1934-02-17 Camberwell, Melbourne, Australia
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE was an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, perhaps best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the Court of St. James's. He was a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin. Humphries' characters, especially Dame Edna Everage, have brought him international renown, and he had appeared in numerous films, stage productions and television shows. Originally conceived as a dowdy Moonee Ponds housewife who caricatured Australian suburban complacency and insularity, Edna had evolved over four decades to become a satire of stardom, the gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally feted Housewife Gigastar, Dame Edna Everage. Humphries' other major satirical character creation was the archetypal Australian bloke Barry McKenzie, who originated as the hero of a comic strip about Australians in London (with drawings by Nicholas Garland) which was first published in Private Eye magazine. The stories about "Bazza" (Humphries' nickname, as well as an Australian term of endearment for the name Barry) gave wide circulation to Australian slang, particularly jokes about drinking and its consequences (much of which was invented by Humphries), and the character went on to feature in two Australian films, in which he was portrayed by Barry Crocker. Humphries' other satirical characters include the "priapic and inebriated cultural attaché" Sir Les Patterson, who has "continued to bring worldwide discredit upon Australian arts and culture, while contributing as much to the Australian vernacular as he has borrowed from it", gentle, grandfatherly "returned gentleman" Sandy Stone, iconoclastic 1960s underground film-maker Martin Agrippa, Paddington socialist academic Neil Singleton, sleazy trade union official Lance Boyle, high-pressure art salesman Morrie O'Connor and failed tycoon Owen Steele. Humphries died following complications from hip surgery at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney on 22 April 2023.
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Barry Humphries at the BBC | Self (archive material) / Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson | 2023-05-28 |
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Barry Humphries - A Life of Laughs | Self (Archive) | 2023-05-03 |
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Barry Humphries: The Last Laugh | Self | 2023-12-23 |
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Show of Titles | "Anyone Can Whistle" Performer | 2021-06-13 |
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Parkinson at 50 | Dame Edna Everage (archive footage) | 2021-08-28 |
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Standing Up for Sunny | Barry Humphries | 2019-06-12 |
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Dame Edna Rules The Waves | Dame Edna Everidge | 2019-12-31 |
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Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Charlie / Dame Edna | 2016-07-01 |
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Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: The Missing Sketches | Self | 2016-12-31 |
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Blinky Bill the Movie | Wombo (voice) | 2015-08-21 |
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Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show | Self | 2015-12-25 |
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Jack Irish: Dead Point | Justice Logan | 2014-04-13 |
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Justin and the Knights of Valour | Braulio (voice) | 2013-08-09 |
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | The Great Goblin | 2012-12-12 |
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Kath & Kimderella | Dame Edna Everage | 2012-09-06 |
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Salvation | Client | 2009-03-19 |
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Mary and Max | Narrator (voice) | 2009-04-09 |
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Making Mary and Max | Self | 2009-10-21 |
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Not Quite Hollywood | Self | 2008-08-28 |
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The Man Inside Dame Edna | Self/Dame Edna/Les Patterson | 2008-01-09 |
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Gaybo Laughs Back | Dame Edna | 2008-11-09 |
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We Are Most Amused | Self | 2008-11-15 |
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Little Britain Down Under | Dame Edna Everage | 2007-05-27 |
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It Started with Swap Shop | Self | 2006-12-28 |
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Telling Schoolgirl Tales: The Making of 'The Getting of Wisdom’ | Self | 2006-03-06 |
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Da Kath & Kim Code | John Monk | 2005-11-27 |
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Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball? | Self - Edna Everage | 2004-12-09 |
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Finding Nemo | Bruce (voice) | 2003-05-30 |
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Barry Humphries Presents Back to My Roots and Other Suckers | Sir Les Patterson/Owen Steele/Sandy Stone/Dame Edna Everage | 2003-12-08 |
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Nicholas Nickleby | Mrs. Crummies/Mr. Leadville | 2002-12-27 |
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Welcome to Woop Woop | Blind Wally | 1998-08-13 |
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Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills | Bert / Lady Shopper / Manager | 1997-10-07 |
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Spice World | Kevin McMaxford | 1997-12-18 |
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Sir Les And The Great Chinese Takeaway | Les Patterson/Dame Edna | 1997-06-28 |
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Les Patterson 'Has A Stand Up' - Live & Rampant | Les Patterson | 1996-11-11 |
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The Leading Man | Humphrey Beal | 1996-12-12 |
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Some Interesting Facts About Peter Cook | Self | 1995-12-19 |
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Napoleon | Kangaroo (voice) | 1995-06-30 |
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Immortal Beloved | Clemens Metternich | 1994-12-16 |
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Selling Hitler | Rupert Murdoch | 1993-04-20 |
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Joan Rivers: Abroad in London | Dame Edna Everage | 1992-10-08 |
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A Late Lunch With Sir Les | Les Patterson | 1991-12-27 |
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The Life and Death of Sandy Stone | Sandy Stone | 1991-01-01 |
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An Audience with Jackie Mason | 1990-12-27 | |
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Sandy Comes Home | Sandy Stone | 1990-06-03 |
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Barry Humphries: This is Your Lunch | Self/Dame Edna | 1988-01-01 |
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One More Audience with Dame Edna Everage | Dame Edna Everage | 1988-12-25 |
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Howling III: The Marsupials | Academy Award Presenter | 1987-05-15 |
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Les Patterson Saves the World | Sir Les Patterson / Dame Edna Everage | 1987-04-09 |
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An Aussie Audience with Dame Edna | Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson / Self | 1986-04-14 |
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Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage | Dame Edna/Les Patterson | 1984-12-30 |
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A Birthday Tribute to Dame Edna Everage | Dame Edna/Sir Les Patterson | 1984-02-17 |
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Dr. Fischer of Geneva | Richard Deane | 1984-10-08 |
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Royal Variety Performance 1984 | 1984-11-25 | |
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The Secret Policeman's Other Ball | Self - Various Roles | 1982-03-01 |
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The Rocky Horror Treatment | (archive footage) | 1981-02-04 |
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Shock Treatment | Bert Schnick | 1981-08-21 |
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A Toast to Melbourne | 1981-01-01 | |
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An Audience with Dame Edna Everage | Dame Edna | 1980-12-26 |
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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | Our Guests at Heartland | 1978-07-24 |
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The Getting of Wisdom | Rev. Strachey | 1977-08-25 |
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Pleasure at Her Majesty's | Edna Everage | 1976-12-29 |
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Side by Side | Rodney | 1975-04-30 |
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The Great MacArthy | Col Ball-Miller | 1975-08-04 |
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Barry McKenzie Holds His Own | Aunt Edna Everage / Dr. Meyer Delamphrey / Offensive Buck-toothed Englishman / Senator Douglas Manton | 1974-12-12 |
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Percy's Progress | Dr. Anderson / Australian TV Lady | 1974-08-01 |
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The Adventures of Barry McKenzie | Aunt Edna Everage / Hoot / Dr. DeLamphrey | 1972-10-12 |
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The Naked Bunyip | Edna Everage | 1970-02-02 |
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The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom | Mr. Wainwright | 1968-09-11 |
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Bedazzled | Envy | 1967-10-30 |
