Vale Toni Lamond
Vale Toni Lamond (29/3/32 - 29/11/25)
Toni Lamond has taken her final bow. A legend of Australian Entertainment, she made her mark across many platforms; television, film, theatre, cabaret, recording, concert, author and of course, musical theatre.
Peter Eyers Reports.
Toni Lamond takes with her the personas she assumed across a vast career – leaving us with memories of Reno Sweeney, Nancy, Mrs Pearce, Fraulein Schneider, Dolly Gallagher Levi, Mama Rose, Pirate Ruth, Maggie Jones, Hattie Walker, Bea Miles, Babe Williams, Wildcat Jackson, Sally Durant, and a Wardrobe named Madame de le Grande Bouche …. to name but a few.
Toni Lamond was a woman of firsts. In a time when overseas stars were brought to Australia to lead local productions of Broadway musicals, Toni was first to be given the opportunity to lead an Australian cast, in The Pajama Game. With husband, Frank Sheldon, she was the opening night act on GTV9 as Australian television was finding its feet. She went on to be the first woman to host a tonight show, when filling in for the legendary Graham Kennedy. She’s a descendant of Richard Morgan, one of the First Fleeters, and she even consented to be my very first guest on the STAGES podcast. Click here.
I first met Miss Lamond in 1995. I was a Musical Theatre student at The West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. I was sharing a house with classmate Matt Hetherington. Both of us were big fans of television variety in Australia and were certainly familiar with many of the names associated with the period and the shows that graced screens through the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Of course one of the artists synonymous with the format and who we were very familiar, was Toni Lamond. We’d heard that she was in town (Perth) playing the Burswood Casino. We definitely had to see her show. I rang up to see what time, and in which room, she’d be performing. “Could you tell me where I can see Toni Lamond?” I enquired. “Ah let me check that for you mate” came the reply from the casino clerk. “Here we go … he’ll be on at 9pm in the showroom”.
Matt and I arrived early at the showroom, anticipating a large assembly of audience. At 8:50pm, surveying the empty showroom, Matt queried … “You sure it’s 9pm start?” It did seem rather quiet. But at 9pm, Miss Lamond’s accompanist Paul White came out and attended the piano introducing the Lolly Legend herself – Toni Lamond. The show does go on indeed for a stylish trooper like Lamond.
And for the next hour she played the entire show to Matt and I. She instilled it with an energy as if she were playing to a house of thousands. Occasionally punters would wander in from the gaming room, sipping on their chosen poison, have a look and quickly meander back to a waiting poker machine. Fools! Do they not know what gold is paying off in this room? Lamond never faltered or was despondent in any way. Quiet please! There’s a Lady on stage!
At the conclusion of the show, and our rapturous applause, we felt we must meet the legend and thank her for what seemed like a show just for us. We ventured backstage and she met us with the most glorious welcome and thanked us for our attention to her. She was rapt to learn we were studying Musical Theatre at WAAPA. Miss Lamond was the real deal. Showbiz royalty. Generous of spirit and reeking of talent. I immediately felt that the students at WAAPA needed to meet this woman and invited her to see the campus the following day. “I’d love to darling!” We said our goodbyes, and I arranged to collect her the next morning from her hotel.
But first up next morning I had to see our Head of Course, John Milson and explain who I’d booked as a Guest Speaker. I was a tad cheeky in inviting Miss Lamond, but not even Milson knew that she was in town. Of course he jumped at the opportunity for us to meet her.
For those of you reading this who were students in the course at this time, you will remember what a magical, informative and inspiring visit this was. She discussed her many ups and downs in a very candid hour. If ever the Sondheim song “I’m Still Here’ pertained to anyone in Australia more I’d like to know. She epitomised the triumphs and tribulations of a life in ‘the biz’.
Toni Lamond has penned two autobiographies; ‘First half’ and ‘Still a Gypsy’ that encapsulate her eventful story. They are riveting reads if you can get your hands on one. I became her ‘Perth Book agent’ after she left, selling copies to the student body from her merchandise cupboard. Such was the impression she left on the assemblage of students that day. We all wanted to know more. It certainly made up for the philistines who did not appreciate her the evening prior.
From that visit, I’m proud to say that she became a lifelong friend, sounding board and supporter. Our next encounter with her she was front and centre at our Agents day at the Parade Theatre in Sydney, cheering Matt and I on in our graduation showcase. Matt almost got the chance to work alongside her in THE FULL MONTY but narrowly missed out when the Sydney season was cancelled. Lamond was scheduled to replace Val Jellay from the Melbourne season in the role of Jeanette Burmeister. It would have been another stellar Lamond turn.
She was an avid supporter of young talent and embraced any opportunity to share her vast talent and wisdom. She exuded vast optimism and palpable passion - traits that were steadfast in a career that has navigated every kind of joy and frustration. She is one of the greatest talents Australia has ever produced.
When I commenced the STAGES podcast in 2018, she was naturally the first person I thought of to be guest number one. She jumped at the opportunity and once again, provided the most vivid and candid account of her life and career. She returned for episode 100 to share further anecdote and inspiration.
Both times I visited her apartment to record. She sat in an armchair which could have been a throne. Such was the majesty she conjured. Various hints of her longevity in the business surrounded her – a Gold Logie, the prop safety pin her father Joe Lawmen wore in various vaudeville comic sketches, Mo Awards and various posters and photographs from performances, including a large framed photograph of herself in pyjama top, ‘lolly legs’ on display, as Babe Williams in the iconic Williamson’s production of ‘The Pajama Game’, which hung above her.
One of my treasured moments from recording the 600 episodes I have thus far, came from my second chat with Toni. I asked about her favourite number in The Pajama Game. Her answer came not as a spoken reply, but as a fully delivered performance, as she launched into ‘Hey There’ from the show. She was 87 and sounded 27. I tear up thinking of it now. She was playing it directly at me and I could see why that production became so iconic and why she is hailed as the first of our legitimate Leading Ladies and Stars. Here she was, revisiting a show she’d done in 1957, and in her eighties delivering a signature number with as much power, passion and sincerity as she’d performed it 60 years previous. Her voice remained phenomenal through every generation of her career. Check her out on YouTube performing ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ from ABC’s The Recording Studio.
The term Showbiz Royalty is often bandied about to describe performers of moderate success or longevity in the business. Toni Lamond was the real thing. She navigated a career across a range of mediums in a career that has spanned eight decades.
Her parents were vaudevillians Joe Lawman and Stella Lamond. She often joked that she was always known as ‘Helen Reddy’s sister’. And then when her dear Sheldy took Broadway by storm in PRISCILLA, she became ‘Tony Sheldon’s mother’. Both mantles she wore with incredible pride. But … there is no doubt that she always was, and will be remembered, as Miss Toni Lamond – star, survivor, legend, mentor, pioneer, leading lady, sister and mother.
Oh what a legacy she leaves, and how she’ll be missed. Thank you Miss Lamond! Theatres around Australia really should dim their lights tonight. What a Woman! What a Star! What a Life!
My condolences and love to dear Sheldy Tony Sheldon, TT, and all that loved her.
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