What is John Laws's Net Worth?
John Laws is a retired Australian radio and television personality, singer-songwriter, actor, and author who has a net worth of $20 million. John Laws had a broadcast career spanning over 70 years. Nicknamed "Golden Tonsils" due to his distinctive voice, he worked at a number of Australian radio stations between 1953 and 2024, and released nine studio albums as a recording artist in the 1970s. As an author, Laws has penned poetry collections, a cookbook, and a memoir.
Early Life and Education
John Laws was born as Richard John Sinclair Laws on August 8, 1935 in the town of Wau, in what was then the Territory of New Guinea. His parents were Australian, and he attended the Mosman Preparatory School and Knox Grammar School in Sydney.
Radio Career
Laws began his radio career in 1953 at the station 3BO in Bendigo, Victoria. After working at a number of rural stations, he joined 2UE in Sydney in 1957. There, Laws became one of the first Australian disc jockeys to play rock music. He left 2UE in 1959 and moved to the Hunter Region, where he ran a farm for a few years. Laws returned to Sydney in 1962 and joined the station 2GB. In 1964, he went back to his previous station 2UE, where he remained until 1969. Subsequently, Laws joined 2UW, and worked there for about a decade before taking a third stint at 2UE. In 1985, he joined 2GB, where he worked for three years before returning, once again, to 2UE. Laws's fourth and final stint at 2UE lasted from 1988 to 2007, during which time the station experienced a surge in ratings. Laws had a program on the station that was syndicated nationally, and was particularly popular in rural areas. He also worked for some other stations during the latter part of his career, including 2SM from 2011 until his retirement in 2024.
Television Career
From 1962 to 1963, Laws hosted the Australian variety show "Startime," which notably introduced the character Dame Edna Everage to a mainstream audience. Later in the decade, he served as a judge on the talent show "New Faces." From 1970 to 1971, Laws hosted the panel talk show "Beauty and the Beast"; he would go on to host a revival of the series in 1982. Also in the early 1970s, he hosted the panel talk show "His and Hers." Later in his career, from 1998 to 2000, Laws hosted his own show, called "LAWS."
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Film Career
Laws acted in a few films. His first film was the 1970 biographical film "Ned Kelly," in which he played the character Kennedy. The following year, Laws played hippie Claude Fitzherbert in the comedy "Nickel Queen," starring Googie Withers. He didn't appear in another film until 2000, when he voiced the character Rumpus Bumpus in the animated musical "The Magic Pudding."
Music Career
As a singer, Laws recorded nine studio albums in the 1970s, starting with "Rollin' Free" and "Motivatin' Man" in 1971. His first three albums, as well as his 1976 album "You've Never Been Trucked Like This Before," consist mostly of covers of country songs. Laws's fourth album, "The Mind and the Music," is comprised of original songs, while his albums "In Love is an Expensive Place to Die" and "Just You and Me Together, Love" feature him reading his poems to music.
Books
Laws has authored a number of books since the early 1970s, most of them poetry collections. Titles include "Results of Love" (1972), "Just You and Me Together, Love: Poems" (1978), "Somewhere Remembering" (1984), and "John Laws' Book of Uncommon Sense" (1995).
Controversies
Laws generated numerous controversies during the latter part of his career, both for comments he made on his radio broadcasts and immoral behavior he conducted behind the scenes. In 2004, he and rival radio host Alan Jones were accused of taking bribes to make favorable comments on products and services offered by Telstra. While Laws was found to be guilty, Jones was not, causing Laws to cast aspersions at his rival. Toward the end of 2004, Laws got into more trouble when he and his 2UE colleague Steve Price made homophobic comments on-air.
In 2013, Laws elicited pushback for an interview with a female sexual abuse survivor in which he suggested that the abuse was partly her fault. A couple of years later, he was criticized for denigrating a male sexual assault survivor. In 2020, Laws was reprimanded by the Australian Communications and Media Authority after he told a listener, who had been critical of Laws, to "say something constructive, like you're going to kill yourself." The statement was found to have breached two provisions of the Commercial Radio Code of Practice.
Personal Life
Laws married his first wife, Sonia Zlotkowski, in 1957. They eventually divorced in 1964. Laws subsequently wed Yvonne Helstrom-Roux in 1965; they divorced in 1974. His longest marriage was to his third wife, Caroline, whom he was with from 1976 until her passing in 2020.
