1975–1990s: Rise to prominence , September 1998 Accepted to
Saint Joseph's University in
Philadelphia on a drama scholarship, Joseph Lane was accompanied on what was supposed to be his first day there by his older brother Dan. Discovering that the scholarship would not cover enough of his expenses, he decided to leave, and work for a year to earn some money. His brother said, "I remember him saying to me, 'College is for people who don't know what they want to do.'" He moved to New York City in 1975 where after a long struggle, his career began to take off, first with some brief success in the world of stand-up comedy with partner Patrick Stack and later with off-Broadway productions at
Second Stage Theatre, the
Roundabout Theatre, and the
Manhattan Theatre Club. In 1978, he appeared in a production of ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' alongside
John Goodman at the
Equity Library Theatre. He made his
Broadway debut in a 1982 revival of
Noël Coward's
Present Laughter as Roland Maule (Drama Desk nomination) with
George C. Scott,
Kate Burton,
Dana Ivey,
Bette Henritze,
Elizabeth Hubbard,
Jim Piddock, and
Christine Lahti. His second Broadway appearance was in the 1983 musical
Merlin, starring
Chita Rivera and magician
Doug Henning. This was followed by
Wind in the Willows as
Mr. Toad,
Some Americans Abroad at
Lincoln Center, and the national tour of
Neil Simon's
Broadway Bound. Off-Broadway productions in which he appeared, include
Love (the musical version of
Murray Schisgal's
Luv),
Measure for Measure directed by
Joseph Papp in Central Park, for which he received the
St. Clair Bayfield Award,
The Common Pursuit,
The Film Society, ''In a Pig's Valise
, She Stoops to Conquer, The Merry Wives of Windsor and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in The School for Scandal'' and John Guare's
Moon Over Miami. His association with
Stephen Sondheim began in 1989 with a workshop reading of
Assassins, where he played
Samuel Byck, the would-be murderer of
Richard Nixon. Lane also appeared in the television shows
Miami Vice and
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd as Bing Shalimar. In 1991, Lane appeared with
George C. Scott again in a revival of Paul Osborne's
On Borrowed Time at the
Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway. In 1992, he starred in the hit revival of
Guys and Dolls, playing Nathan Detroit, the character who lent him his name, opposite
Peter Gallagher and
Faith Prince. For this performance, he received his first
Tony nomination, as well as Drama Desk and
Outer Critics Circle Awards. In 1992, he won an
Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance. His professional association with his close friend the playwright
Terrence McNally, whom he met in 1987, includes roles in
The Lisbon Traviata (Drama Desk and
Lucille Lortel Awards, and Outer Critics Circle nomination),
Bad Habits,
Lips Together, Teeth Apart,
Love! Valour! Compassion! (
Obie, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards),
Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams, which opened in 2005 (Drama Desk nomination),
The Last Mile on PBS'
Great Performances, and the film version of
Frankie and Johnny. The early 1990s began a stretch of successful Broadway shows for Lane. In 1993, he portrayed
Sid Caesar-like Max Prince in
Neil Simon's
Laughter on the 23rd Floor, inspired by Simon's early career writing sketches for
Your Show of Shows. In 1996, he starred in the hit revival of
Stephen Sondheim's
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. For his performance he won the
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards.
