Lane battles illness with a laugh
Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 21 June 2008: 8.
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[Peter Faiman] said [Don Lane]'s personality was helping him deal with the condition. "He knows he has Alzheimer's, but he retains his sense of humour. It is a long road he's in for, but he's in very good care, and couldn't be better looked after -- or better liked by the people who are looking after him. He is a man of tremendous generosity. He is still always the performer, always the nice guy."
"There were very few people we didn't get on the show, every major act in the world was interviewed by Don," Mr [Bob Phillips] said. "The public were immensely curious about him. He wasn't a big star in America, but we didn't know that. We thought he knew all these people personally."
"We didn't like the idea of him living on his own," [Jayne Ambrose] said. "We put him in a facility where he is treated like a king. I love him to death. He's gorgeous, he's healthy and he's very happy. He's being looked after. We don't have to worry."
HE is the man Australia forgot.
Once the nation's highest-paid television performer, Don Lane was recently admitted to a care facility in Sydney suffering, friends say, from the early stages of Alzheimer's.
The thought that the larger-than-life "Lanky Yank", the man whose irrepressibly generous personality brought Hollywood glitz into Australia's lounge rooms during the 1970s and '80s, was taking up residence in an institution, brought a pang of nostalgia and a sense of mortality to his contemporaries.
There is no equivalent of Don Lane in Australia today, and for younger generations it is almost impossible to envisage just how big he was. Rove McManus may be popular, but he doesn't have the same Las Vegas pizazz.
With his sidekick, Bert Newton, the brash New Yorker developed an inspired mix of celebrity interviews, stunts and buffoonery that lasted for years. It was an era of massive salaries and giant expense accounts.
Born Morton Donald Isaacson in New York, Lane came to Australia in 1965, building a career as a leading nightclub performer before almost stumbling into television. He was invited to fill in for six weeks as a host of the Tonight Show for the Nine Network out of Sydney.
What was supposed to be a temporary sojourn in Australia led to him becoming one of the country's highest-profile entertainers, ultimately winning 15 Logies. In 1968, as well as winning best male personality and best show for his Tonight with Don Lane, he was charged with importing marijuana, but was successfully defended by then barrister Marcus Einfeld.
His career peaked with The Don Lane Show, which ran from 1975 to '83. It rated through the roof while sparking headlines and controversy. He notoriously told psychic debunker James Randi to "piss off" on national television, causing a furore.
Guests, including Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Kirk Douglas, Peter Sellers, Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder, Muhammad Ali and Bob Hope, provided Hollywood glitz, which Australia had never seen before. An appearance on The Don Lane Show would guarantee sellout shows for visiting performers.
Leading comedy writer Mike McColl Jones wrote gags for him through the '70s and '80s. "Promoters loved us," he recalls.
"There was nothing bigger than us. Australians would stay up in their droves and go to bed with a laugh."
Even prime ministers Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke went on the show.
Using the then new technology of satellite, the live crosses that he did into stars' homes and dressing rooms gave the impression he knew all the world's greatest performers.
Executive producer of The Don Lane Show Peter Faiman, best known for directing Crocodile Dundee, still sees Lane regularly. His wife, Jennifer Jobson, is Lane's best friend and confidant, visiting him everyday.
"Everyone forgets the massive influence of the show," Faiman said. "It regularly produced headlines around Australia. He was surprising, unpredictable, always affable, always warm, always extremely open.
"He was unquestionably one of the major players in defining night-time entertainment in Australia. He was volatile, but at the same time always professional and personally very charming."
Friends say Lane's condition has slowly worsened, but there was no defining point at which the illness became obvious.
Faiman said Lane's personality was helping him deal with the condition. "He knows he has Alzheimer's, but he retains his sense of humour. It is a long road he's in for, but he's in very good care, and couldn't be better looked after -- or better liked by the people who are looking after him. He is a man of tremendous generosity. He is still always the performer, always the nice guy."
Bob Phillips, producer of The Don Lane Show, said Lane always loved women, and in return was loved by them. His recent illness had come as a shock to friends partly because he was a "total health nut" who rarely drank, built his own tennis court and hired a tennis coach, and was always downing vitamin supplements.
"There were very few people we didn't get on the show, every major act in the world was interviewed by Don," Mr Phillips said. "The public were immensely curious about him. He wasn't a big star in America, but we didn't know that. We thought he knew all these people personally."
Manager and agent Jayne Ambrose was married to Lane 20 years ago, "briefly, long enough to get a baby".
Their son "PJ" has become a professional basketball player in Greece, and is currently in Australia. He frequently visits his father.
"We didn't like the idea of him living on his own," Ambrose said. "We put him in a facility where he is treated like a king. I love him to death. He's gorgeous, he's healthy and he's very happy. He's being looked after. We don't have to worry."
Credit: John Stapleton, Graeme Blundell
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