http://www.theage.com.au/national/tv-legend-don-lane-dead-20091022-hamw.html?autostart=1
Entertainment legend Don Lane was charismatic and funny until the very end, his close friend and biographer Janise Beaumont says.
Lane, 75, died this morning after battling Alzheimer’s disease.
‘‘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.’’
A private funeral service with very few in attendance would be held in Sydney tomorrow, but a public memorial would be held ‘‘down the track’’, Ms Beaumont said.
His manager Jayne Ambrose said the Gold Logie winner passed away this morning.
‘‘His son is devastated and Australia has suffered a great loss today,’’ she said.
Last year, it was reported that Lane had been admitted to a care facility in Sydney.
Born in New York, he emigrated to Australia in 1965.
Lane was originally hired to fill in for someone at Channel Nine for six weeks. He went on to become one of the country’s most popular stars and at one time was the highest paid person on Australian television.
Celebrities, including Robin Williams, Billy Connolly, Dame Edna, Tony Curtis, Peter Sellers and Kiss all appeared on The Don Lane Show, which became must-see late night entertainment between 1975 and 1983.
In 2003 he spoke to the ABC about his on-screen chemistry with fellow entertainer Bert Newton, describing it as ''magic''.
‘‘We were magic from the time he walked out from the curtain …you don't try to explain those things. You just take them and you use them and you enjoy them and most of all you appreciate them, because they don't happen often, they happen once in a rare while,’’ Lane said.
He was married twice and had a son, PJ.
PJ Lane had been booked to sing at an Alzheimer's Australia charity concert at Toorak's Trak Centre tonight to honour his father.
PJ Lane gave up a promising basketball career in the United States and Europe to move to Sydney to be with his father, he told Woman’s Day in June.
Five months ago, he said his father was still in good spirits and making jokes but he had decided to relocate closer to his father as his dementia was expected to worsen.
In the late 1960s, Lane was charged with importing marijuana. He strenuously protested his innocence, claiming that a vengeful former business associate had planted the drugs in his jacket pocket. He was eventually found not guilty, after being defended by barrister Marcus Einfeld
Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:56 pm
