an introduction to lawrence j. z. dane

[miscellanium]

i talked a lot about lawrence dane in 2022 without actually taking the time to explain why him of all actors. granted, the posts in my rituals tag get into most of it, but the snowflake challenge made me realize it'd be a good idea to have it all in one place instead of spread out across reviews&c. that way i have a nice little introduction to link at the top of the review masterpost!

(photo by keith beaty for the toronto star, 1973)
 

lawrence joseph zahab was born april 3, 1937 to two lebanese immigrants in a town in quebec, canada, and raised in ottawa. he grew up very involved in his community - playing high school football, emceeing local events, trying out impersonations at talent shows, and eventually acting in community theater. he was the youngest of six children and his father died suddenly when he was just finishing high school. since he wasn't the oldest son and therefore didn't face the same expectations to care for his mother and sister, he had enough freedom to travel and pursue his interest in acting. he started out credited as larry or lawrence zahab but switched to using lawrence dane as a stage name during the mid-to-late 1960s, when he began focusing on television and film productions outside of canada. in his private life he seems to have always gone by larry. he had several friends, most notably canadian icon gordon pinsent, but stayed a bachelor most of his life; he appears to have been largely single or only had short-lived relationships until 1995, when he wedded a woman named mary laurel macintosh in las vegas. they stayed together until his death of pancreatic cancer on march 21, 2022 and they don't seem to have had any children, but by all accounts he was a lovely uncle to his extended family of nieces and nephews.

his most well-known roles are as braedon keller in scanners (1981) and as lt. preston in bride of chucky (1998). he was a not-infrequent guest on american television in the '60s and '70s, and he was in a handful of early john candy films. if you're a canadian over the age of 30 or 40, you've likely encountered him on television at some point, whether in a drama, sitcom, or advertisement.

"ok, so, what is it about him that caught your attention?" well, as will quickly become obvious if you read any of my reviews, he definitely meets my personal criteria for handsome/cute. i mean, check out that nose <3 and it helps that the peak of his career was more or less during a decade that is my favorite aesthetically. look at him!!



(in mission impossible: commandante, 1969)


(in the clown murders, 1976)


(in rituals, 1977)


(cropped reproduction of a press photo for running, 1979)


(in nothing personal, 1980)
 

my first real encounter with him was his impressive performance in the film rituals (1977). he takes a character that on paper might seem pretty obnoxious and gives us someone who feels fully realized, someone you could imagine meeting and even finding likable in your daily life. i really enjoyed the rest of the movie too; when i did a little research and learned that it was essentially a passion project for him i wanted to study him more. i mean, what kind of producer scrapes together the money for a movie where he gets brutally murdered?

i saw rituals for the first time in early march 2022, and after a couple weeks of excitedly sharing the movie with several people i learned that he'd passed away. something about that coincidence made me feel like i had a kind of spiritual obligation to help him get more of the recognition he deserved. i'll freely admit that he had an uneven career; he wasn't the kind of actor who could turn out a reliable performance no matter the material or director. but he gave it his best shot and when he was good, he was really good. however, several of his earlier roles were in media that is now considered lost or near-lost, meaning that he might have had some more great performances that are basically impossible to find or have not been preserved well. i've been working to research more of his background and track down what tv episodes/films might still be available because i enjoy digging around in libraries and archives - never mind that my access to canadian and british archives is limited due to my being outside of the country, i'm doing what i can and it's a fun challenge. (at this point i'm focusing on material that could be considered significant one way or another or on material that personally interests me - an example in action of the gaps&biases in archives! lol)


(photo by john eckert, assistant producer on the set of a film dane produced titled the rowdyman, 1972)

(during the production of rituals, 1977)

"all right, you've piqued my curiosity. where should i start?" glad you asked! that depends on what kind of media you like most - do you like episodic tv dramas? horror films? comedies? action flicks? he took on a pretty wide range of roles throughout his career. i haven't watched every single one yet but can still do my best to give personalized recommendations. that said, if you enjoy thrillers/psychological horror at all, you really should watch rituals (1977) where he co-stars with hal holbrook. just make sure you watch the version that keeps the character development! he's also very good in scanners (1981). if you prefer something like mission impossible, his turn in the 1969 episode "commandante" is fantastic. for lighter fare i'd suggest find the lady (1976) with john candy, though with the caveat that there's a few period-typical racist jokes (none really involves dane or candy directly, at least, and it's not nearly as bad as in the movie sixteen candles). i'll do a write-up of that one soon and link it here when it's done. 

so that's lawrence dane! as always i'm happy to answer any questions you might have, or to just fawn over him together lol. thanks for reading ^^

Comments

[muccamukk]

That's a great write up! I am a Canadian over 30, but we didn't have tv growing up, so I think I missed him entirely. Hopefully you can shake some archive stuff loose from up here.

[miscellanium]

thanks! frustrating that the toronto library system (or any library, tbh) has a residency requirement, but ah well. crossing my fingers for breakthroughs :D