Around the start of the 20th century, he built a toy theatre which people began to pay to see; during this time, Dane and his brother Reinald would perform for the crowds.

[11] Dane passed immigrant inspection and moved to 345 Court Street in Brooklyn with a friend named Charles Lindgren.

Dane then appeared in Warner Bros. anti-German sentiment film My Four Years in Germany as Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg.

[14] He then followed with the June Mathis-penned film To Hell with the Kaiser!, reprising his role as Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg.

Dane completed two more anti-German propaganda style films, The Great Victory, Wilson or the Kaiser?

He then quit acting and moved with Benson to Van Nuys, California, where they opened a chicken farm.

In December 1924, MGM casting director Robert McIntyre — who had previously hired Dane back at Vitagraph — recommended the actor for a role in King Vidor's latest project, The Big Parade.

The movie was a major success, both critically and financially, becoming the second highest grossing silent film of all time, making almost $6.5 million (approximately $118,554,000 today).

He began to appear in comic relief roles in several films including The Scarlet Letter (directed by Victor Sjöström and starring Lillian Gish), La Bohème (again directed by Vidor, and starring Gish, Gilbert and Adorée),[22] and Alias Jimmy Valentine with William Haines and Leila Hyams.

[23] Soon after signing his MGM contract, Dane began work on the Vidor film, Bardelys the Magnificent.

It was on this film that MGM executive Harry Rapf decided to pair the burly Dane with the slight English actor George K. Arthur.

He co-starred in the Dane & Arthur comedies and played character roles in dramatic films like The Trail of '98.

[25] Dane & Arthur's only talking MGM credit was a brief guest appearance in the all-star musical comedy The Hollywood Revue of 1929, and their skit was staged with very little dialogue.

In 1930, Dane had a supporting role in Montana Moon, a musical Western starring Joan Crawford and Johnny Mack Brown.

He followed with another supporting role (in which he had no dialogue) in the prison drama The Big House, starring Robert Montgomery, Wallace Beery and Chester Morris.

[27] In his final interview in September 1933, Dane claimed that MGM wanted to renew his contract but he declined as he had suffered a nervous breakdown.

[28] Although the Dane & Arthur series had been terminated by MGM, they did star in 10 sound films, albeit less prestigious short subjects.

In 1930, Dane & Arthur were signed by producer Larry Darmour[29] for six short-subject comedies, released through RKO Radio Pictures.

In July 1931, Dane & Arthur were signed for four more shorts to be produced at Paramount's New York studio,[30] beginning with The Lease Breakers (released in September 1931).

Dane's final film appearance was a bit role as a dispatcher in the 1933 thriller The Whispering Shadow, starring Bela Lugosi.

Dane's only living children were born during this union; son Ejlert Carl, in 1911 and daughter Ingeborg Helene in 1912.

Unable to cope with the loss of his wife and daughter, Dane rushed into a marriage with telephone operator supervisor Emma Awilda Peabody Sawyer, seven years his senior.

The couple began dating and eventually claimed to be married though they indeed never were (many sources incorrectly state that she was his legal wife).

Deeply depressed by this lack of success, Dane subsequently worked as a mechanic and as a carpenter, but he was unable to stay employed for an extended period.

Dane eventually bought a stake in the cafe after the owner thought that having a former film star as a co-owner would drum up business.

[32] Dane's former comedy partner, George K. Arthur, mentioned Dane's final venture in his memoir: Another man might have kidded and clowned and made a feature of being "mine host" in a restaurant, but when Karl opened his hot dog stand in Westwood his own feeling of despair must have been served across the counter with the hamburgers.

[34] When she was revived, Leake found Dane's suicide note on a nearby table, next to a scrapbook filled with memorabilia, including photos, reviews and contracts, from his acting career.

Fellow Danish actor Jean Hersholt stepped forward and insisted that MGM should pay for a funeral and burial.

[39] Many of Dane's films still exist today and a few are available on DVD including Son of the Sheik, The Big Parade, and The Whispering Shadow.

In the July 2007 biannual publication The Bridge (Volume 30 Number 1 2007), published by the Danish American Heritage Society, featured an article on Dane.