P. J. Lane is an Australian actor, entertainer, philanthropist, school basketball coach and former professional basketball player.

Early life

Born in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

but raised in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Lane is the only child of Jayne Ambrose and Logie Hall of Fame inductee Don Lane. Lane attained a performing arts scholarship to

The Scots College , motto_translation = O that we may be worthy of our forefathers , location = Bellevue Hill, Eastern Suburbs, Sydney , country = Australia , type = Independent single-sex primary a ...

in Sydney, Australia, at the age of 12. While attending Scots, Lane studied acting, voice, and classical piano. Despite his family affiliation with show business, Lane was known as a young basketball prospect. Lane's father Don was the head basketball coach at St Aloysius' College. Lane often played for

with his father coaching the opposing team. Lane's basketball ability led him to complete his high-school education at Westlake High School in

Westlake Village, California Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vill ...

. While attending Westlake High, Lane continued his music study with former Beach Boys keyboard player Mike Meros.

Basketball career

Upon his completion of high school, Lane was awarded a full basketball scholarship to Southern Connecticut State University. While attending SCSU, Lane majored in music and made the dean's list for academic performance. After university, Lane played for three seasons as a professional basketball player in the Greek league. He played for the teams of Apollon Patras BC, Aigio, and AS Manis. Lane returned to Australia in 2009. An article in the Australian '' Women's Day'' stated that his father's deteriorating health brought him back to Australia and prevented him from returning to Europe despite some lucrative offers. Lane continued to play basketball in the Australian Basketball Association

Waratah League The NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales and the National B ...

for the '' Hornsby Spiders''.

Television

Early in his career, Lane was the feature story on ''

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

'', performed live on '' Mornings with Kerri-Anne'', and performed at the 2009

Carols in the Domain Carols in the Domain is an annual Australian Christmas concert event held in the Domain Gardens in Sydney. It began in 1983, and features many national and international performers and guest appearances. It a free event, broadcast around Austral ...

. After his father's passing, Lane performed a Don Lane tribute at the Logie Awards of 2010. In late 2009, Lane began presenting stories for ''

Sydney Weekender ''Sydney Weekender'' is an Australian travel show featuring destinations throughout the state of New South Wales. The program debuted in 1994 on Saturdays at 5:30pm, later moving to Sundays at the same time before the local nightly news bulleti ...

'' on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

. According to the ''Sydney Weekender'' website, Lane was still a featured presenter in 2012.

Acting

In early 2010, Lane was asked to audition for the Australian film ''6 Plots''. It was later accepted to the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard section. ...

and released in 2012. In July 2010, Lane appeared in the Australian television soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' as

Sonya Mitchell Sonya Rebecchi (also Mitchell) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'', played by Eve Morey. The actress auditioned for the role and began filming in June 2009. She made her first screen appearance during the epis ...

's (

Eve Morey Eve Morey (born 4 June 1983) is an Australian actress. Her roles have included Lucy Green in ''Pig's Breakfast'' and Sonya Rebecchi in the soap opera ''Neighbours'', the latter role played from 2009 to 2022. She has also appeared in '' All Saint ...

) ex-boyfriend Eli Baker. He had originally auditioned for another role in May 2010 but was unsuccessful. Lane played the role of Michael Christiansen in '' Underbelly: Badness'' and had to put on 18 kg of muscle for the role. As of November 2020, his last on-screen acting role was a part in the 2014 movie ''Freedom''.

Charity work

Lane's father Don Lane died in October 2009 from complications with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. Since his father's passing, Lane has been an ambassador for ''Alzheimer’s Australia'' to raise funds and awareness for the disease. Lane is the producer of the Memory Lane Concert, which raises funds for Alzheimer's Australia. In the variety style of '' The Don Lane Show'', the concert showcases well-known performers in Australia. In a 2011 interview, Lane said that Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are under-funded based on the number of people affected by the disease. The concert has featured the likes of Alan Jones, Rhonda Burchmore, David Campbell, Peter Cousens, Rob Mills, and other veterans of the industry. The 2011 concert was held at Sydney's State Theatre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, P. J. American emigrants to Australia People from Los Angeles Australian male actors Living people Australian philanthropists Year of birth missing (living people)