1994–2009: Breakthrough and acclaim In 1994, Lane voiced
Timon, the meerkat, in
Disney's blockbuster animated film
The Lion King and reprised the role in its sequel ''
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and midquel The Lion King 1½. In 1995, Lane was the voice of the meerkat in the early episodes of Timon & Pumbaa
. In 1995, he played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz in Concert'' at Lincoln Center to benefit the
Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT). in several of his projects In 1996 Lane appeared in the film
The Birdcage, for which he received his first
Golden Globe nomination. The film, an American remake of the classic French farce
La Cage aux Folles, was directed by
Mike Nichols with a screenplay by
Elaine May, and starred
Robin Williams, Lane, and
Gene Hackman, and went on to be a big success. The Stephen Sondheim song "Little Dream" in
The Birdcage was supposedly written especially for him. In 1999, he appeared with
Victor Garber in the workshop of the Sondheim musical
Wise Guys (later retitled
Road Show). His collaboration with Sondheim would continue when Lane revised the original book for and starred in the Broadway debut of the composer's
The Frogs at Lincoln Center in 2004. Lane appeared in the 1997 dark comedy
Mouse Hunt, one of the first films to come out of the newly formed DreamWorks Studios, in which he co-starred with British comedian
Lee Evans and Christopher Walken. In 1999, he appeared in the
Encores! concert revival of
Do Re Mi at
City Center. That same year he also voiced the role of Snowbell in the family film
Stuart Little, opposite his
Life With Mikey co-star
Michael J. Fox. He is known for his voice work in two Disney animated series, ''
Teacher's Pet and Timon & Pumbaa, as well as George and Martha on HBO. He received Daytime Emmy Awards for his voice performances in Teacher's Pet
and Timon & Pumbaa
, as well as a nomination for George and Martha
. He hosted Saturday Night Live'' in 1997, and the
Tony Awards (once as host for the 50th anniversary telecast, and three times as co-host, with
Glenn Close and
Gregory Hines;
Rosie O'Donnell; and
Matthew Broderick respectively). From 1998 to 1999 he starred in the
NBC sitcom
Encore! Encore! alongside
Joan Plowright and
Glenne Headly.
The New York Times gave a very positive review to the show's debut, writing it possessed the "most accomplished, high-powered cast on television." Although the series got positive reviews it was canceled. He still won the ''
People's Choice Award that year for Favorite New Actor in a Comedy. Lane received Emmy Award nominations for his guest appearances on Frasier and Mad About You'' in 1995 and 1998, respectively. '
The Producers (2001) Lane starred in the Roundabout revival of
The Man Who Came to Dinner as Sheridan Whiteside, with
Jean Smart and
Harriet Sansom Harris in 2000. Charles Isherwood of
Variety liked his performance, "Nathan Lane, an actor who makes virtually every role he plays seem like a role he was born to play, is the splendidly seething, delightfully acerbic center of Jerry Zaks' splashy production of the 1939 comedy". The production was taped and shown on
PBS. That same year he starred in
Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of
William Shakespeare's ''
Love's Labour's Lost (2000). He acted in the comedy Isn't She Great (2000) opposite Bette Midler, the crime drama Trixie (2000), and voiced a character in the animated science fiction film Titan A.E.'' (2000). In 2001, he starred as
Max Bialystock in the blockbuster musical version of
Mel Brooks's
The Producers. He acted alongside
Matthew Broderick. Chris Jones of
Variety wrote "Lane's greatest contribution, though, is this performer's innate sense of pace. He's constantly propelling the show forward and giving all this nonsense a necessary sense of urgency."
Ben Brantley of
The New York Times praised Lane's performance describing it as his "most delicious performance". He complimented Lane's and Broderick's chemistry adding "Mr. Lane and Mr. Broderick, have the most dynamic stage chemistry since
Natasha Richardson met
Liam Neeson in
Anna Christie. The role earned him his second
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. The next year he reprised his role as Snowbell in
Stuart Little 2 (2002). He then appeared as Vincent Crummles in a film adaptation of
Nicholas Nickleby (2002) and the cast received the Ensemble Acting award from the National Board of Review. In 2003, he starred off Broadway in
Trumbo: Red, White, and Blacklisted. In 2004, Lane revised the libretto and portrayed
Dionysus in the revival of
Stephen Sondheim's musical
The Frogs which opened at the
Vivian Beaumont Theater at
Lincoln Center on
Broadway. That same year he replaced
Richard Dreyfuss in
The Producers in the West End. Dreyfuss was let go just a week before the show's first preview at London's
Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Lane went on to win the
Olivier Award as Best Actor in a Musical. His performance in the
film version, opposite Broadway co-star
Matthew Broderick as
Leo Bloom, earned him his second nomination for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2005, Lane rejoined Broderick for a successful limited run of
The Odd Couple. In 2006, he took on a primarily dramatic role in a revival of
Simon Gray's
Butley, having played the role to great success at The
Huntington Theater Company in Boston in 2003. He and Broderick received adjacent stars on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in a joint ceremony on January 9, 2006, and were immortalized in wax as Max and Leo at
Madame Tussauds Museum in New York City on January 16, 2009. In 2008, he played the President of the United States in the
David Mamet political satire,
November, directed by
Joe Mantello. This was followed by the critically acclaimed 2009 revival of
Waiting for Godot (Outer Critics Circle nomination) in which he played
Estragon opposite
Bill Irwin's
Vladimir. He was a 2008
American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee. In the 2000s Lane also made guest appearances on
