Pioneering Australian entertainer Toni Lamond, whose stage and screen career spanned eight decades, has died.
Pioneering Australian entertainer Toni Lamond, whose stage and screen career spanned eight decades, has died aged 93.
Very sad to hear that showbiz legend Toni Lamond has passed away at the age of 93. What a life and career! A list of TV.stage and film credits as long as your arm can reach – both here and abroad. Fun fact: she was the first woman in the world to host a Tonight Show. She won a Logie and performed at the… pic.twitter.com/9vEeZ1FGCL
— Peter Ford (@newmrpford) November 29, 2025
She performed on the opening night of GTV9 in 1956. In 1961, Lamond also became the first woman in the world to compete on a variety television show, IMT when Graham Kennedy pulled out of five shows a week.
Lamond’s career began at age 10, singing on the radio and touring with her vaudevillian parents in variety shows.
Together with Nancy Hayes and Jill Perryman, she is considered one of the three grand dames of Australian theatre.
Her career has included musical comedy, plays, recording, film, television and cabaret.
Her first appearances as a leading lady were with English comedian Tommy Trinder The Tommy Trinder Show in 1952. She starred in Australian productions of Oliver!, Annie Get Your Gun, The Pajama Game, Gypsy, 42nd Street, The Pirates of Penzance, My Fair Lady, Nunsense, Cabaret, Follies, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Beauty and the Beast, High Society, Shout.
The mother of Tony Sheldon and half-sister of Helen Reddy, she moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, where she had a base in both Australia and the US and worked in both countries.
Her television credits include The Graham Kennedy Show, Bandstand, The Mike Walsh Show, The Bert Newton Show, Parkinson’s in Australia, In Melbourne Today, Good Morning Australia, Denise, Division 4, Number 96, Spicks and Specks and American shows The Love Boat, Murder She Wrote, Highway to Heaven, Eight is Enough, The Bob Newhart Show, Starsky & Hutch, Punky Brewster, The Pirates of Penzance plus movies Stained wood And RazzleDazzle.
But there was also personal tragedy.
In 1966, her husband committed suicide while she was performing Olivier! Producers had her perform the night after his funeral. Toni went on to raise her son and performer Tony Sheldon on her own. She only had the chance to record ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ in 2019 The recording studio gave her the opportunity with a 35-piece orchestra that ABC noted was “this stage and screen legend’s curtain call.”
Her many awards include accommodation prices, Mo Awards, Variety Club Awards, Helpmann Awards Lifetime Achievement, Equity Lifetime Achievement Award, Centenary Medal for Service to the Arts Community, Victorian Honor Roll of Women and an Order of Australia for service to the entertainment industry and service.
The question was once asked, “What would you do to make a difference in the world?” she replied: “I would try to convince people who are blinded by a stream of setbacks and feel like there is no point in continuing. I would say: persevere, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. NEVER GIVE UP!”
#Vale #Toni #Lamond #Television #tonight