Allan Lane
Allan "Rocky" Lane (September 22, 1909 – October 27, 1973) was an American studio leading man and the star of many cowboy B-movies in the 1940s and 1950s. He appeared in more than 125 films and TV shows in a career lasting from 1929 to 1966. He is best known for his portrayal of Red Ryder and for being the voice of the talking horse on the television series "Mister Ed", beginning in 1961. Biography. Lane was born as Harry Leonard Albershardt or Albershart (sources differ) in Mishawaka, Indiana to Linnie Anne and William H. Albershardt. He grew  up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Lane had been a photographer, model and stage actor by age 20. Lane played varsity sports (baseball, football, and basketball) at the University of Notre Dame but dropped out in order to pursue his interests in acting. Film career. He was spotted by Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox) talent scouts and was signed to a contract. His first film role for Fox was as a romantic lead opposite June Collyer in the 1929 release, "Not Quite Decent" (now a lost film). He made several other films at Fox but jumped ship to Warner  Bros. in the early 1930s. While at Warner his career foundered, and after a number of bit parts he left films in the early 1930s. By 1936, Lane returned to films and to 20th Century Fox, taking supporting roles in the drama "Laughing at Trouble" and the Shirley Temple film "Stowaway". After several more supporting roles at Fox, Lane longed for a starring role; therefore, he took the lead in a Republic Pictures' short feature, "The Duke Comes Back" (1937). From 1929 through 1936, he appeared in twenty-four films. He was in 1938's "The Law West of Tombstone . In 1940, he portrayed RCMP Sergeant Dave King", the role becoming one of his most notable successes. The first was "King of the Royal Mounted", a 12-part 1940 serial adaptation of Zane Grey's "King of the Royal Mounted". He starred in several Royal Canadian Mounted Police films, including the serials "The Yukon Patrol" and "King of the Mounties". He is best remembered for these today. In 1946 and 1947, he portrayed "Red Ryder" in seven films, replacing Wild Bill Elliott in that role. The following year, he became "Rocky Lane" in Western films. Between 1940 and 1966, Lane  made eighty-two film and television series appearances, mostly in westerns. Between 1947 and 1953, he made over 30 B-movie westerns (as "Rocky" Lane) with his faithful horse 'Black Jack'. His last roles were in voice-over acting, including providing the speech for "Mister Ed" (1961–1966). He was never credited on-screen for providing the voice for Mister Ed. In 2003, he won the "TV Land Award" posthumously for the category "Favorite Pet-Human Relationship" as Mr. Ed. Death. Lane died in California of cancer in 1973, at age 64. In popular culture. Between 1965 and 1968 a celebrity  comic was created around Rocky Lane's cowboy persona, written and drawn by Brazilian comics artist Primaggio Mantovi. Lane was one of the movie cowboys named in the lyrics of the song “Whatever Happened To Randolph Scott” by The Statler Brothers, which became a hit single in 1974.