Dawn Alice Lake (20 January 1927 – 1 January 2006) was an Australian television comedian, singer, entertainer, and actor whose career spanned more than 50 years. She was particularly associated in show business with her husband

Bobby Limb Robert "Bobby" Limb AO, OBE (10 November 1924 – 11 September 1999) was an Australian-born entertainment pioneer, comedian, band leader and musician and legend of radio, television and theatre of the 1960s and 1970s, he also founded the film a ...

. Entertainer

Bert Newton Albert Watson Newton (23 July 1938 – 30 October 2021) was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie award-winning entertainer and radio, theatre and television personality and presenter. Newt ...

described her as "our greatest comedienne – Australia's

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Gold ...

".Gordon Farrer, "Life and Limb, Dawn and Bobby: showbiz mourns passing of an old trouper", ''The Age'', 3 January 2006 She was particularly associated in show business with her husband

Life

Dawn Lake was born to a Balmain working-class family, the youngest of four children. She married entertainer

in 1953 and they had one daughter, Debbie, born in 1955. She was married to Limb for 46 years, though the marriage had its ups and downs, including a separation for a year in 1973. She lost her brother, David, to suicide in 1965.Anderson (2006) p. 38 Bobby Limb died in 1999, after which she withdrew from performing life.

Career

She started her career as a singer in a local dance hall when she was 21, and soon after was contracted to Joe Taylor's Celebrity Club circuit. She met Bobby Limb at this time. After their marriage in 1953, they went to the UK where she had won a contract to sing with the BBC Show Band. Their careers went well in England over the next four years, with Lake appearing frequently as a guest on the

Cyril Stapleton Cyril Stapleton (31 December 1914 – 25 February 1974) was an English violinist and jazz bandleader. Biography Born Horace Cyril Stapleton in Mapperley, Nottingham, England, Stapleton began playing violin at the age of seven, and played on loc ...

radio show, and with the couple appearing at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

and on the

Moss Empire Moss Empires was a company formed in Edinburgh in 1899, from the merger of the theatre companies owned by Sir Edward Moss (impresario), Edward Moss, Richard Thornton and Sir Oswald Stoll. This created the largest chain of variety theatres and mu ...

circuit. On their return to Australia in 1957 she appeared on the

Tivoli circuit The Tivoli Circuit was a successful and popular Australian vaudeville entertainment circuit featuring revue, opera, ballet, dance, singing, musical comedy, old time black and white minstrel and even Shakespeare which flourished from 1893 to th ...

, and sang on 2UE and ABC radio stations, frequently with Bobby Limb's band. While she came to prominence on radio programs compered by

Jack Davey John Andrew Davey (8 February 190714 October 1959), known as Jack Davey, was a New Zealand-born singer and pioneering star of Australian radio as a performer, producer, writer and host from the early 1930s into the late 1950s. Later in his caree ...

and comedian

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist a ...

, she found her greatest fame through her collaborations with Bobby Limb on the early Australian television programs '' The Mobil Limb Show'' produced by

TCN9 TCN is the flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia. The station is currently located at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Sir Frank Packer, was one o ...

, '' Bobby Limb's Sound of Music'', and, for two years in the mid-1960s, ''

Here's Dawn ''Here's Dawn'' is an Australian television series which aired 1964 to 1965 on the Nine Network. A half-hour variety series with emphasis on comedy sketches, it was produced in Sydney and starred Dawn Lake. While popular with viewers, it was not ...

''. Limb's production company also created the

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

series '' The Private World of Miss Prim'' (1966) as a vehicle for Lake, but the series was short-lived. Lake was subsequently a regular for the 1967 season of the top-rated sketch comedy program '' The Mavis Bramston Show''. Through the 1970s she guest starred in Australian drama series such as ''

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success o ...

'' and ''

Glenview High ''Glenview High'' is an Australian television drama series produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Seven Network between 1977 and 1978. Story English teacher Greg Walker (Grigor Taylor) transfers from the country to Glenview High, a to ...

'', and appeared as a panellist on

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

's game show '' Blankety Blanks''. She also made a few appearances in dramatic feature films of this period, with roles in ''

Squeeze a Flower ''Squeeze a Flower'' is a 1970 Australian comedy film directed by Marc Daniels and starring Walter Chiari. Plot Brother George is the only monk at the Italian Monastery who knows the secret recipe of the popular liqueur that is the sole source o ...

'', ''Sunstruck'', ''

Alvin Purple ''Alvin Purple'' is a 1973 Australian sex comedy film starring Graeme Blundell in the title role; the screenplay was written by Alan Hopgood and directed by Tim Burstall, through his production company Hexagon Productions and Village Roadshow ...

'', and the controversial '' Wake in Fright''. She also returned to the stage at this time, appearing such shows as ''Some of My Best Friends Aren't'', ''Just for Arthur'', ''Move Over Mrs Markham'' and ''The Mating Season'' (opposite

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mi ...

). In her later life she participated in a series of national concerts for seniors, organised by Limb. Bobby Limb and Dawn Lake entertained Australian troops in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

, and were active in the campaign to elect the Whitlam Labor government in 1972, including taking part in the campaign song, ''It's Time''. Her most enduring character was Ethel, who first appeared in the early 1960s in ''The Mobil Limb Show''. "You tell 'em, luv!" was Ethel's catchcry, a line which was quickly adopted by Federal politicians during parliamentary Question Time.

Filmography

FILM TELEVISION

Selected appearances

Awards

Notes

References

*Anderson, Doug (2006) "One out of the box, radio, stage: Dawn Lake, Entertainer, 1927-2006" in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', Weekend Edition, 21–22 January 2006, p. 38

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, Dawn 1927 births 2006 deaths Australian film actresses Australian radio actresses Australian television actresses Australian women comedians Comedians from Sydney Logie Award winners 20th-century Australian comedians 20th-century Australian women