| Lane Nakano | |
| Birth Name: | Tsutomu Nakano |
| Birth Date: | 16 March 1925 |
| Death Place: | Sherman Oaks, California, US |
| Spouse: | Fumi Nakano |
| Children: | 2, including Desmond Nakano |
Lane Nakano (March 16, 1925 – April 28, 2005) was a former American combat soldier turned actor.
Nakano grew up in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Nakano had two brothers, Frank and Lyle and two sisters, May and Lucy.[1]
Nakano's family unofficially adopted legendary Marine Corps combat interpreter Guy Gabaldon at age 12. Gabaldon was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions on Saipan and Tinian islands during World War II which included saving the lives of many Japanese civilians on the two islands.[2] [1]
During World War II, following the signing of Executive Order 9066, Nakano and his family were interned at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming.[1] [3]
While Nakano was in the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, he volunteered for service in the U.S. Army. Nakano and his brother were assigned to the legendary and much decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
Nakano's opportunity to work as an actor began when he was discovered after the war by Hollywood director and writer Robert Pirosh. Pirosh cast Nakano as second billing after American actor Van Johnson in the 1951 war film about the history of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II, Go for Broke.[4]
Nakano was known as a singer in Los Angeles' Japanese-American community.
After he left acting, Nakano became vice president of the import-export firm Magna Industries, Inc., of Los Angeles.[5] For years, he also was involved in businesses related to greenhouses and aluminum siding.
Nakano married a woman named Fumi, and they had two sons, Dean Nakano and film director Desmond Nakano.
On April 28, 2005, Nakano died from emphysema in a hospital in Sherman Oaks, California at the age of 80.[6] [7]
Nakano's son, Desmond, wrote and produced the 2007 film American Pastime using Lane's experiences in internment camp as one source of historical information and naming the two lead characters Lyle and Lane. While the lead character is Lyle, Lane, the older of the two brothers, comes back from the 442nd missing a leg, and becomes the focal character in the final scene.