Sex and the City,
Curb Your Enthusiasm,
Absolutely Fabulous, and
30 Rock.
2010–2019: Established actor In 2009, Lane starred in the musical version of
The Addams Family as
Gomez in Chicago, a role he reprised on Broadway the following year, receiving Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations. That year he also received a Drama League Award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater. Committed to starring in a revival of the
Eugene O'Neill play
The Iceman Cometh at Chicago's
Goodman Theatre in 2012, Lane assumed the role of Hickey, with
Brian Dennehy playing the role of Larry Slade in a production directed by the Goodman's Artistic Director,
Robert Falls. it won six
Jeff Awards, including Best Ensemble, director, and Production, and is the most successful play to date in the theater's history. ,
Stockard Channing,
Matthew Broderick,
Megan Mullally, Lane,
F. Murray Abraham,
Micah Stock in ''It's Only a Play'' in 2014 From 2010 to 2019, Lane portrayed Pepper Saltzman in the
ABC sitcom
Modern Family for which he received three
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nominations. From 2012 to 2014 he played Clarke Hayden in the legal series
The Good Wife receiving a nomination for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. In the spring of 2013, Lane returned to Broadway in
The Nance, a
Lincoln Center production of a new play by
Douglas Carter Beane that was directed by
Jack O'Brien. David Rooney of
The Hollywood Reporter praised his performance writing, "Lane is masterful, finding new depths in a well-worn sad clown persona" adding, "[The production] at the very least it provides a tremendous vehicle for Lane". He went on to receive Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and won the Outer Critics Circle Award and the 2013 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. The play aired on PBS
Live from Lincoln Center in 2014. In autumn 2014, he appeared in an all-star ensemble of Terrence McNally's revised and updated ''
It's Only a Play, with F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, Rupert Grint, Megan Mullally, and Micah Stock. The show became one of the biggest hits of the season. In February 2015 he reprised the role of Hickey in the Robert Falls production of The Iceman Cometh
to great acclaim at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. New York Post'' film critic Elizabeth Vincentelli wrote of his performance, "Lane, one of his generation's most brilliant comic actors...[hits] the sweet spot between pretend perkiness and self-loathing". He later returned to the Broadway run of ''It's Only a Play''. In 2015, he received the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Monte Cristo Award for his body of work. In March 2016, he opened the play
White Rabbit, Red Rabbit off Broadway. in the revival of
Angels in America in 2018 Lane played
F. Lee Bailey in
The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, the first season of
American Crime Story, which premiered on the
FX channel in February 2016. Daniel Feinberg of
The Hollywood Reporter described his performance as "understatedly Machiavellian". Emily St. Jones of
Vox declared Lane as "hugely enjoyable" in the series. It received 22 Emmy nominations and went on to win the
Primetime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Limited Series. In fall of 2016, he returned to Broadway to rave reviews in an all-star revival of Hecht and MacArthur's
The Front Page, directed by Jack O'Brien and produced by Scott Rudin. He played the ruthless editor Walter Burns opposite
John Slattery as Hildy Johnson and
John Goodman as Sheriff Hartman, During this time he also guest starred on series such as
Difficult People (2016) and
The Blacklist (2018). Next he played
Roy Cohn with
Andrew Garfield as Prior Walter in the revival of
Angels in America, directed by
Marianne Elliott at the
Lyttlelton Theatre of the
National Theatre of Great Britain. Lane reprised his acclaimed portrayal on Broadway at the
Neil Simon Theatre, and won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In March 2019, Lane starred in
Taylor Mac's absurdist black comedy
Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus at the
Booth Theatre directed by
George C. Wolfe. The play received seven
Tony Award nominations, including
Best Play.
