Toni Lamond AM (born as Patricia Lamond Lawman; 29 March 1932) is an Australian former vaudevillian, cabaret performer, singer, actress, dancer, comedian, writer and television and radio personality. She had a successful career spanning over 80 years, both locally and internationally including in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Lamond, who comes from a family involved in the performing arts, started her career as a

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in film, movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associa ...

vaudeville/variety entertainment aged ten and was the first woman in the world to host a midday show. The second was her younger half-sister

Helen Reddy Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a show business family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on ra ...

. Alongside her showbiz contemporaries

Jill Perryman Jill Perryman (born 30 May 1933) is an Australian retired actress, singer and dancer with a career that spanned 70 years. Perryman is from a family of show business performers; her sister was actress Diana Perryman and her son is media persona ...

and Nancye Hayes, Lamond has been called one of the three grand dames of Australian musical theatre, and in her prime a talent that could rival

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

Biography

Early life

Lamond was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 29 March 1932 to actress and comedian Stella Lamond (1909-1973) and actor father Joe Lawman, as Patricia Lamond Lawman. She learned to tap dance at 8 and began her professional career aged 10 when she sang on the radio while touring with her vaudevillian parents in variety shows.

Theatre and variety

Lamond worked on the Tivoli Theatre circuit, the Brennan-Fuller Vaudeville Circuit and J. C. Williamson's and was a staple of touring mainstream theatre since 1951. Her first stage performances were at the Tivoli Theatre in Sydney. Her first performances as a leading lady were with English comedian

Tommy Trinder Thomas Edward Trinder (24 March 1909 – 10 July 1989) was an English stage, screen and radio comedian whose catchphrase was "You lucky people!". Described by Cultural history, cultural historian Matthew Sweet (writer), Matthew Sweet as "a cocky ...

in '' The Tommy Trinder Show'' in 1952. She also starred in Australian productions of ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

'', '' Annie Get Your Gun'', ''

The Pajama Game ''The Pajama Game'' is a musical based on the 1953 novel '' 7½ Cents'' by Richard Bissell. The book is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell; the music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Dances were staged by Bob Fosse in his chor ...

'', and '' Gypsy: A Musical Fable.'' Lamond was given the nickname 'Lolly-Legs' by entertainer, Noel Ferrier, who stated she had the "second best legs in the industry" when she featured on ''

In Melbourne Tonight ''In Melbourne Tonight'', also known as ''IMT'', was a highly popular nightly Logie award-winning Australian variety show, variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970. Overview Graham Kennedy was the show's mai ...

TV first and Screen

Lamond was a regular in a number of 1960s and 70s television shows, such as '' Number 96'' in a controversial black mass storyline and

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy Order of Australia, AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, radio and television host as well as a personality and actor of theatre, television and film. He wa ...

's ''

''. She compèred her own ''IMT'', becoming the first woman in the world to compère a variety television show in 1961 and the following year. In 1986, she appeared on the US television fiction crime series ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'' starring

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...

in the episode "Murder in the Electric Cathedral". She also appeared in films including telemovies and features such as the 2007 '' Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance''.

International career, recordings and stage

Lamond travelled to the United Kingdom, where in a similar vein to entertainer Lorrae Desmond, she appeared in the British

night club A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

and cabaret, circuit and on BBC-TV and

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

. She also recorded two singles for record label;

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In the mid-1970s, Lamond moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where she appeared in musicals and television shows. She debuted on the New York stage with a production ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

'' at the age of 67. On her return to Australia in the mid-1990s, she performed in shows including '' 42nd Street'', ''

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 3 ...

'', and ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

''. In April–May 2008, she appeared in an autobiographical one-woman show, ''Times of My Life'' (co-written with her son Tony Sheldon), at the Seymour Centre in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Publications

Lamond has written several autobiographical books, including ''First Half'' (1990), ''Along the Way'' (2002), and ''Still a Gypsy'' (2007). The first book went to the top of the bestseller list in eight days. In July 2010, Lamond was a headline act in the inaugural

Melbourne Cabaret Festival The Melbourne Cabaret Festival is a not-for-profit cabaret festival that has been held each year since 2010 in the city of Melbourne in Australia and that by 2013 had grown to become the world's second-largest event of its kind. The festival was l ...

Notable work

She joined the

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). History The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestr ...

with Trisha Crowe, Michael Falzon, Amanda Harrison, Lucy Maunder, Andy Conaghan, and others to record ''I Dreamed a Dream: The Hit Songs of Broadway'' for

ABC Classics ABC Music is Australia's largest independent record label. It operates under the ABC Commercial division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It covers a wide range of music genres, including classical, children’s and adult conte ...

, released on 21 June 2013. Lamond sang " Send in the Clowns" from

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

's '' A Little Night Music''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Television (as self)

Theatre

Publications

Awards and honours

Actors Equity president

Simon Burke Simon Gareth Burke (born 8 October 1961) is an Australian actor, active in films, television and theatre. Biography Simon Burke began his career at the age of 12, starring in Michael Cove's ''Kookaburra'' (1974); a painful look at a dysfuncti ...

says: "Toni is a truly legendary Australian performer whose phenomenal career has spanned vaudeville, musical theatre, television, and cabaret. She is also a wonderful human being who has given back to her community, to her colleagues, and to her industry in every way she can."

Showbusiness family

Lamond has a significant pedigree within the Australian performing arts. She is the daughter of Stella Lamond (''

Homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

'' and '' Bellbird'') and Joe Lawman, both vaudeville entertainers. Her parents divorced when she was seven and Stella remarried Max Reddy (''Homicide''), whilst Lawman married soubrette Joy Robbins. Therefore through her step-father she is a half-sister to the late singer

, whom she raised as a surrogate mother while their parents were performing. Her son is actor and writer Tony Sheldon.

Personal life

She married performer Frank Sheldon in 1954, but in 1966 shortly after a separation, he took his own life. An addiction to prescription drugs followed, and she was a patient at Chelmsford Private Hospital, where she underwent deep sleep therapy. She overcame and publicly discussed the issue in an episode of '' The Mike Walsh Show'', becoming one of the first Australian media personalities to do so.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamond, Toni 1932 births Living people Australian stage actresses Australian television actresses Australian women singers Helpmann Award winners Members of the Order of Australia Singers from Sydney Australian people of Scottish descent Australian women comedians Comedians from Sydney Actresses from Sydney