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Known for his unique voice, he worked at several Australian radio stations between 1953 and 2024 and recorded nine studio recordings in the 1970s.
Laws is an author having written a cookbook, a memoir, and poetry collections. This article explores his life, business, net worth, and legacy in great depth far beyond.
Where was John Laws born? Early Life and Education
John Laws was born on August 8, 1935, in the town of Wau in what was then the Territory of New Guinea. His full name was Richard John Sinclair Laws. Attending Mosman Preparatory School and Knox Grammar School in Sydney, his parents were Australians.
Is John Laws Married? Relationship
Laws married Sonia Zlotkowski, his first wife, in 1957. In 1964 they finally split ways. Laws then wed Yvonne Helstrom-Roux in 1965; they divorced in 1974. From 1976 until she died in 2020, he was married to his third wife, Caroline.
John Laws Career Highlights
Laws started his radio career at the Bendigo, Victoria station 3BO in 1953. Working at several rural stations, he joined 2UE in Sydney in 1957. Laws thus became among the first Australian disc DJs to perform rock music. Leaving 2UE in 1959, he relocated to the Hunter Region and spent some years running a farm.
Returning to Sydney in 1962, Laws joined Station 2GB. He returned to his first station, 2UE, in 1964 and stayed until 1969. Laws then joined 2UW and spent almost ten years working there before returning for a third term at 2UE. He joined 2GB in 1985, worked for three years, then returned once more to 2UE.
Laws’s fourth and last visit to 2UE ran from 1988 to 2007, at which time ratings at the station surged. Particularly popular in rural areas, laws had a syndicated nationwide program on the station. Later in his career, he also worked for some other stations, notably 2SM from 2011 until his 2024 retirement.
Television Career
Laws presented the Australian variety show “Startime,” which notably debuted the persona Dame Edna Everage to a public audience, from 1962 to 1963. In later years of the decade, he judged the talent show “New Faces.”
Laws presented the panel discussion show “Beauty and the Beast” from 1970 to 1971; he would subsequently host a revival of the show in 1982. He also presented the panel discussion show “His and Hers” early in the 1970s. Laws presented his show, “LAWS,” later in his career, between 1998 and 2000.
Laws starred in a couple of films. He portrayed Kennedy in the 1970 biographical picture “Ned Kelly,” his debut feature. Stars Googie Withers, Laws portrayed hippie Claude Fitzherbert in the comedy “Nickel Queen,” the same year. Not seen in another movie until 2000, he portrayed Rumpus Bumpus in the animated musical “The Magic Pudding.”
Career in Music
Laws recorded nine studio albums in the 1970s, beginning with “Rollin’ Free” and “Motivatin’ Man” in 1971, as a singer. His first three albums as well as his 1976 CD “You’ve Never Been Trucked Like This Before,” largely feature covers of country tunes.
Laws’s fourth album, “The Mind and the Music,” consists of original songs; his albums “In Love is an Expensive Place to Die” and “Just You and Me Together, Love” have him reading his poems to music.
Novels
Since the early 1970s, he has written several books, most of which are poetry anthologies. Among the titles are ” Results of Love” (1972), “Just You and Me Together, Love: Poems” (1978), “Somewhere Remembering” (1984), and “John Laws’ Book of Uncommon Sense” (1995).
John Laws Net worth: Earnings
As of 2025, John Laws’s net worth is approximated to be $20 million. Over a remarkable more than 70-year career in radio and television, these riches have been gathered. Renowned for his unique voice and captivating style, Laws has been a major player in the Australian media scene making money in many different ways.
Controversies
Laws created many difficulties in the later years of his career for both remarks he made on his radio shows and the unethical behavior he engaged in behind the scenes. He and rival radio personality Alan Jones were charged in 2004 for accepting bribes in order to promote Telstra’s goods and services in a favorable light.
Laws flung aspersions at his adversary since Laws was found guilty but Jones was not. John attracted more criticism towards the end of 2004 when he and his 2UE colleague Steve Price made homophobic remarks on-air.
Laws drew criticism in 2013 for an interview with a female sexual abuse survivor in which he implied that she shared some responsibility for the incident. A few years later, he came under fire for disparaging a male survivor of sexual assault.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority fined Laws in 2020 after he advised a listener who had been critical of Laws to “say something constructive like you’re going to kill yourself.” Two clauses of the Commercial Radio Code of Practice were deemed to have been broken by the comment.
Conclusion
John Laws’ extraordinary path from a teenage broadcaster to an industry icon is evidence of his talent and commitment. His influence will surely still inspire the next generations of broadcasters as he gets ready for retirement.
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