2020–present Lane played the role of Lewis Michener on Showtime's
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels which premiered April 26, 2020, and ran for one season. He has a recurring role in the Hulu series
Only Murders in the Building, starring
Steve Martin,
Martin Short, and
Selena Gomez, for which he received a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. That was Lane's first Primetime Emmy Award after a record-breaking seven nominations in the guest actor categories, making him the most nominated Comedy Guest Actor in Emmy history, a record he still holds after receiving his eighth nomination in 2023 in the same category. He also plays the recurring role of
Ward McAllister in the HBO period series,
The Gilded Age, written by
Julian Fellowes, which received a 2024
Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for
Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series and a 2024 Emmy nomination for Best Drama. In 2023, Lane returned to the
Broadway stage, marking his 25th
Broadway show, in
Pictures from Home, a play adapted from the photo memoir by
Larry Sultan. Lane portrayed the father and former razor blade salesman to his son a photographer, played by
Danny Burstein, who's remembering his visits with his family. Lane's wife in the play was portrayed by
Zoë Wanamaker. The production was directed by
Bartlett Sher and was helmed at the
Studio 54 theatre. The play received mixed reviews but praise for Lane's performance with Marilyn Stasio of
Variety writing, "Lane and Burstein are consummate pros, and there are considerable sparks of familial communication between the father and son they play with such warmth and understanding." Also in 2023, Lane co-starred in
Ari Aster's new
A24 film,
Beau Is Afraid alongside
Joaquin Phoenix,
Amy Ryan, and
Patti LuPone. Max Ceo of
Esquire praised Aster for the casting of Lane writing, "There's a palpable sense that the director had seasoned character actors such as Nathan Lane in his mind while writing. He milks every dad-ish 'My dude' the script hands him". He co-starred in another A24 film,
Dicks: The Musical, directed by
Larry Charles and written by Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, with the film based on their
Upright Citizens Brigade musical stage show
Fucking Identical Twins. Jackson and Sharp play the twins with Lane and
Megan Mullally as the parents. It also features
Bowen Yang and
Megan Thee Stallion. The film premiered at the
2023 Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews and won the Midnight Madness People's Choice Award. Kristy Puchko of
Mashable wrote, "[Lane] who stole scenes earlier this year as a plucky papa in another
A24 movie
Beau is Afraid—gives his all, committing to bit after bit" adding "In a career of superb comedy, he's in top form here". He was part of the voice cast for
Spellbound, a new animated film from
Skydance for
Netflix, with
Rachel Zegler,
Nicole Kidman,
Javier Bardem,
Jenifer Lewis and
John Lithgow, as well as the
Ryan Murphy miniseries,
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, as
Dominick Dunne. He then starred in the new
Hulu multi-cam comedy,
Mid-Century Modern, created by
Max Mutchnick and
David Kohan of
Will & Grace and also produced by Ryan Murphy, alongside
Matt Bomer,
Nathan Lee Graham, and
Linda Lavin in her final role. In 2026, he returned to the Broadway stage portraying
Willy Loman in the critically acclaimed revival of the
Arthur Miller play
Death of a Salesman opposite
Laurie Metcalf,
Christopher Abbott, and
Ben Ahlers. In March 2026, as part of his final appearance, Lane performed the song 'Laughing Matters' from the 1996 off-Broadway revue
When Pigs Fly on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which had been canceled by
CBS in July 2025. He was accompanied on piano by
Marc Shaiman. ==Personal life==