Alicia
Well-Known Member
Don Lane dead at 75
By Holly Byrnes, Media Writer
The Daily Telegraph October 22, 2009 2:22PM
The American-born Lane, best known for his work on the hugely successful Don Lane Show, had recently battled Alzheimer's Disease and is believed to have died at an Eastern suburbs care facility.
Friends told The Daily Telegraph the entertainer's health had taken a dramatic turn for the worse in recent days, with his ex-wife and manager Jayne Ambrose and adult son BJ by his side.
Born Morton Donald Isaacson in New York, Lane was embraced by local TV audiences as the "Lanky Yank,'' teaming with Bert Newton to form one of Australia's most loved and pionering comic duos.
His variety show ran on the Nine Network from the 1970s until 1983, before he moved on to champion the sport he loved, American NFL, hosting broadcasts for the ABC in the 1990s.
His brash interviewing style and song-and-dance man skills won him won more than 15 Logies during his career and in 2003 he was inducted in the Australian Logies Hall of Fame.
Concern was raised for his health last year, when it was rumoured he had dementia - later clarified as Alzheimer's, the degenerative disease which affects the brain and nervous system.
At that time, Nine Network boss David Gyngell paid tribute to Lane as "a true television legend, who is much loved and respected at the network.''
He was 75 and the entertainment legend was charismatic and funny until the very end, his close friend and biographer Janise Beaumont says.
"He didn't want this to happen, but he was still Don,'' Ms Beaumont told Macquarie Radio.
"And pretty much up to the end he was very tactile ... he loved hugs, he still could make eye contact, still be funny, still be charismatic - but this bastard of Alzheimer's...
"We've got to find a cure.
"I'll go on any committee, I'll dress up in a chicken suit to raise money to help find a cure because it robs people of so much.''
Ms Beaumont said she noticed Lane was ``starting to be a bit fragile'' when she began working on his biography more than three years ago.
"A lot of people did drop off like flies in Don's life, and I know that above all else Don would want me to say to people `if you know anybody with Alzheimer's, there's still a person in there, and don't walk away from them','' she said.
She said she had been friends with the American-born television personality for almost 40 years.
"I know him incredibly well and I love him very much,'' she said.
"I preferred the world with him in it.''
Ms Beaumont said she was proud of Lane for completing the book because it had been hard for him at times.
"But he had such a story to tell, such a story about adventures, talent and dreams, and a lot of women,'' she said.
"He was so charismatic and I am one of the women who fell under his spell for a short time many years ago ... but that was nothing compared to the friendship.''
A private funeral service with very few in attendance would be held tomorrow, but a public memorial would be held "down the track'', Ms Beaumont said.
By Holly Byrnes, Media Writer
The Daily Telegraph October 22, 2009 2:22PM
The American-born Lane, best known for his work on the hugely successful Don Lane Show, had recently battled Alzheimer's Disease and is believed to have died at an Eastern suburbs care facility.
Friends told The Daily Telegraph the entertainer's health had taken a dramatic turn for the worse in recent days, with his ex-wife and manager Jayne Ambrose and adult son BJ by his side.
Born Morton Donald Isaacson in New York, Lane was embraced by local TV audiences as the "Lanky Yank,'' teaming with Bert Newton to form one of Australia's most loved and pionering comic duos.
His variety show ran on the Nine Network from the 1970s until 1983, before he moved on to champion the sport he loved, American NFL, hosting broadcasts for the ABC in the 1990s.
His brash interviewing style and song-and-dance man skills won him won more than 15 Logies during his career and in 2003 he was inducted in the Australian Logies Hall of Fame.
Concern was raised for his health last year, when it was rumoured he had dementia - later clarified as Alzheimer's, the degenerative disease which affects the brain and nervous system.
At that time, Nine Network boss David Gyngell paid tribute to Lane as "a true television legend, who is much loved and respected at the network.''
He was 75 and the entertainment legend was charismatic and funny until the very end, his close friend and biographer Janise Beaumont says.
"He didn't want this to happen, but he was still Don,'' Ms Beaumont told Macquarie Radio.
"And pretty much up to the end he was very tactile ... he loved hugs, he still could make eye contact, still be funny, still be charismatic - but this bastard of Alzheimer's...
"We've got to find a cure.
"I'll go on any committee, I'll dress up in a chicken suit to raise money to help find a cure because it robs people of so much.''
Ms Beaumont said she noticed Lane was ``starting to be a bit fragile'' when she began working on his biography more than three years ago.
"A lot of people did drop off like flies in Don's life, and I know that above all else Don would want me to say to people `if you know anybody with Alzheimer's, there's still a person in there, and don't walk away from them','' she said.
She said she had been friends with the American-born television personality for almost 40 years.
"I know him incredibly well and I love him very much,'' she said.
"I preferred the world with him in it.''
Ms Beaumont said she was proud of Lane for completing the book because it had been hard for him at times.
"But he had such a story to tell, such a story about adventures, talent and dreams, and a lot of women,'' she said.
"He was so charismatic and I am one of the women who fell under his spell for a short time many years ago ... but that was nothing compared to the friendship.''
A private funeral service with very few in attendance would be held tomorrow, but a public memorial would be held "down the track'', Ms Beaumont said.
