Barry Humphries, Australian Comedian and Creator of Dame Edna Everage, Dies Aged 89

THE GUARDIAN: Famed for personas that also included the vulgar Sir Les Patterson, Humphries became a household name in a seven-decade career

‘Entertaining people gave me a great feeling of release’ … Barry Humphries in 2014. The Australian comedian and creator of Dame Edna Everage has died aged 89. Photograph: Claudio Raschella/Headpress
Barry Humphries, the Australian comedian and actor best known for his creations Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, has died aged 89.

In a seven-decade career spanning theatre, television, books and film, Humphries was famed for his absurdist, discomfiting and transgressive humour, poking fun at Australian culture with his cast of personas, some of which would rank among the best-loved comedic creations of all time: Dame Edna Everage, the gaudy, waspish housewife from Moonee Ponds; Sir Les Patterson, the vulgar and boozy Australian cultural attaché; the fundamentally decent and senile Sandy Stone; and archetypal Aussie bloke Barry McKenzie.

Everage, in particular, took on a life of her own, landing several talkshows, an appearance on Saturday Night Live and a recurring role on the 1990s drama Ally McBeal. Humphries described Everage and Patterson in particular as “wonderful outlets. I’m very careful myself about what I might say. Edna and Sir Les, on the other hand, can point to the nudity of the emperor.”

A statement from his family read: “He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit. » | Sian Cain | Saturday, April 22, 2023

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