‘Farewell, possum!’: Barry Humphries – from Dame Edna Everage to the person behind the masks

When Barry Humphries was ailing in hospital, he launched an announcement thanking followers for his or her sort needs – however added that he needed “more and more”.

Quipping from his infirmary mattress was typical of a person who by no means missed a punchline. “Never be afraid to laugh at yourself,” as one in all his well-known quotes went. “After all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century.”

Comedian, satirist, creator, producer, West End star, author, painter, born entertainer: Barry Humphries did all of it. His characters included Sir Les Patterson – the lecherous “phallus-brandishing” diplomat who as soon as chased Kylie Minogue off stage on the Royal Festival Hall – and the “boring man of the suburbs” Sandy Stone.

But for all his achievements, following his loss of life on the age of 89, he can be finest remembered as Dame Edna Everage, the housewife-turned-megastar with the lilac hair, ostentatious glasses, and a knack for poking enjoyable on the wealthy and well-known.

“Dame Edna Everage is probably the most popular and gifted woman in the world today,” the biography on her web site begins, earlier than itemizing her many achievements: “Housewife, investigative journalist, social anthropologist, talk show host, swami, children’s book illustrator, spin doctor, Zettastar, Icon.”

A parody of small-minded suburban housewives in Australia, gladioli queen Dame Edna first appeared within the Fifties and landed her personal chat present, The Dame Edna Experience, within the Nineteen Eighties – interviewing everybody from Sean Connery, Cliff Richard and Lulu, to Jeffrey Archer, Germaine Greer and Joan Rivers – and paving the way in which for the likes of Caroline Aherne’s Mrs Merton and Paul O’Grady’s Lily Savage.

“Hello, possums!” was Edna’s well-known catchphrase, and as her fame grew, so did her glasses and the garishness of her outfits. Speaking to the celebrities, her sharp-tongued however cheeky type allowed her to get away with remarks that others could not.

“She can say things, for instance, about political correctness that I couldn’t possibly express,” Humphries informed the Guardian in 2022. “The same is true of Sir Les Patterson. I never swear in real life. Both characters are wonderful outlets.”

Humphries stated he was retiring Edna in 2012, however she quickly reappeared, proving “indestructible”. Despite her worldwide success, he stated Patterson was his favorite character to play, permitting him to launch his “inner vulgarity”.

He lived to make individuals chuckle and cherished to shock

The star was born John Barry Humphries in 1934 to respectable dad and mom who needed one thing totally different for his or her anarchist son. “Barry, we don’t know where you came from,” his mom would say to him when he was youthful.

As a toddler, he would spend hours taking part in in his again backyard, dressing up as totally different characters. Rebelling towards his dad and mom’ makes an attempt to steer him down a tutorial path, he created his very first character: Dr Aaron Azimuth, a Dadaist and agent provocateur.

“I was hankering for something and I didn’t know what it was and I thought it must be in this mysterious place they called ‘overseas’,” he informed The Australian.

Humphries left Melbourne for Sydney after which the UK in 1959, however struggled to search out success as a stage actor, resulting in issues with alcohol. He later spoke about his struggles brazenly, telling how they ultimately led to him giving up drink altogether. “The alternative to alcoholism is so much more fun,” he informed The Times in 2022.

At the time, he was selling Man Behind The Mask, an intimate tour simply as himself, no characters. In the official quote, he described the present as “perhaps the bravest thing I’ve ever done”, exhibiting “what it is like to be a clown”.

In an interview, he urged followers to “hurry and buy tickets”, as a result of they only may get to expertise “a Tommy Cooper moment” and witness his on-stage loss of life.

“You might be there on that night. I do such a spectacular curtain call.”

He lived to make individuals chuckle and cherished to shock. According to Barry Humphries legend, he had been identified to take cans of soup on to a aircraft when flying; after sneakily slurping a mouthful he would fake to spew right into a sick bag, solely to spoon the obvious vomit up – a lot to the horror of his surrounding passengers.

On stage as an actor, he appeared in reveals similar to Maggie May and a number of other productions of Oliver! following his debut in The Demon Barger in 1959. He turned one of many main members of the British comedy scene on the time, alongside Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, Peter Cook and Spike Milligan.

On the massive display screen, his movie credit included The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Finding Nemo, and he wrote a number of books, each as himself and within the guise of his characters. These included his personal autobiographies, More Please and My Life As Me, and Dame Edna’s My Gorgeous Life.

Humphries’ profession was not with out controversy and in 2019, Melbourne International Comedy Festival dropped his title from its main prize, the Barry Award, following feedback he made about transgender individuals. In interviews, he lamented the “new puritanism” of political correctness and defended his proper to offend.

“There is no more terrible fate for a comedian than to be taken seriously,” he as soon as stated.

During his profession, he picked up a number of awards, together with a lifetime achievement prize on the British Comedy Awards in 1999, and nominations for a number of BAFTAs.

In 1982, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia, and in 2007 a CBE within the UK, for providers to leisure.

Humphries leaves behind his spouse Lizzie Spender, and 4 youngsters from his earlier marriages.