He was the lanky Yank who became a television legend.
For almost a decade The Don Lane Show ruled Australian television.
Away from the cameras, Don could wish for no greater sidekick than this little bloke. His son, PJ.
The Don Lane Show finished in 1983, only a year before PJ was born.
His arrival offset the massive sadness that engulfed Don when his show was canned.
That disappointment stayed with him for years.
“We moved to a house in about 1989, he had this massive studio, and it was packed with boxes and tapes and photos of everything of The Don Lane Show,” PJ said.
“When we moved out in 2001 and those boxes hadn’t been unpacked, he was too emotional to open those boxes.”
Don would be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2007, and died two years later.
He was 75.
Far from succumbing to his grief, PJ began working on a stage tribute to his dad.
“I like to call it a heartfelt, spectacular, that’s what it is,” PJ said.
Tickets to PJ Lane’s tribute show can be bought here.
