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Paul Dellinger authored our original biography on Allan Lane in 1999. This supplement from ye Old Corral webmaster is to document any corrections as well as new and updated information and confusion on Lane, his family, his marriages, etc.

This supplement is a work in progress and was last updated on: July 27, 2013. If anyone has further info on Lane's life and career, please shoot an e-mail to Chuck Anderson, the Old Corral webmeister.



LANE WAS MARRIED AT LEAST THREE TIMES

A variety of sources note that Lane was married and divorced twice - first to a "Gladys Leslie" and next to pretty actress Sheila Ryan. There were no children from his marriages. However, recent info confirms a third marriage and divorce for Allan Lane. Details below.


Gladys Leslie

The name "Gladys Leslie" appears in Lane biographies, but no info is available on who she was and where/when Lane met her, married her, etc. The first place to check was the Internet Movie Database which has a record for one actress named Gladys Leslie (1899-1976) who did many silent films for Vitagraph and was known as "The Girl with the Million Dollar Smile". Her Hollywood career ended around 1925. The IMDB link for her is: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504109/

This mystery has now been solved thanks to Rick Schneider who also provided the photo on the right of his Aunt Gladys. He writes:

"I saw your web page on Allan Lane while doing some family research and I thought you might want to know that the mysterious wife named Gladys that you wondered about was my aunt. Her name was Gladys Schneider and she had been an actress and dancer in New York City with one notable role that I am aware of: the female lead in one of the many casts of the long-running Broadway play "Tobacco Road." She met Lane, probably in California because I know she went there to do some screen tests, and their marriage was brief.

I'm pretty certain that she was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1914. The 1930 census shows Gladys living in Bronx, New York with grandparents and her older sister Willie May. Both girls are listed as 'dancers in the theater'."

In some follow-up e-mails, Rick and Ye Old Corral webmaster speculated about Gladys in Hollywood. There is no date or other info on the back of her photo, but based on the hairstyle and clothing, it probably was taken in the early 1940s.


(Courtesy of Rick Schneider)



(From Old Corral image collection)
Sheila Ryan

Left is actress Sheila Ryan (real name: Katherine Elizabeth McLaughlin) (1921-1975) who was married to Lane for only a few months during 1945-1946.

A newspaper article from February, 1946 notes that Sheila and Lane were wed in Las Vegas on October 5, 1945 and she was filing for divorce because "We couldn't get along."

Sheila's 1950 marriage to Gene Autry sidekick Pat Buttram was much more successful.

There's a profile/bio on Sheila in the Leading Ladies/Heroines section on the Old Corral.


Emma J. Bushnell (nee Raimondo), screen name of 'Toni Raimondo'

In 2006, I received several e-mails referencing an Avon, Ohio obituary notice which mentions another marriage for Lane. Excerpts from that obituary follow:

"AVON - Emma J. Bushnell (nee Raimondo), 85, died Monday, April 24, 2006 ... She was born in Los Angeles, Calif., and lived in Manhattan Beach, Calif., for 50 years. She moved to Avon in November 2005. Mrs. Bushnell starred in the 1939 Ice Capades and acted in films ... She was married briefly to Allan ''Rocky'' Lane, an actor who had his own television show and comic book and was perhaps most famous as the voice of ''Mr. Ed.'' Mrs. Bushnell later moved to Hawaii, where she met her second husband, the late John Bushnell ...".

There is a biography and film listing on at the Internet Movie Database for 'Toni Raimondo', real name of Emma J. Bushnell (nee Raimondo). It mentions the Ice Capades, lists a few film appearances, and references the marriage to Allan Lane. The IMDB link for Toni Raimondo is at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0706890/

Steve Morenberg's mother-in-law was Emma Bushnell (nee Raimondo). Thanks to Steve for the Ice Capades photo of Emma shown on the right. He also provided several photos (not shown) of her film appearances as well as a copy of the May 26, 1955 Los Angeles, California divorce decree between Emma Raimondo Albershart (defendant) and Harry Leonard Albershart (plaintiff).


(Courtesy of Steve Morenberg)




HARRY LEONARD ALBERSHART (ALLAN LANE) WAS BORN SEPTEMBER 22, 1909

I received the Allan Lane Birth Certificate from the State of Indiana, Department of Health, in 1999. They provided two versions - a plain white copy of the original record (shown below), as well as a pale green official copy with the State seal and imprint. This confirms Lane's full name as HARRY LEONARD ALBERSHART, and his birthdate is September 22, 1909 ... not 1904 which is sometimes listed in Lane biographies. His parents were William Herman Albershart and Linnie Anne Dayhuff Albershart.

