Comic got his break thanks to Dave Allen

Don Lane, the American comedian whose Australian chat show made him a household name down under, has died at the age of 75.

Lane was working the clubs in the States when he got his first break in 1965, thanks to Dave Allen. The Irish comic quit his popular a talk show on Sydney’s TCN-9 in 1965 to be with his new wife in the UK – and Lane was drafted in as a replacement.

After a brief stint there, he returned to the US club circuit and performed in a TV sketch comedy series called The Ken Berry Wow Show, which also starred Cheryl Ladd and Steve Martin.

Lane came back to Australia in 1975, where he presented his own show until 1983, which became the highest ever rated variety programme on Australian TV and made Lane the country’s best-paid presenter.

In the late Eighties and early Nineties, he hosted other Australian programmes including You've Got to Be Joking, Late Night Australia and NFL broadcasts.

Lane was also a champion of psychics and the paranormal, as these clips show:

Last year, it was announced that Don Lane was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and had been living in a Sydney care home, where he died this morning.

Here is Paul Hogan paying tribute to Lane while he was still alive:

Published: 22 Oct 2009