1934-02-17 Camberwell, Melbourne, Australia
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (17 February 1934 - 22 April 2023) 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Barry Humphries, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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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: The Last Laugh | Self | 2023-12-23 |
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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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Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: The Missing Sketches | Self | 2016-12-31 |
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Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie | Charlie / Dame Edna | 2016-07-01 |
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Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show | Herself | 2015-12-25 |
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Blinky Bill the Movie | Wombo (voice) | 2015-08-21 |
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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 | Great Goblin | 2012-12-12 |
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Kath & Kimderella | Dame Edna Everage | 2012-09-06 |
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Mary and Max | Narrator (voice) | 2009-02-09 |
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Salvation | Client | 2009-03-19 |
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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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We Are Most Amused | Self | 2008-11-15 |
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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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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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Joan Rivers: Abroad in London | Dame Edna Everage | 1992-10-08 |
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Selling Hitler | Rupert Murdoch | 1991-06-11 |
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An Audience with Jackie Mason | 1990-12-27 | |
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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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Dr. Fischer of Geneva | Richard Deane | 1984-10-08 |
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A (BBC Arena) Birthday Tribute to Dame Edna Everage | Edna Everage | 1984-02-17 |
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Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage | Dame Edna | 1984-12-30 |
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The Secret Policeman's Other Ball | Himself - Various Roles | 1982-03-01 |
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The Rocky Horror Treatment | Himself | 1981-02-04 |
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Shock Treatment | Bert Schnick | 1981-10-30 |
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A Toast to Melbourne | 1981-01-01 | |
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An Audience with Dame Edna Everage | 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 | 1975-04-30 | |
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The Great MacArthy | Col Ball-Miller | 1975-08-04 |
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Percy's Progress | Dr. Anderson / Australian TV Lady | 1974-08-01 |
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Barry McKenzie Holds His Own | Edna Everage | 1974-12-12 |
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The Adventures of Barry McKenzie | Aunt Edna Everage | 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 |
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Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch | Dame Edna | |
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Dame Edna Rules The Waves | Dame Edna Everidge |