Pay particular attention to the line 26 on the birth certificate (shown below): number of children born to this mother is 4; number still living is 2 (which includes Lane's birth); number of children no longer living is 2.

Go to the following listing of births in St. Joseph County, Indiana: http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=1156&p=localities.northam.usa.states.indiana.counties.stjoseph
and you will find:

ALBERSHART, HARRY W born SEP 23, 1904
ALBERSHART, HARRY H born SEP 23, 1905
ALBERSHART, HARRY L born SEP 22, 1909

More mystery and more questions: There were two Harrys prior to Lane's birth, and both children passed away? All three Harrys have a September 22nd or 23rd birth date. And Lane was the third male offspring with the first name of Harry?


Below is the Social Security application that I received under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Comments on the application note that Lane left 20th Century Fox employ in June, 1937 before he filled out or filed the application. Lane's Social Security number is in the top right corner, but I've purposely masked that information.


Below is the top portion of the death certificate on Lane (and I've covered over Lane's Social Security number). Note the name "Harry Albershart, aka Allan Lane" in the first and last name boxes. His birth date is listed as 9/22/09 and last employer is the "Mr. Ed Company". He had been hospitalized for about two weeks and passed away at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital, Woodland Hills, California on 10/27/73. The cause of death was myelofibrosis, a bone marrow disorder where blood cells in the bone marrow are replaced with fibrous tissue. The Mayo Clinic website has a description of this medical condition: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/myelofibrosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20355057
Note his residence address of 941 Osage Avenue, Inglewood, California. A Google search identifies that address as Osage Towers Apartments. Am wondering if that apartment complex was Lane's last home or whether it was constructed after his passing.


Find A Grave website has a picture of the grave marker for Harry L. Albershart (Allan Lane) at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California, and the marker shows a birth year of 1909: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3824


(Courtesy of Jim Sorensen & Dale Crawford)

Thanks to Jim Sorensen and Dale Crawford for journeying out to Inglewood Park Cemetery, and taking the snapshot above of Lane's grave marker.
 

I cropped Dale and Jim's image and adjusted the contrast so you can better see the name and dates on the marker.


Regardless of the above, there remain questions and controversy over Lane's birth year, and many still believe that it was 1904.

Early on, I was a bit apprehensive about the 1909 year shown in the birth and death certificates and his grave marker. I viewed several of Lane's later films such as his last, EL PASO STAMPEDE (Republic, 1953). If Lane was born in '04, he would have been about 49 years old when he did that film. That would also have made him several years older than Gene Autry, who was born in 1907. Lane doesn't look like a man who was approaching the half-century mark. I also looked again at the Lane Red Ryder TV pilot which was lensed in 1955. If 1904 was correct, Rocky would have been about 51 when this pilot was filmed, and that's quite elderly for a cowboy hero. He doesn't look 51. Viewing Lane's later Republic films and the TV pilot convinces me that the 1909 birth year is correct. My guess is that he (or the studios) fudged the 1904 birth year at the start of his Tinseltown career in order to make him older, more mature. Remember that Lane's first film work occurred at Fox in 1929 when he was around 20 years of age.

Lane's parents were William Herman Albershart and Linnie Anne Dayhuff, and they were married July 11, 1903 in South Bend, Indiana. In addition to Lane, they also had a daughter named Helen May (or Mae) Albershart. Linnie Anne Dayhuff Albershart, was born in 1887 in Mishawaka, Indiana (St. Joseph County). At the time of her death in 1974, she was living in Los Angeles, California.

All four members of the family wound up in California ... and passed away there. Go to the In Search Of ... webpage on the Old Corral and then to the California Death Records database. There you will find records for:

  • Allan Lane: born Harry Leonard Albershart on 9/22/1909 in Indiana and passed away on 10/27/1973. There's a corresponding record in the Social Security Death Index, but the name listed is Allan Lane (not Harry Albershart).
  • Lane's father: William Herman Albershart, born January 26, 1877 in Ohio and passed away on April 30, 1955 in the Los Angeles area. This would appear to be Allan Lane's father. There was no record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).
  • Lane's sister: Helen Mae Hower, born January 26, 1907 in Indiana, Mother's maiden name of Dayhuff, Father's name of Albershart, and she passed away in the Los Angeles area on May 16, 1955. There was no record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Notice the spelling of her middle name: Helen Mae (not May) Hower.
  • Lane's mother: Linnie Anne (Dayhuff) married William Costello (1883-1979). The California Death Records has a record for: Anne L. Costello, born May 30, 1887 in Indiana and passed away April 13, 1974 in the Los Angeles area. There is a record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) and the Social Security number for her is that of her husband, William Costello.

Note that Lane's father and sister passed away within a couple of weeks of each other in 1955. And Lane's mother Linnie Anne passed away about six months after Lane's death.

Rick Albright checked the census information and found the following:

  • 1930: Allen (spelled with an "e") Lane, actor/motion pictures, age 22, born Indiana, parents born Kentucky and Indiana. Living alone at 1825 Argyle, Los Angeles, renting at $50 a month.
  • 1920: I had no luck finding him or his family (the only Albersharts were in Campbell, KY; connection uncertain but likely as the head of household's mom was born in Germany. This might be Allan's grandmother.
  • 1910: Harry Leonard Albershart, born in Indiana, is living with parents, father William H., born Ohio, parents born Germany, and wife Linnie Anne, born Indiana. They are in the City of Mishawaka, Penn Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana. See census sheet image below.
  • 1900: the only Albershart family is in Kentucky but no William H.

Below is an excerpt/crop from the 1910 census sheet taken April 15, 1910. It shows the Albershart Family: father William H., mother Linnie Anne, 3 year old sister Helen, and son Harry Leonard. The five columns to the right of the names stand for: male/female, race, age, married/single, and years married. For babies and very young children, census takers often report their age as ?/12 which signifies months since birth - for example, 7/12 would indicate seven months of age. The fractional age for Harry Leonard appears to be something like 7/17. That's probably a sloppily written 7/12. 7 months would be the approximate time between Lane's September 22, 1909 birth date and the April 15, 1910 census date. Regardless of what the fraction is, Harry Leonard Albershart was under a year old when this 1910 census was taken.

Having a difficult seeing 7/12? Here it 'tis enlarged:
Rotated 75 degrees to the right - you should now be able to see how the census taker wrote the number 12:




DID LANE GROW UP IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN?

The answer to Grand Rapids, Michigan is "maybe". In the 1910 census, Lane and the Albershart family are residing in Mishawaka, Indiana. However, I've yet to find a trace of the family in the 1920 census (perhaps they were missed by the census taker or a spelling error occurred when the census data was transcribed into digital content).

Lane's mother, Linnie Anne Dayhuff Albershart, is found in the 1930 census re-married and living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Between the 1910 and 1930 census, she was divorced from William Herman Albershart and wed William J. Costello.

In the 1920 census, the William J. Costello family includes wife Josephine and sons Justin, Thomas and James. Perhaps Josephine passed away or they divorced in the 1920s. The change occurs in the 1930 census - the Costello household includes sons Justin, Thomas and James as well as new wife Anne and stepdaughter Helen M. Wolven (who I assume is Lane's sister Helen May or Helen Mae). At that time, Lane is not with the family in Grand Rapids - in the 1930 census, he's in Los Angeles. Sometime between the 1920 and 1930 census, Lane's mother married Costello.

The Family Search website (free) and Ancestry.com (subscription) have census info:

Census information which I've been unable to locate:

  1. the 1920 census for the William H. Albershart family which might include wife Linnie Anne, daughter Helen May, and son Harry Leonard.
  2. the 1930 census for Lane's father, William H. Albershart (who turns up in California in the 1940 census and lists South Bend, Indiana as his 1935 residence).
  3. the 1940 census for Allan Lane (who may have been on location doing a film, and not home for the census taker).




LANE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

In September, 2012, I sent e-mails to the Mishawaka, Indiana and Grand Rapids, Michigan school administrations asking for any information on Harry Leonard Albershart..

Initial and follow-up replies from the Mishawaka, Indiana school system: "... we do have records that go back that far. We checked the transcripts and yearbooks from the 20's and could not find anything. Sorry." and "couldn't find anything else from School City of Mishawaka records."

Initial and follow-up replies from the Grand Rapids school system: "Unfortunately, we have been unable to track down the individual in question. Sorry." and "... some or all of the records (from the 1920s) were not available."

There is a mention in some newspaper or other article that Albershart may have attended grade or high school in South Bend, Indiana. In early October, 2012, I jotted off an e-mail to the South Bend school administration asking if they can check their records for Harry Leonard Albershart. There was no response.




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