Rosemary Lane

The "middle girl" of Hollywood's Lane Sisters, Rosemary Lane was one of five children of an Indiana dentist. While older sister Lola pursued a career in vaudeville, Rosemary and younger sister Priscilla toured as vocalists with Fred Waring's orchestra. Rosemary made her screen debut in Warner Bros.' Varsity Show (1937), playing a temperamental screen queen who is replaced by the down-to-earth heroine -- played by none other than kid-sister Priscilla. The two siblings were teamed with Lola Lane in Four Daughters (1938) (the fourth daughter was played by Gale Page) and its 1939 spin-off Daughters Courageous. Projecting a more demure demeanor than Lola and a more mature image than Priscilla, Rosemary was the "dramatic" member of the family, playing imperiled heroines opposite James Cagney in The Oklahoma Kid (1939) and Humphrey Bogart in The Return of Dr. X (1939). She was given ample opportunities to display her superb singing voice in such films as The Boys From Syracuse (1940) and in the original Broadway production of Best Foot Forward. Illness forced Lane to give up her show-business career in the mid-1940s. Rosemary Lane was for several years married to makeup specialist Bud M. Westmore.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide