Arthur Kane

Arthur Kane (February 3, 1949 – July 13, 2004) was a musician best known as the bass guitarist for the pioneering glam rock band the New York Dolls. He stated in the 2005 documentary film New York Doll that his nickname, Arthur "Killer" Kane, was inspired by the first article written about the Dolls in which the journalist described Kane's "killer bass" playing. He also suggested that it was inspired by the adversary of (the 1930s science fiction hero) Buck Rogers, a villainous character named Killer Kane. In addition to his bass playing, Kane was known for his subculture fashion sense and for uttering original aphorisms in a his uniquely-toned voice.

Kane remained part of the Dolls from their founding in 1971 until he was forced out of the group shortly after the departure of Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan in 1975. In 2004, after decades of estrangement from Dolls singer David Johansen, Kane rejoined the surviving Dolls (Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain) to rehearse and play a reunion concert in London in 2004, which was the subject of the aforementioned 2005 documentary New York Doll.