Nathan's Filmography
- Swing Vote (2008) - PRE-PRODUCTION
- Nutcracker: The Untold Story (2008) as Uncle Albert - PRE-PRODUCTION
- "30 Rock" Episode: The Fighting Irish (2007) as Eddie
- The Producers (2005) as Max Bialystock
- "Absolutely Fabulous" Episode: White Box (2004) as Kunz
- Behind the Legend: Timon (2004) uncredited as Timon (voice)
- The Lion King 1½ (2004) as Timon (voice)
- Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004) as Richard Levy the Driven
- Teacher's Pet (2004) as Spot Helperman/Scott Leadready II/Scott Manly-Manning (voice)
- "Charlie Lawrence" (2003) as Charlie Lawrence
- Nicholas Nickleby (2002) as Vincent Crummles
- "Sex and the City" Episode: I Love a Charade (2002) as Bobby Fine
- Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) as Mysterious Disco Man
- Stuart Little 2 (2002) as Snowbell (voice)
- Laughter on the 23rd Floor (2001) as Max Prince
- "One Saturday Morning" (2001) as Timon (voice)
- "Teacher's Pet" (2000-2002) as Spot Helperman/Scott Leadready II (voice)
- The Man Who Came to Dinner (2000) as Sheridan Whiteside
- Trixie (2000) as Kirk Stans
- Titan A.E. (2000) as Preed (voice)
- Love's Labour's Lost (2000) as Costard
- Isn't She Great (2000) as Irving Mansfield
- Stuart Little (1999) as Snowbell (voice)
- At First Sight (1999) as Phil Webster
- "George and Martha (1999) as George
- The Best Man (1999)
- The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) as Timon (voice)
- "Encore! Encore!" (1998) as Joseph Pinoni
- "Mad About You" Episode: Good Old Reliable Nathan (1998) as Nathan Twilley
- Merry Christmas, George Bailey (1997) as Clarence
- Mousehunt (1997) as Ernest "Ernie" Smuntz
- "Saturday Night Live" Episode #23.8 (1997) - Host
- Timon and Pumbaa's Wild Adventure: Live and Learn (1997) as Timon (Voice)
- The Birdcage (1996) as Albert Goldman
- The Boys Next Door (1996) as Norman Bulansky
- The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1995) as The Cowardly Lion
- Jeffrey (1995) as Father Dan
- "Frasier" Episode: Fool Me Once, Shame on You, Fool Me Twice... (1995) as Phil
- Stand by Me (1995) as Timon
- The Lion King (1994) as Timon (voice)
- Addams Family Values (1993) as Desk Sergeant
- Life with Mikey (1993) as Ed Chapman
- The Last Mile (1992) as The Stage Manager
- Frankie and Johnny (1991) as Tim
- "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" Episode: Here's How to Break the Other Leg (1991) as Bing Shalimar
- He Said, She Said (1991) as Wally Thurman
- "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" Episode: Here Are Just a Few Things That Could Possibly Go Wrong (1990) as Herman in fantasy sequence
- The Lemon Sisters (1990) as Charlie Sorrell
- Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) as Ben, the Waponi Advance Man
- "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" Episode: Here's a Leisurely Stroll Through the Park (1989) as Bing Shalimar
- "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" Episode: Here's Why You Order from the Spanish Side of the Menu (1989) as Bing Shalimar
- Ironweed (1987) as Harold Allen
- "Miami Vice" Episode: Buddies (1985) as Monty Price
- Alice in Wonderland (1983) as Mouse
- One of the Boys" (1982) as Jonathan Burns
- Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls (1981) as Stage Manager
Nathan's Quotes
"I don't know what goes on in their heads out in Hollywood."
"I fell in love with the whole ritual. The lights going down, the curtain going up, telling a story to a large group of people in the dark. It was one of those moments where you think, 'I can do that.' You're in control on stage. And I love telling the whole story in one fell swoop. With movies, you never think, 'I nailed it.' In theater you get to go back and do it again, which to me is much more satisfying."
"There's not a day in my life I'm not proud of being gay but I just wasn't ready for that attention to be placed on it. I remember being on Oprah. Well, not on Oprah. Near Oprah. She started saying, 'Now, Nathan, you got all those girlie moves going down in The Birdcage, where's all that coming from? You're so good at all that girlie stuff!'"
[About working in the Broadway flop "Merlin"] "Doug Henning's greatest magic trick was making the audience disappear".
"You have to be loud...it's the theater." - asked by a reporter about his "loud" persona on stage.
[On being gay] "From the time I told my mother, I've been living openly. But really, I was born in 1956. I'm one of those old-fashioned homosexuals, not one of the newfangled ones who are born joining parades. My family referred to them as "fags", and that was it."
[Coming "Out" following the death of Matthew Shepard] "It was like somebody slapped me awake. At this point it's selfish not to do whatever you can....If I do this story and say I'm a gay person, it might make it easier for somebody else."
Trivia/Did You Know?
Nathan's birthname is actually Joseph! He heard there was another actor named Joseph Lane, so he named himself Nathan after the character "Nathan Detroit" from Guys and Dolls, a character he later played in the 1992 Broadway revival of the musical.
Birthday: February 3rd, 1956
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.
Nathan and Broadway co-star Matthew Broderick were awarded a joint star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 9th, 2006.
Since 1994, with the release of the first Lion King Movie (where Matthew was Adult Simba and Nathan was Timon), Broderick and Lane have appeared in numerous productions, films, and at events together. Is this the new Odd Couple? We can hope. They certainly are funny enough!