“A gentleman wouldn’t comment”: John Laws on his secret romance with Doris Day
John Laws once said: “I get passions for things. It once included women but that was too expensive.”
In his case, he was right as the thrice-married radio legend has two expensive divorces behind him. But despite the number of relationships, Laws – who is also known as “Long John” or “Golden Tonsils” – refuses to give up any details of his romantic conquests.
So, when the Daily Telegraph asked him to address the rumours of a romantic relationship between him and Hollywood icon Doris Day, Laws refused to comment.
“A gentleman wouldn’t comment,” he said a few days after the beloved actress and singer passed away on May 13, aged 97.
The world mourned the loss of a showbusiness great, and it was during that time, the publication discovered that Laws and Day crossed paths when he was in his 20s.
It was the ‘60s and Day had already gone through two failed marriages, so being in her early 40s at the time, she became enamoured with the radio host and the feeling was mutual.
Laws was climbing to the top of the entertainment ladder at the time. He started his career in Bendigo as a disc jockey on rural radio in 1953, and then made the big move to Sydney in 1957 where he became a household name as a broadcaster.
It isn’t surprising as to why Day took an interest in the host, as by 1962 the then 25-year-old was tall and lean and had been offered his own show on Channel 7 called Startime.
Laws was signed to host the program after the show’s US producer Gil Rodin gave the tick of approval.
Rodin, who was one of the biggest music producers in the United States, was an associate of Doris Day.
The Russian-born record producer, jazz saxophonist and songwriter signed 17-year-old Doris Kappelhoff to her first major contract in May 1940.
He then introduced her to the band leader Les Brown – the man credited behind her name change that soon threw her into the spotlight in 1948.
20 years and two unsuccessful marriages later, Day would meet Laws, who was then 14 years her junior and at the height of his career thanks to Rodin.
But when the Daily Telegraph prodded into the radio star's personal life, Laws, now 83, respectfully refused to comment.
By 1963 Laws was praising Day for her talent, saying that her work on the alum Annie Get Your Gun a “natural” triumph.
But despite the whirlwind affair, whatever it was between the pair was short-lived.
Come the mid-1960s, Laws had begun a relationship with his second wife Yvonne, after his first wife Sonia discovered him in bed with his new girlfriend.