Nathan Lane

Lane made his film debut in 1987's "Ironweed," and he spent the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s playing secondary roles in films like "Joe Versus the Volcano" (1990), "Frankie and Johnny" (1991), and "Addams Family Values" (1993). During this time, his stage career was thriving. In addition to his celebrated turn in "Guys and Dolls" (for which he won a Tony nomination, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), he frequently collaborated with playwright Terrence McNally. McNally cast him in a number of his plays, including "The Lisbon Traviata," in which Lane played an opera queen, and "Love! Valour! Compassion!," in which he starred as Buzz, an HIV-positive musical aficionado who provides much of the play's comic relief and genuine anger. The actor won particular acclaim for his portrayal of the latter character and took home Obie and Drama Desk Awards, as well as other honors, for his work.

In 1994, the same year that he starred in the stage version of "Love! Valour! Compassion!," Lane gained fame of a different sort, lending his voice to Timon, a hyperactive meerkat in Disney's animated "The Lion King." He reprised the role for the movie's 1998 sequel. Two years after playing a meerkat, Lane finally became widely visible to screen audiences as Robin Williams' flamboyantly limp-wristed lover in "The Birdcage," Mike Nichols' remake of "La Cage aux Folles." The film helped to establish Lane as a comic actor worthy of big-screen exposure.

At that time, he starring on Broadway in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." In 1997, he got to display his talents in the movie "Mouse Hunt." Unfortunately, the film was a relative disappointment as was "Encore! Encore!," a 1998 sitcom that cast the actor as a Pavorotti-like opera singer alongside Glenne Headly and Joan Plowright. However, Lane continued to work steadily, appearing both on stage and in film. In 1999, he could be seen in "At First Sight and Get Bruce," a documentary about comic writer Bruce Vilanch. The same year, he lent his voice in "Stuart Little," a live action/animated film adaptation of E.B White's celebrated children's book.