• Played the Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz in Concert" (1996) Co-host of 1995 Tony Awards Telecast Host of 1996 Tony Awards Telecast
• Originally named Joseph Lane, he changed his name because he heard of another actor named Joseph Lane. He chose the name Nathan after the character of Nathan Detroit from the Broadway musical "Guys and Dolls". Coincidentally, he later played that role in the hugely successful 1992 revival of "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway.
• Starred on Broadway as Max Bialystock in "The Producers" and Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Zero Mostel played both characters in the earlier film versions. He won Tony Awards for both roles. When he accepted his second Tony, he looked up and thanked Mostel's "spirit" for inhabiting him somehow.
• Won a Tony award for his role in "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum".
• May 28, 1991: Starred in the first production of Terrence McNally's play "Lips Together, Teeth Apart" with Swoosie Kurtz, Christine Baranski, and Anthony Heald.
• Attended St. Peter's Preparatory High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. Class of 1974, where he was voted "Best Actor."
• Father was a New Jersey police officer.
• His second Broadway show was "Merlin," one of the most notorious, expensive flops in Broadway history. The show was conceived as a vehicle for the magic of Doug Henning, with Henning in the title role; other stars of the production included Chita Rivera and a young Christian Slater.
• Won two Tony Awards as Best Actor (Musical): in 1996 for playing Pseudolus in a revival of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum;" and in 2001 for playing Max Bialystock in "The Producers, the new Mel Brooks musical." He was also nominated in the same category in 1992 for playing Nathan Detroit in a revival of "Guys and Dolls."

Nathan Lane is one of the theatre's most honored actors and has also earned acclaim for his work on the screen. On Broadway, he most recently starred in the record-breaking smash hit musical The Producers. Lane's creation of the role of Max Bialystock for the stage brought him the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Actor.

Lane had previously won the 1996 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his show-stopping performance in the successful Broadway revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He had earlier received the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards, as well as a Tony nomination, for his portrayal of Nathan Detroit in the 1992 revival of Guys & Dolls. His Broadway credits also include the recent revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor, On Borrowed Time, Some Americans Abroad, Merlin, The Wind in the Willows, and Present Laughter, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination. In addition, he won the Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards for the off-Broadway production of The Lisbon Traviata, and, in 1992, was awarded an Obie for Sustained Excellence for his work off-Broadway.

On the big screen, Lane won an American Comedy Award and earned both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his performance in Mike Nichols' hit comedy The Birdcage. He also lent his vocal talents to the role of Timon in the animated blockbuster The Lion King, and to the cat, Snowbell, in the family favorites Stuart Little and Stuart Little 2. He more recently starred in Nicholas Nickleby, and includes among his other film credits Trixie, Love's Labour's Lost, Isn't She Great, Mouse Hunt, Jeffrey, Addams Family Values, Life with Mikey, Frankie and Johnny, He Said, She Said and Ironweed.

Lane has also been recognized with two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his work in The Lion King's Timon and Pumba and Teacher's Pet. His other television appearances include Showtime's Laughter on the 23rd Floor, the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of The Boys Next Door, and the Great Performances presentation of Terrence McNally's The Last Mile.