AJN STAFF

AROUND 800 fans packed into the South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club today to take part in a public memorial for entertainer Don Lane who died last month of a dementia-related illness, aged 75.

On stage at the League Club, linked to Lane’s beloved Rabbitohs, the star-studded tribute was led by his son PJ, and featured reminiscences from Lane’s A-list friends, including Bert Newton, Rhonda Burchmore, Helen Reddy, Toni Lamond, Tony Pantano and Mike McColl Jones.

Fans had begun gathering at the venue from 6.45am and were admitted free, but were asked to make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association of NSW.

Lane’s former wife Jayne Ambrose thanked his supporters for attending and distributed copies of his autobiography.

Born Morton Donald Isaacson in New York in 1933, Lane forged a national TV, radio and cabaret career in Australia.

Lane had a closeknit group of Jewish friends in Sydney, and  quietly championed Jewish causes, beginning with local aid efforts during the Six-Day War, two years after his arrival in Australia in 1965.
Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins of Emanuel Synagogue led Lane’s funeral at Macquarie Park Cemetery on Friday October 23. He read a eulogy from Lane’s biographer, Janice Beaumont.