Key Points
- Barry Humphries died on Saturday, aged 89, at St Vincents Hospital in Sydney.
- Humphries was best known for his comedic alter egos, including self-described housewife "gigastar" Dame Edna Everage.
- "He was completely himself until the very end," his family said in a statement.
The death of Australian entertainer Barry Humphries has sparked an outpouring of tributes for the treasured national icon at home and around the globe.
Humphries starred on the Australian stage and screen for over seven decades, and was best known for his alter ego Dame Edna Everage, who started stage life as a caricature of a 1950s housewife.
Dame Edna, and Barry Humphries, became household names in both Australia and the UK. Humphries was awarded an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to the arts.
Barry Humphries created his most famous character Dame Edna Everage in the 1950s. Credit: Joel Ryan/AP
"He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit," his family said in a statement on Saturday night.
"Although he may be best remembered for his work in theatre, he was a painter, author, poet, and a collector and lover of art in all its forms.
"He was also a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and a friend and confidant to many. His passing leaves a void in so many lives.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led the tributes for the entertainer, saying while Humphries was the creator of stars like Dame Edna, he was the brightest of them all.
"A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift," he said.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Australia had lost its finest raconteur, most brilliant satirist and greatest cultural comedian.
"He will forever be a treasured Australian icon," he posted on social media.
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson said Humphries was "one of the greatest ever Australians".
"What a loss," he said on Twitter.
Unsurprisingly, many tributes came from Humphries' fellow travellers in the world of entertainment, including British comedians Ricky Gervais and Matt Lucas and Australians Adam Hills, Shaun Micallef, Rove McManus, Marty Fields and Jason Donovon.
All praised his genius, intelligence and generosity.
London-based Hills said he was "one of the greatest comedians of our time", while Fields dubbed him a "god of comedy".
Micallef said on Twitter, "no one has made me laugh as much, or for so many years," while Lucas said, "quite simply, you were the greatest."
Monty Python member Eric Idle said Humphries had made him laugh out loud since meeting him in 1968 and called him "one of the greatest civilised comedians to have ever lived".
Sir Michael Parkinson, who featured Humphries on his show in his guises as Dame Edna and Sir Les, said he was one of his favourite guests of all time and a dear friend.
"In a time when the word is bandied around far too easily, we have truly lost a genius," he told PA in a statement.
The many faces of Barry Humphries
Humphries entertained and outraged audiences for over half a century, mostly through bold and brash characters who parodied elements of Australian life and culture.
Along with Dame Edna, he created Sir Les Patterson, Australia's cultural attache to the Court of St James; the rambling Sandy Stone; and, the parody of an ill-mannered Australian in England, Barry McKenzie.
One of Humphries' specialties was embodying these characters in live situations, either on stage or in television shows, often shocking unsuspecting TV hosts or celebrities who often did not know what to make of these alter egos. Through this, he became one of the most recognised of Australian entertainers.
His career was not without controversy, and in 2019 his name was removed from a Melbourne Comedy Festival award, following .
Sir Les Patterson was one of the many characters invented by Barry Humphries. Sir Les was a 'cultural attaché', with a penchant for drinking and swearing. Credit: Rights Managed/MARY EVANS
Shocking audiences and putting Moonee Ponds on the map
John Barry Humphries was born in Melbourne on February 17, 1934.
During his life, he described his parents as comfortable, loving and strait-laced, and would often recall his mother telling him to stop drawing attention to himself.
He was decidedly different to many of his peers, uninterested in football, and a great lover of art and books.
While at Melbourne University he embraced the subversive and absurdist art form of Dadaism - which led him to perform live art in public spaces, including on Melbourne's trams.
While on tour with the Melbourne Theatre Company in the 1950s, he created Edna Everage - a dowdy housewife from Moonee Ponds. As the name suggested, she was designed to be at first, average. But over many years on the stage, she became a superstar in her own right.
Dame Edna Everage on stage at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, 2012. Source: AAP / TRACEY NEARMY/AAPIMAGE
In 1964, along with New Zealand artist Nicholas Garland, he created the character of Barry McKenzie in a comic strip for the satirical magazine Private Eye.
Barry McKenzie was a boozy parody of the ugly Australian abroad, always vomiting from too much alcohol and finding himself in awkward situations, but also providing a contrast to the conservatism of the UK at the time.
When the comic strip was released as a book, the Australian government banned it because it "relied on indecency for its humour". Humphries professed delight at the publicity and implored authorities not to lift the ban.
Barry Humphries as his alter ego Dame Edna (right) poses for a photograph with Steve Irwin at Australia Zoo in 2003. Source: AAP / Dave Hunt
Dame Edna Everage, megastar
Despite the earlier ban, a Barry McKenzie film was given financial support by the Australian government. It was savaged by the critics, due to its full frontal vomiting, but was a popular success.
It also brought Edna back into the spotlight: in the film's sequel, then prime minister Gough Whitlam made a cameo appearance, pronouncing Edna as a dame - she was written into the movie as McKenzie's aunt.
Humphries moved the character of Edna to the stage, and his breakthrough was 'Housewife, Superstar!' at London's Apollo Theatre in 1976. Dame Edna was introduced by, on debut, Sir Les Patterson. Humphries has said that Sir Les was the part of him that never stopped drinking.
The Dame picked out "possums" from the audience and make them squirm with outlandish questions or comments. Continued shows in London and Australia turned the character into a huge success. She was a frequent guest star on TV shows, and had her own chat show in the 1980s: The Dame Edna Experience.
Dame Edna Everage meeting Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. Credit: PA/PA/Alamy
She was a fully formed character, with family and background, memories and tastes. She always denied she was a fiction, and spoke of Humphries as her manager.
On her official website, the Dame told us (in 2009): "Edna Everage is probably the most popular and gifted woman in the world today: housewife, investigative journalist, social anthropologist, talk show host, swami, children's book illustrator, spin doctor, Megastar and Icon...
Finding Nemo and playing Rupert Murdoch
Humphries appeared in many films, from The Getting of Wisdom to Finding Nemo, where he voiced Bruce the shark, and the Kath and Kim telemovie. In the mini-series Selling Hitler, he had a cameo role as Rupert Murdoch. A rare flop was Les Patterson Saves the World, where he played the title role.
His books, apart from spin-offs from his shows, included the novel Women in the Background, and two memoirs.
In 2015, aged 81, he was artistic director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
In 2018, five years after Dame Edna's final world tour, Humphries, at 84, toured Australia as himself in a show called The Man Behind the Mask.
Over this period, he made a series of public comments about transgender people, including Caitlyn Jenner. In 2019, the Melbourne Comedy Festival dropped his name from its major prize.
Humphries remained wedded to the stage until the very end, even as his health deteriorated.
Barry Humphries in Sydney, 2017 Source: AAP / JOEL CARRETT/AAPIMAGE
Humphries married four times. He married actress Brenda Wright when he was 21, and prior to moving to the UK, he married New Zealand dancer Rosalind Tong, with whom he had two daughters.
In 1979 he married artist Diane Millstead, with whom he had two sons. His fourth wife was Lizzie Spender, who was by his side along with his children and grandchildren when he died.
