Barry Humphries
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.
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Acted in
Barry Humphries: The Last Laugh
2023
as Self
Barry Humphries at the BBC
2023
as Self (archive material) / Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson
Parkinson at 50
2021
as Dame Edna Everage (archive footage)
Dame Edna Rules The Waves
2019
as Dame Edna Everidge
Standing Up for Sunny
2019
as Barry Humphries
Magical Land of Oz
2019
as Narrator (voice)
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: The Missing Sketches
2016
as Self
A Granny's Guide to the Modern World
2016
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
2016
as Charlie / Dame Edna
Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show
2015
as Self
Blinky Bill the Movie
2015
as Wombo (voice)
Brilliant Creatures
2014
as Self
Jack Irish: Dead Point
2014
as Justice Logan
Justin and the Knights of Valour
2013
as Braulio (voice)
The Great Comic Relief Bake Off
2013
as Contestant (Dame Edna Everage)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2012
as The Great Goblin
Kath & Kimderella
2012
as Dame Edna Everage
A Comedy Roast
2010
Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford
2010
Making Mary and Max
2009
as Self
Mary and Max
2009
as Narrator (voice)
Salvation
2009
as Client
We Are Most Amused
2008
as Self
Not Quite Hollywood
2008
as Self
I'd Do Anything
2008
as Himself - Judge
Who Do You Think You Are?
2008
as Self
The Dame Edna Treatment
2007
It Started with Swap Shop
2006
as Self
Betjeman and Me
2006
Telling Schoolgirl Tales: The Making of 'The Getting of Wisdom’
2006
as Self
Da Kath & Kim Code
2005
as John Monk
Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
2004
as Self - Edna Everage
Barry Humphries Presents Back to My Roots and Other Suckers
2003
as Sir Les Patterson/Owen Steele/Sandy Stone/Dame Edna Everage
Little Britain
2003
Little Britain
2003
as Dame Edna Everage
Finding Nemo
2003
as Bruce (voice)
Nicholas Nickleby
2002
as Mrs. Crummies/Mr. Leadville
Hollywood Squares
1998
Welcome to Woop Woop
1998
as Blind Wally
Spice World
1997
as Kevin McMaxford
Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills
1997
as Bert / Lady Shopper / Manager
Ally McBeal
1997
as Claire Otoms
The Leading Man
1996
as Humphrey Beal
Some Interesting Facts About Peter Cook
1995
as Self
Napoleon
1995
as Kangaroo (voice)
Immortal Beloved
1994
as Clemens Metternich
RTL Samstag Nacht
1993
Joan Rivers: Abroad in London
1992
as Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch
1992
as Dame Edna
Dame Edna's Hollywood
1991
as Dame Edna Everage
Selling Hitler
1991
as Rupert Murdoch
An Audience with Jackie Mason
1990
One More Audience with Dame Edna Everage
1988
as Dame Edna Everage
The Dame Edna Experience
1987
Howling III: The Marsupials
1987
as Academy Award Presenter
Les Patterson Saves the World
1987
as Sir Les Patterson / Dame Edna Everage
An Aussie Audience with Dame Edna
1986
as Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson / Self
Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage
1984
as Dame Edna
Dr. Fischer of Geneva
1984
as Richard Deane
A (BBC Arena) Birthday Tribute to Dame Edna Everage
1984
as Edna Everage
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
1982
as Self - Various Roles
Shock Treatment
1981
as Bert Schnick
The Rocky Horror Treatment
1981
as Himself
A Toast to Melbourne
1981
An Audience with Dame Edna Everage
1980
Russell Harty
1980
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1978
as Our Guests at Heartland
The South Bank Show
1978
as Self
The Getting of Wisdom
1977
as Rev. Strachey
Pleasure at Her Majesty's
1976
as Edna Everage
The Great MacArthy
1975
as Col Ball-Miller
Side by Side
1975
Barry McKenzie Holds His Own
1974
as Edna Everage
Percy's Progress
1974
as Dr. Anderson / Australian TV Lady
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
1972
as Aunt Edna Everage / Hoot / Dr. DeLamphrey
The Naked Bunyip
1970
as Edna Everage
The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom
1968
as Mr. Wainwright
Bedazzled
1967
as Envy
The Wednesday Play
1964
Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch
as Dame Edna