John Francis Lane

John Francis Lane (1 December 1928 – 15 January 2018)[2] was an English journalist, critic and actor. He was known for being a small-part actor in many Italian films,[3] and as a contributor to The Guardian writing obituaries for Italian cultural figures.[1]

John Francis Lane
Born	(1928-12-01)December 1, 1928 Whitstable, Kent, England
Died	January 15, 2018(2018-01-15) (aged 89) Cosenza, Calabria, Italy
Education	Royal Grammar School Worcester Dulwich College
Alma mater	Sorbonne, Paris University of Florence[1]
Occupation	Actor, film writer, critic, journalist
Employer	The Times The Guardian The Economist Il Quotidiano (Cosenza)

What I enjoy most about living in Italy is that you never know quite when theatre ends and reality begins. I suppose it was also true in my private life.

—John Francis Lane

Biography

Lane was born in Tankerton, a suburb of Whitstable in Kent, to a middle-class family in 1928. He became a boarder at the Royal Grammar School in Worcester, and towards the end of the Second World War attended Dulwich College in London.[4] He then had a spell as a stage manager in London's West End.

Lane first visited Italy in 1949, following a German boyfriend from Paris, where he was then studying at the Sorbonne. After learning Italian at the University of Florence, he had settled in Rome by 1951, finding Italy more tolerant of his homosexuality than the Britain of the time.[1][4] Learning Italian in Florence, he became entranced by the country after seeing Franco Zeffirelli's production of Troilus and Cressida. Zeffirelli later became one of his boyfriends.

He was made a Cavaliere in the 1975 Italian Order of Merit.

In retirement Lane lived in the town of Rende in the region of Calabria. He wrote frequently on Italian life for The Economist.[1] His memoir, To Each His Own Dolce Vita, was published in 2013.[4]

Lane died in January 2018 in Cosenza in southern Italy.[5] Knowledge he had died was delayed and only emerged following the end of Zeffirelli's life.[4]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1960	La Dolce Vita	Reporter	Uncredited
	Run with the Devil	Joe Freeman	As Francis Lane
	The Passionate Thief
1961	The Wastrel	Invitato festa
1962	The Witch's Curse	Coachman	As Francis Lane
	Il Sorpasso	Alfredo
	The Two Colonels
1963	8½	Il giornalista	Uncredited
1966	El Greco	De Agueda
1967	The Rover	Captain of the Port
1968	A Quiet Place in the Country	Asylum Attendant	Uncredited
1970	Don Giovanni	Narrator	Voice As J. Francis Lane
1972	The Canterbury Tales	The Friar
	Roma	Himself
1973	Lucky Luciano	Journalist	As John F. Lane
1974	Moses the Lawgiver	Egyptian Consul
1979	Dear Father	Direttore giornale	Uncredited
	Caligula	Maitre d' at Proculus' Wedding	Uncredited
1983	Another Time, Another Place	Farmer
1987	Good Morning Babylon
1990	Saturday, Sunday and Monday
1991	Faccione	Samuel

Bibliography

• To Each His Own Dolce Vita. Bear Claw Books. 2013. ISBN 9780957246249.

References

1. Mayes, Ian (24 June 2019). "John Francis Lane obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
2. "John Francis Lane". BFI. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
3. "John Francis Lane". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
4. "John Francis Lane obituary". The Times. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
5. Codelli, Lorenzo (18 June 2019). "Letter: John Francis Lane was the ultimate film industry insider". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 July 2019.

External links

• John Francis Lane on IMDb