Who Was Lane Allen? Everything To Know About Betty White’s Spouse

Lane Allen (born August 4, 1914 – died August 5, 1995) was the second husband of Betty White, the renowned American actress who passed away in 2021. Lane’s real name was Albert Edward Wootten, and he was a Canadian-American actor, TV personality, entrepreneur, and talent agent. 

Allen ran a talent agency known as the National Concert and Artists Corporation in the 1940s until he went out of business in the 1980s. Aside from his failed marriage to Betty White, the late actor was married on two other occasions. Read on as we explore all there is to know about Betty White’s second husband.

Lane Allen Was Born In Canada

Lane Allen was born Albert Edward Wootten on August 4, 1914, under the sun sign of Leo, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He belonged to the Caucasian ethnic group, but while he was alive he identified as both a Canadian citizen and an American citizen. The first part was purely based on his birth and parental heritage while his status as an American citizen was earned primarily based on naturalization policy.

He was the second child of Canadian American couple Edwin Patrick Wootten and Olive Victoria Wootten. His father was a businessman, while his mother was reportedly a homemaker. The late actor was raised alongside an older brother named Edwin Patrick Wootten Jr. Family and public records show that the aforementioned older brother died in 1973.

Lane Allen spent most of his early life in his home city of Toronto in the state of Ontario, Canada. Details of his formal education are fuzzy at the moment. Still, certain sources claim that the late casting director bagged a degree in an unknown course from the University of Toronto. The factual accuracy of that assertion has yet to be confirmed.

He is Primarily Recognized as Betty White’s Second Husband

Certain celebrities are better known as the spouses of their more illustrious partners despite their accomplishments in the spotlight, and it would appear that Lane Allen belonged to this group of celebrities.

While he attained a level of popularity in his own right as an actor and a talent agent, among other career endeavors, the public knew Lane Allen as the ex-husband of popular Hollywood actress and comedian Betty White (January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021).

Born Betty Marion White, Lane Allen’s ex-wife was one of the top veterans of Hollywood with more than 100 movies and TV series credits to her name during a showbiz career that lasted more than 7 decades. The accounts detailing the early days of their relationship, including how, when, and where they met, have been swallowed up by other events that transpired in their lifetimes.

However, several public records have been able to preserve the date of their wedding, which took place on November 8, 1947. The late Golden Girls star was 27 years old at the time, while the late actor was just 6 years older. The match seemed like it would last the rest of their lives but sadly ended after just 2 years.

He Divorced Betty White Due To Her Refusal To Quit Show Business

Being steeped deep in the world of show business, Lane Allen understood what was required to succeed as an actor or actress in the case of his ex-wife, Betty White, and at the beginning of their time as a married couple, he was willing to support the late actress on the condition that when she started having children she would quit showbiz.

Allen seemed to have it all planned out in his mind, but his mistake was failing to find out what the late actress thought of that arrangement. When he eventually found out that White didn’t want children but was instead intent on having a long and thriving career in the very career he wanted her to quit, he couldn’t come to terms with it.

Ultimately, the former couple’s differences in family and career ideals led to the official dissolution of their marriage on July 17, 1949. They did not have children together. To put it plainly, Betty White never had children of her own.

Lane Allen Was Married Three Times In His Lifetime

While Lane Allen was Betty White’s second husband, following her first to a chicken farmer and World War II US pilot, Dick Barker, in 1945, the late actress was the deceased talent agent’s first. After his marriage to The Proposal star ended, Lane Allen was married twice more during his lifetime.

In 1954, he met and married actress Randy Stuart (real name: Elizabeth Shaubell). His wedding with the actress, best known for her role as Louise Carey in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), took place on June 25, 1954.

At this point, we feel it is important to point out that Lane Allen was Randy Stuart’s third husband following her marriages to Kenneth Smith (m. 1943 to d. 1945) and Edward Charles George (m. 1947 to d. 1954).

Allen and Stuart ended their marriage in April 1968 after six years as a married couple. On August 27, 1971, Lane Allen entered his third marriage agreement with Ramona Eileen McKay, and records show that that was his longest stay in a marriage. She stayed with him until his death on August 5, 1995.

He Had Three Children

Lane Allen was a loving father to three children – two daughters, Gina Lee Wootten and Laurie A. Wootten, and a son, Scott R. Wootten. Gina Wootten, the actor’s first child, died in 1996, just a year after the death of the casting director.

It’s worth noting that the late actor had all three of his children during his second marriage to actress Randy Stuart. On the other hand, Betty White became a stepmother to her late husband’s three children despite her initial aversion to motherhood.

What Was Lane Allen’s Net Worth Before His Death?

At the time of his death, Lane Allen had a net worth estimated to be around $1.5 million. For the most part, Lane Allen was known as an actor, but he was involved in quite a bit more than that. Before we explore the other avenues through which he made money, the late actor was best known for his roles in movies such as 77 Sunset Strip, Gemini Man, The 3,000 Mile Chase, The Young and the Restless, and several other movies and TV shows.

Allen worked as a talent agent and was the founder and owner of the talent agency National Concert and Artists Corporation. The agency worked with a lot of artists in showbiz from the 1940s to the 1980s, when it went out of business.

He was also a casting director and acted in that capacity for several productions, including Barnaby Jones, Project U.F.O., Little Mo, and more.