Nathan Lane Biography

Fast Facts

• After high school, worked as a bail interviewer in a Jersey City police station
• Starred in a series of memorable NyQuil commercials
• Took the name Nathan from the character of Nathan Detroit in the musical Guys and Dolls; years later, he originated the role in the 1992 Broadway revival
• Has won two Daytime Emmys for voice work on the animated children's programs The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa and Teacher's Pet
• Tried unsuccessfully for years to produce a film biography of Jackie Gleason, whom he would have portrayed
• Was a 2008 inductee into the Theater Hall of Fame
• In 2009, he and Matthew Broderick (his costar in The Producers) were honored with a Double Star Ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Had a small role in the 1993 film Addams Family Values; in 2010, he originated the Broadway role of patriarch Gomez Addams in the musical The Addams Family
• Works with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS