BILL STEPHENS remembers musical theatre star Toni Lamond, who died in Sydney on November 29. She was 93.

Toni Lamond’s career, spanning eight decades, left an indelible mark on Australian stages, television and cinema. She also had a particularly strong connection with Canberra audiences.

The daughter of vaudevillians Joe Lawman, a baggy-pants comedian, and Stella Lamond, a singer and later accomplished character actress (notably as Molly Wilson in Bellbird), Toni began performing at age 10, singing on radio and touring with her parents on the Tivoli circuit.

From these roots, she built a versatile career encompassing radio, television, cabaret and musical theatre in Australia, Britain and the US.

In 1954, Lamond married fellow performer Frank Sheldon, and the duo performed in nightclubs and variety shows. Notably, they appeared in September 1956 as a specialty act in the first official commercial television broadcast in Australia.

Lamond’s breakthrough in musical theatre came in 1957 when she was cast as Babe Williams opposite Bill Newman in JCW’s original production of The Pajama Game. At the time, it was unprecedented for an Australian performer to lead in a local production of a Broadway musical.

Her performance paved the way for Australians such as Jill Perryman (Funny Girl, 1966) and Nancye Hayes (Sweet Charity, 1967) to assume leading roles rather than understudying imported stars.

Lamond’s effervescent renditions of songs such as There Once Was a Man and I’m Not at All in Love, which I heard at Sydney’s Empire Theatre, remain vivid memories and later influenced my own direction of the show. 

Following The Pajama Game, Lamond’s television career flourished. In 1961, she became the first woman in the world to host her own television variety show, Toni Lamond’s In Melbourne Tonight.

Her career faced a personal tragedy in 1966 when Frank Sheldon took his own life after their separation. Lamond coped by immersing herself in work, relocating to Sydney with their son, Tony Sheldon, who would also become a Broadway star.

Lamond never stopped working, and her career is documented in two autobiographies, The First Half (1990) and Still a Gypsy (2007), with many performances available online. Since her passing, social media has revealed more personal recollections highlighting the depth of affection for her.

In 1985 I interviewed Lamond for the National Library of Australia’s Oral History Project and again in 2012.

I developed a strong friendship with her during her cabaret performances at the School of Arts Café in Queanbeyan.

Her autobiographical cabaret A Life in Showbusiness premiered there in 1994, with Tony McGill as musical director and accompanist. Performances were recorded by Laura and Silvia Tchilinguirian for Canberra Stereo Public Radio (later Artsound FM 92.7) and later released as part of Larrikin Records’ Legends of Australian Showbiz series.

In April 1995, Lamond returned with Woman on the Move (musical director: Tony Magee) and in 1998 she performed Still a Gypsy with American pianist Ron Creager, who also accompanied her in 1999 for An Evening with Toni Lamond, celebrating her CD launch, Toni Lamond at the School of Arts Café.

Beyond the café, Lamond appeared at The Street Theatre in 1999 in a world premiere musical Careful He Might Hear You, based on Sumner Locke Elliott’s novel.

She played Lila Barnes, delivering a moving rendition of A Winter Kind of Summer. She reprised this song at the 2001 New York Cabaret Convention, performing alongside Creager as special guests, amid a city still reeling from 9/11.

I was there and noted in my diary: “A beautifully judged performance… expressed the feelings of a woman who had lost a child. In the current climate of melancholy and uncertainty, the lyrics took on a subtle new resonance.”

In 2002, Lamond became a patron of the annual CAT Awards in Canberra, which honour achievements in non-professional theatre. She regularly attended award presentations, offering encouragement and inspiration to awardees and audiences alike.

Toni Lamond is survived by her son Tony Sheldon and his life partner Tony Taylor. Her funeral will be held on December 17 at the South Chapel, Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, Matraville, and will be livestreamed.