Veteran entertainer and television presenter Don Lane has died, aged 75.

The American-born Lane is best known for his work on the hugely successful Don Lane Show, which ran on the Nine Network from the 1970s until 1983.

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Once the highest-paid performer on Australian television, it was on the show that he formed a close friendship with fellow entertainer Bert Newton.

He is also widely credited for bestowing Newton the nickname "Moonface".

Lane won more than 15 Logies during his career and in 2003 he was inducted in the Australian Logies Hall of Fame.

Adopted son Don Lane was born Morton Donald Isaacson on November 13, 1933 in the New York borough of The Bronx.

Lane began his career working in nightclubs, honing his act of comedy and music alongside showbiz greats such as Sammy Davis Junior and Johnny Carson.

He first appeared on Australian TV screens in 1965 as a stand-in host on Channel Nine's Tonight Show.

The producers of the show were so happy with his performance he was made the permanent host within a month.

After a short stint back in America, Lane returned to Australia to host The Don Lane Show, the highest rating tonight show in Australian history.

In 1968 he was caught flying into the country with marijuana and imprisoned.

Lane maintained his innocence throughout the trial and was eventually found not guilty.

In 2008 it emerged Lane was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and being cared for by his son PJ.

He died in a Melbourne care facility aged 75.

His close friend and biographer Janise Beaumont said the star was a lovely man.

"He didn't want this to happen, but he was still Don," Ms Beaumont told Macquarie Radio.

"And pretty much up to the end he was very tactile ... he loved hugs, he still could make eye contact, still be funny, still be charismatic - but this bastard of Alzheimer's...

"We've got to find a cure.

"I'll go on any committee, I'll dress up in a chicken suit to raise money to help find a cure because it robs people of so much."

Ms Beaumont said she noticed Lane was "starting to be a bit fragile" when she began working on his biography more than three years ago.

"A lot of people did drop off like flies in Don's life, and I know that above all else Don would want me to say to people `if you know anybody with Alzheimer's, there's still a person in there, and don't walk away from them'," she said.

She said she had been friends with the American-born television personality for almost 40 years.

"I know him incredibly well and I love him very much," she said.

"I preferred the world with him in it."

Ms Beaumont said she was proud of Lane for completing the book because it had been hard for him at times.

"But he had such a story to tell, such a story about adventures, talent and dreams, and a lot of women," she said.