EXCLUSIVE: Broadway Star Nathan Lane Admits Mom Was 'Manic and In and Out of Mental Hospitals' After Actor's Father 'Drank Himself to Death'
Nathan Lane discussed his mother and all she went through following his dad's death.
April 16 2025, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
Nathan Lane revealed his mother, Nora, found herself in mental hospitals following the death of his father at a very young age.
The legendary stage and big screen actor opened up about his dark family past, touching on his dad's heavy addiction to alcohol before his passing, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Lane discussed his mother's mental state following the death of his father.
When discussing his childhood while on the Conan O'Brien podcast, Conan Needs a Friend, Lane revealed: "My mother had me when she was 40 and not long after (my father) started drinking really heavily and essentially drank himself to death.
"My mother then sort of had a kind of breakdown after his death and her own mother's death and she eventually was diagnosed as bipolar. Then it was called manic depression."
"So it was it it was a difficult childhood in that I had to grow up fast," the acting legend continued. "I sort of became the adult. My two older brothers were going to college They were sort of on the way out although they were very much involved in helping."
Lane said at one point it was just him and his mother living together: "She was going through these phases of of depression and then manic behavior and it was and in and out of mental hospitals."
The Lion King star revealed he "didn't have much of a relationship" with his father, who died when Lane was just 11 years old.
The 69-year-old recalled: "I can remember saying to my oldest brother, Dan... you know we were going to the funeral and I said I was upset and I told him, 'I can't cry. I'm supposed to be crying now. My father died and I can't cry.'
"And he said, 'That's all right. You feel how you feel... that that's not important."
Lane has opened up about his life in the past, previously revealing how he went about coming out to his mother.
The stage actor recalled not crying during his father's funeral.
He told Montclair Local: "I came out to her when I was 21. I was about to move to New York. I was in a relationship, my first one. I didn’t date in high school, I was a very late bloomer.
"I didn’t want to upset her. She had been through a lot."
Despite being "very close" to his mother, Lane admitted he "wasn't ready to do it."
He said: "I didn’t want to burden her with that information. When I was about to leave home – aside from wanting to move to New York – I was in a relationship with a man. I sat her down and told her.
"She was shocked. You have to understand the context of how shocked she was. She was just devastated. She said, 'I would rather you were dead.' I said, 'I knew you’d understand.'"
According to the Tony award winner, his mother and brother "all came to terms with it and have been very supportive of it. Even she was supportive in her way, though she have preferred otherwise. She met anyone I was involved with."
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Lane – here with Robin Williams in 'The Birdcage' – came out to his mother when he was 21 years old.
Lane has been married to theatrical producer Devlin Elliott since 2015.
