Nathan Lane is one of the most diverse actors to ever work in Hollywood. Although primarily steeped in the world of theater, Lane has tallied 85 film and TV credits since making his small-screen debut via Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls in 1981. Among those titles, Lane has done comedy, drama, animated voice-work, documentaries, children and family films, you name it.
Up next for Lane is a plum role on Network's brand new spinoff series Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, which is set to premiere on April 26, 2020. To get us all ready for the show, here are Nathan Lane's 10 Best Movies, According to Rotten Tomatoes!
Get Bruce (1999) 71%
The 1999 documentary Get Bruce chronicles the invaluable creative force behind Hollywood joke-writer and awards-season maven, Bruce Vilanch. Nathan Lane appears as himself to pay heartfelt tribute to the titular honoree.
Lane joins the heavyweight likes of Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, Michael Douglas, and more as they celebrate the immeasurable contributions Vilanch has made as a brilliant behind-the-curtains brain responsible for some of the funniest jokes your favorite celebrities have made in public.
No Pay, Nudity (2016) 71%
Lee Wilkof's tragic-comedy No Pay, Nudity concerns the spiritual journey of faded actor Lester Rosenthal (Gabriel Byrne) suffering through a cancer diagnosis. After burning all the bridges in his life, Lester finally realizes the only way to overcome his illness is by facing it head-on.
Lane plays Herschel, one of Lester's three closest friends who help him put the pieces of his tattered life back together. Along with Stephan (Boyd Gaines) and Andrea (Frances Conroy), Lester finally learns what it means to live.
Addams Family Values (1993) 76%
Although he plays a minor role in the film, Lane joined the star-studded ensemble of Addams Family Values along with Joan Cusack, David Krumholtz, and Christine Baranski.
Stroy-wise, the hilarity ensues when Fester is seduced by a conniving gold-digger named Debbie Jellinsky (Cusack). As Fester falls further in love, his concerned family tries to break up the couple by whatever means necessary. As for Lane, he plays a mere Desk Sergeant who essentially makes a glorified cameo.
Teacher's Pet (2004) 76%
Lane earned top-billing playing dual voice-roles of Spot/Scott in the 2004 animated family film Teacher's Pet, a strange combination of Frankenstein and Pinocchio.
Spot/Scott is a dog who wants nothing more than to be a real boy. As such, he poses as a boy named Scott in his 4th-grade class at school. But when Spot's owner and teacher, Mrs. Helperman, decides to leave the dog behind on a field trip to Florida, the poor pooch must think fast in order to join the class and remain with the ones he loves.
Nicholas Nickleby (2002) 78%
The romantic adventures of Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby come to vivid life under the direction of Douglas McGrath in the eponymous 2002 movie starring a young Charlie Hunnam in the title role.
Upon the death of his father, Nicholas and his family move to London to enrich themselves. While en route, Nicholas meets Vincent Crummels (Lane), a theater owner and operator who casts the young boy in a production of Romeo and Juliet. Nicholas enjoys a successful premiere but ventures forward to London anyway.
The Birdcage (1996) 79%
Lane gives arguably his finest big-screen performance opposite Robin Williams in the hilarious remake of La cage aux Folles aka The Birdcage.
Directed by the late great Mike Nichols, the film follows the hysterical attempt of a gay cabaret operator and his drag-queen lover to feign heterosexuality in order to appease their son's fiancee's uptight parents. Armand (Williams) and Albert (Lane) have unmatched chemistry and pitch-perfect comedic timing in the film, for which Lane earned a Golden Globe nomination.
Stuart Little 2 (2002) 81%
Even before it was in vogue to do so, Lane lent his voice to a series of animated films in the '90s and aughts. One of the most well-received among them is Stuart Little 2, in which he reprised his role as Snowbell from the first film.
Co-starring Michael J. Fox, Geena Davis, and Hugh Laurie, the film focuses on Stuart's rescue of a canary named Margalo (Melanie Griffith) from a predatory falcon. Margalo moves in with the Littles, only to disappear one day, prompting Stuart and Snowbell to go on a harrowing search and rescue mission to return Margalo to safety.
Trumbo (2007) 83%
The influential magnitude of Dalton Trumbo's legacy in Hollywood is explored in great length and with great reverence in the 2007 documentary. Nathan Lane is on hand to celebrate the famously blacklisted Hollywood scribe.
Lane joins Michael Douglas, Brian Dennehy, Joan Allen, Liam Neeson, Paul Giamatti, and several others who had the fortune to work on a dramatic piece written by Trumbo. The film tracks Trumbo's time in jail for harboring communist beliefs, his time exiled in Mexico, and ultimately building his reputation back up to where it belongs.
The Lion King (1994) 93%
If The Birdcage features Lane's finest screen performance, then Timon in The Lion King has to register as Lane's best cinematic role of his entire career. In addition to the original film, Lane has reprised the role a dozen times over various media adaptations.
You know the story. When young lion cub Simba (Lane's Producers pal Matthew Broderick) is tricked by his conniving uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons) into believing his father Mufasa (James Earl Jones) has died, he sets off on a life-changing journey. Lane plays Timon, a meerkat who, along with warthog Pumbaa, rescue Simba after collapsing in the desert.
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (2014) 99%
Lane's 10 best movies, according to RT, begin and end with a celebratory documentary on the lifework of a fellow performer. Now that's synchronicity!
Shoot Me logs the decades-long career of stand-up comedienne Elaine Stritch is honored in great detail. The Tony and Emmy Award-winning Broadway queen broke the mold as a young female performer on stage, TV, and cinema screens during the 40s, where she thrived for many subsequent decades. Lane joins comedic titans such as Billy Crystal, Tina Fey, Ellen Degeneres, and many others who pay tribute to Stritch.