Barry Humphries
Biography
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.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
Saturday Night Live
1975
Hollywood Squares
1998
The View
1997
The Graham Norton Show
2007
The One Show
2006
The One Show
2006
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
QI
2003
Filmography
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Dame Edna Everage · 1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self · 1962
Saturday Night Live
as Dame Edna Everage · 1975
Hollywood Squares
as Self - Panelist · 1998
The View
as Self · 1997
The Graham Norton Show
as Self · 2007
The One Show
as Self · 2006
The One Show
as Dame Edna Everage · 2006
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
as Dame Edna · 1993
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
· 1992
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
as Dame Edna Everage · 1992
QI
as Self · 2003
QI
as Self - Panellist (archive footage) · 2003
Wogan
as Self · 1982
The Wednesday Play
· 1964
The Tony Danza Show
as Dame Edna · 2004
The South Bank Show
as Self · 1978
The South Bank Show
· 1978
Finding Nemo
as Bruce (voice) · 2003
Omnibus
as Sir Les Patterson · 1967
Omnibus
as Self · 1967
Pebble Mill
as Self · 1991
Parkinson
as Dame Edna Everage · 1998
An Audience with...
as Dame Edna Everage · 1978
An Audience with...
as Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson · 1978
Ally McBeal
as Claire Otoms · 1997
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
as The Great Goblin · 2012
Boulevard Bio
as Dame Edna · 1991
Q&A
as Self - Panellist · 2008
RTL Samstag Nacht
· 1993
Parkinson
as Dame Edna Everage · 2004
The Osbournes
as Self · 2002
Mary and Max
as Narrator (voice) · 2009
Who Do You Think You Are?
as Self · 2008
Justin and the Knights of Valour
as Braulio (voice) · 2013
The Dame Edna Experience
· 1987
I'd Do Anything
as Himself - Judge · 2008
Spice World
as Kevin McMaxford · 1997
Immortal Beloved
as Clemens Metternich · 1994
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
· 1979
Russell Harty
· 1980
Nicholas Nickleby
as Mrs. Crummles/Mr. Leadville · 2002
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
as Charlie / Dame Edna · 2016
Single Voices
as Sandy Stone · 1990
The Great Comic Relief Bake Off
as Contestant (Dame Edna Everage) · 2013
Blinky Bill the Movie
as Wombo (voice) · 2015
The Marsupials: The Howling III
as Academy Award Presenter · 1987
The Team: A Season With McLaren
as Dame Edna Everage · 1993
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
as Our Guests at Heartland · 1978
Bedazzled
as Envy · 1967
A Comedy Roast
· 2010
Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford
· 2010
Standing Up for Sunny
as Barry Humphries · 2019
Napoleon
as Kangaroo (voice) · 1995
The Dame Edna Treatment
· 2007
Welcome to Woop Woop
as Blind Wally · 1998
Shock Treatment
as Bert Schnick · 1981
Da Kath & Kim Code
as John Monk · 2005
Show of Titles
as "Anyone Can Whistle" Performer · 2021
Magical Land of Oz
as Narrator (voice) · 2019
Not Quite Hollywood
as Self · 2008
Jack Irish: Dead Point
as Justice Logan · 2014
An Audience with Dame Edna Everage
as Dame Edna · 1980
Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills
as Bert / Lady Shopper / Manager · 1997
The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom
as Mr. Wainwright · 1968
The Leading Man
as Humphrey Beal · 1996
Micallef Tonight
as Self · 2003
It Started with Swap Shop
as Self · 2006
Les Patterson Saves the World
as Sir Les Patterson / Dame Edna Everage · 1987
Barry Humphries at the BBC
as Self (archive material) / Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson · 2023
Making Mary and Max
as Self · 2009
Percy's Progress
as Dr. Anderson / Australian TV Lady · 1974
Barry McKenzie Holds His Own
as Aunt Edna Everage / Dr. Meyer Delamphrey / Offensive Buck-toothed Englishman / Senator Douglas Manton · 1974
Dr. Fischer of Geneva
as Richard Deane · 1984
The Naked Bunyip
as Edna Everage · 1970
Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
as Self - Edna Everage · 2004
Kath & Kimderella
as Dame Edna Everage · 2012
Royal Variety Performance 1984
· 1984
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
as Self - Various Roles · 1982
A Late Lunch With Sir Les
as Les Patterson · 1991
We Are Most Amused
as Self · 2008
The Getting of Wisdom
as Rev. Strachey · 1977
Parkinson at 50
as Dame Edna Everage (archive footage) · 2021
Pleasure at Her Majesty's
as Edna Everage · 1976
The Man Inside Dame Edna
as Self/Dame Edna/Les Patterson · 2008
One More Audience with Dame Edna Everage
as Dame Edna Everage · 1988
A Night on Mount Edna
as Dame Edna Everage · 1990
Little Britain Down Under
as Dame Edna Everage · 2007
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
as Aunt Edna Everage / Hoot / Dr. DeLamphrey · 1972
Telling Schoolgirl Tales: The Making of 'The Getting of Wisdom’
as Self · 2006
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: The Missing Sketches
as Self · 2016
Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch
as Dame Edna · 1992
Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show
as Self · 2015
Gaybo Laughs Back
as Dame Edna · 2008
Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage
as Dame Edna/Les Patterson · 1984
Selling Hitler
as Rupert Murdoch · 1993
The Rocky Horror Treatment
as (archive footage) · 1981
The Last Impresario
as Self · 2014
Some Interesting Facts About Peter Cook
as Self · 1995
Barry Humphries: The Last Laugh
as Self · 2023
Betjeman and Me
· 2006
Dame Edna Rules The Waves
as Dame Edna Everidge · 2019
An Audience with Jackie Mason
· 1990
Brilliant Creatures
as Self · 2014
Les Patterson 'Has A Stand Up' - Live & Rampant
as Les Patterson · 1996
Barry Humphries Presents Back to My Roots and Other Suckers
as Sir Les Patterson/Owen Steele/Sandy Stone/Dame Edna Everage · 2003
A Granny's Guide to the Modern World
· 2016
Barry Humphries: This is Your Lunch
as Self/Dame Edna · 1988
A Toast to Melbourne
· 1981
Dame Edna's Hollywood
as Dame Edna Everage · 1991
Joan Rivers: Abroad in London
as Dame Edna Everage · 1992
Barry Humphries - A Life of Laughs
as Self (Archive) · 2023
Side by Side
as Rodney · 1975
Salvation
as Client · 2009
A Birthday Tribute to Dame Edna Everage
as Dame Edna/Sir Les Patterson · 1984
The Great MacArthy
as Col Ball-Miller · 1975
Sir Les And The Great Chinese Takeaway
as Les Patterson/Dame Edna · 1997
An Aussie Audience with Dame Edna
as Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson / Self · 1986
Le Bain Vorace (Dial P for Plughole)
· 1954