in 1946.
Interestingly, Lane’s name served as inspiration for another on-screen character. Comics writer Jerry Siegel named Lois Lane – Superman’s girlfriend – after Lane.
In 1961 Lane converted to Catholicism and later received a Pope Pius Medal for her commitment to religious education for the mentally handicapped.
Lane died of arterial disease on June 22, 1981 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Santa Barbara, California. She was 75 years old.
Today there are a few places relevant to Lane’s personal life.
In 1910, the Mulligan family lived at 307 N.B St. in Washington, Iowa, which has since been leveled.
In 1920 they moved to 405 W. Ashland Ave., Indianola, Iowa. The house still stands today.
Simspon College is still located at 701 N.C St., Indianola, Iowa.
In 1929, Lane lived at 6626 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles, California. The house was divided into apartments.
Lane and her sisters are well remembered through their filmography, either together or apart.
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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub
Annette Bochenek writes our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. Here you can read all articles from Annette’s Classic Movie Travel.
Annette Bochenek, from Chicago, Illinois, is a graduate student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the blog Hometowns to Hollywood, where she writes about her travels exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the Hometowns to Hollywood film series in the Chicago area. She has appeared in Turner Classic Movies and is the President of the Chicago chapter of TCM Backlot. Not only does she write for Classic Movie Hub, but also for Silent Film Quarterly, nostalgia digestand Magazine of the Chicago Art Deco Society.
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