Singing sensation Helen Reddy, who died a year ago in Los Angeles after a struggle with dementia, desperately wanted to return to Australia, the icon’s family and closest friends tell New Idea.
Barry Croker, an Aussie acting legend and one of Helen’s dearest pals, says the ‘I Am Woman’ singer missed her birth country deeply.
“In her last few years, Helen would tell me during our regular phone chats that she wanted to come home,” he says. “She missed Australia, her friends, and she really wanted to be with her cherished sister, entertainer Toni Lamond.”
Barry recalls that Helen was hardly a party girl. But if she were still alive, she certainly would have “kicked up her heels” to celebrate what would have been her 80th birthday on October 25.
“Sadly, because of her health, that final trip home wasn’t possible,” he says. “Fortunately, she had the love of her daughter Traci and her granddaughter Lily, who lived not far away in Malibu. And her son Jordan, who lives in London, cared deeply for his mum,” explains Barry, who had known Helen since 1960.
Barry vividly remembers the first time he met Helen. He was performing at a nightclub following an appearance on In Melbourne Tonight.
“Helen came over and boldly plonked herself at my table, saying she’d seen me on TV. She explained her showbiz background. Her parents [Stella Lamond and Max Reddy] were entertainers, turns out we were both Scorpios, and that sparked a life-long friendship.”
Helen’s famous sister Toni Lamond, born to a different father, tells New Idea she feels their life together might even have made a hilarious sitcom.
“Helen was fiercely independent, highly intelligent and a true showbiz trailblazer – a real star!” recalls Toni, 89, who is recovering in hospital from a health scare. “When our parents went on the road with their act, I’d look after her, and continued to until she hit the big time.” Toni’s son, performer Tony Sheldon, adds that although his aunt and mother shared a close bond, they had their own personalities. “They were the odd couple – Helen was tidy, a teetotaller and an early riser. Mum was a night owl, messy and she adored a glass of wine,” he laughs. Tony says he remembers Helen, who was 14 when he was born, babysitting him while his parents were away.
“When Helen moved to the US, she offered me the best Christmas present ever – a trip to stay with her in Hollywood!”
Helen’s trajectory to superstar was phenomenal. In 1966 she won a trip to New York on TV’S Bandstand. She had $230 in her pocket and her 3-year-old daughter Traci in tow. But in 1971, that changed with the empowering anthem, ‘I Am Woman’.
“What followed was astonishing fame, fortune and countless accolades.
She even became the first Australian pop star to win a Grammy Award,” says top showbiz reporter and her close friend, Craig Bennett.
Craig adds that while Helen was a superstar in every sense of the world, there was never any pretence with her.
“Helen was a superstar adored by millions! She’d lived past lives, lived very simply, as she couldn’t care less about money… and, on the quiet, she loved reading the Hollywood gossip mags,” laughs Craig, who says one of their “guilty pleasures” whenever they caught up together in Los Angeles was reading magazines and enjoying a laugh.
‘HELEN WAS A TRUE SHOWBIZ TRAILBLAZER – A REAL STAR!’
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