Summary
The Australian comedian and actor Barry Humphries, best known for his creations Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, has died aged 89.
His family said he was “completely himself until the very end”. “Never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit,” they said in a statement.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Humphries was an “absolute one of a kind”. “For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone,” he wrote. “But the brightest star in that galaxy was always Barry.”
Humphries was a “comedy genius”, said Ricky Gervais.
Rob Brydon said the late entertainer inspired him “immeasurably”. He was with Humphries just three days ago in Australia.
“Australia has lost one of its greatest!” wrote Jason Donovan. The singer and former Neighbours star said Humphries was “funny, literate and fiercely intelligent”.
Boris Johnson described Humphries as “one of the greatest ever Australians” and a “comic genius”. The former British prime minister and Spectator editor said he was also an “infallibly brilliant Spectator contributor”.
Adam Hills said Humphries was “one of the greatest comedians of our time”. He said it was “appropriate” that Humphries “took his final bow” on a Saturday night.
Esther Rantzen said “the world is just that bit sadder” after the death of her friend. The presenter, who worked with Humphries, said she was “very sad” and paid tribute to “a great creative artist”.
One of the earliest mentions of Barry Humphries in the Guardian was in an arts report from 1978, ahead of a new West End theatre production. Dressed as Dame Edna Everage, Humphries told a press conference: “There’s room for something tasteless in London. There’s too much good taste in Britain and there won’t be much left when I’m gone”.
This live blog will be closing shortly. Here is further coverage of the late Barry Humphries:
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'There’s too much good taste in Britain and there won’t be much left when I’m gone'
One of the earliest mentions of Barry Humphries in the Guardian was in an arts report from 1978, ahead of a new West End theatre production.
When drawn by reporters at a press conference in London about the production, rumoured to be on the Dracula story, Humphries, dressed as Dame Edna Everage and sporting her familiar lilac-rinsed hair and glitter-spiked spectacles, said in her customary style: “There’s room for something tasteless in London. There’s too much good taste in Britain and there won’t be much left when I’m gone”.
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'World is just that bit sadder,' says friend Esther Rantzen
Esther Rantzen said “the world is just that bit sadder” after the death of her friend Barry Humphries.
The presenter, who worked with Humphries, said she was “very sad” and paid tribute to “a great creative artist”.
She told the PA news agency:
I think we’ve lost a source of so much fun and someone I have worked with since the mid-1960s and liked and admired so much. My memory of Dame Edna Everage goes back to when she was a mere Mrs, she was even then a superstar. She was dressed by BBC’s rather frumpy stock wardrobe but, of course, she turned into a butterfly and obviously achieved damehood.
She influenced me greatly. When I was lucky enough to be honoured with damehood, I was very frequently introduced as Dame Edna because it became a phrase which came naturally, and I was thrilled. Barry was cultured and clever and a voracious reader and all the things that Sir Les Patterson not. A great creative artist.
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'One of the greatest comedians of our time': Adam Hills and Jimmy Carr pay tribute
The Australian comedian Adam Hills said it was “appropriate” that Humphries “took his final bow” on a Saturday night.
RIP Barry Humphries. One of the greatest comedians of our time. He was nothing but an utter gentleman to me, and occasionally a Dame. Appropriately, he took his final bow on a Saturday night.
— Adam Hills (@adamhillscomedy) April 22, 2023
— Adam Hills (@adamhillscomedy) April 22, 2023
The comedian Jimmy Carr, who is on tour in Australia, said it was “bittersweet” to be performing.
A bit bittersweet doing gigs in Australia this evening, Barry Humphries has passed and no one will ever be as good at crowd work again. pic.twitter.com/DY8M6enj37
— Jimmy Carr (@jimmycarr) April 22, 2023
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'Greatest ever writer and deliverer of insults,' says Frankie Boyle
The comedian Frankie Boyle said Humphries “superseded Groucho Marx as the greatest ever writer and deliverer of insults”.
Oh man. Among so many other things, superseded Groucho Marx as the greatest ever writer and deliverer of insults. RIP x https://t.co/wtaX4TD2Gn
— Frankie Boyle Updates (@frankieboyle) April 22, 2023
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Rory Bremner pays tribute to ‘true genius’
The comedian Rory Bremner has paid tribute to Humphries, calling him an “all-time great” and “true genius”.
Heavens. With the passing of #barryhumphries we lose an all-time great. Lightning quick, subversive, mischievous, widely read,deeply knowledgeable about art, music & literature- & savagely funny. Dame Edna arguably the greatest comic persona ever. Les Patterson too. True genius.
— Rory Bremner 💙🇺🇦 (@rorybremner) April 22, 2023
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BBC Sounds will play episodes from Barry Humphries’ Radio 2 series Forgotten Music Masterpieces as a tribute to the late entertainer.
Laura Busson, a commissioning executive for the station, said:
Everyone at Radio 2 is saddened to hear of the passing of Barry Humphries. His six Radio 2 series of Barry Humphries’ Forgotten Music Masterpieces were hugely popular with our audience, and we will publish some of these programmes on BBC Sounds today for listeners to enjoy, in tribute to Barry.
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Humphries ‘one of the greatest ever Australians’, says Boris Johnson
The former British prime minister Boris Johnson described Humphries as “one of the greatest ever Australians” and a “comic genius”.
He also said he was an “infallibly brilliant Spectator contributor”.
RIP Barry Humphries - one of the greatest ever Australians - and a comic genius who used his exuberant alter egos, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, to say the otherwise unsayable. Also an infallibly brilliant Spectator contributor. What a loss.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 22, 2023
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Kathy Lette, the Australian-British author, has paid tribute to Humphries, who she said was her “favourite person”.
Farewell to my favourite person. Heartbroken. RIP dearest darling. #BarryHumphries pic.twitter.com/ZeVVKsITUZ
— Kathy Lette (@KathyLette) April 22, 2023
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Australia has lost one of its greats, says Jason Donovan
The singer and former Neighbours star Jason Donovan has added his voice to the tributes:
Australia has lost one of its greatest!
— Jason Donovan (@JDonOfficial) April 22, 2023
Funny, literate and fiercely intelligent
Barry Humphries was quite simply an entertaining genius.
The characters he created brought laughter to millions …
My thoughts are with family on this sad day! pic.twitter.com/5YuozMmzHI
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His life in pictures
The Guardian picture desk has taken a look back at Humphries’ work and life, which connected with people around the world, here:
Humphries inspired me immeasurably, says Rob Brydon
The actor and comedian Rob Brydon says he was with Humphries three days ago in Australia.
RIP Barry Humphries. A true great who inspired me immeasurably. It was a delight to call him my friend.
— Rob Brydon (@RobBrydon) April 22, 2023
I've been in Australia and was with him only 3 days ago. He was, as ever, making me laugh. His talent shone until the very end.
My love goes out to Lizzie and all the family. pic.twitter.com/G5aJfLiVkK
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Humphries a 'comedy genius', says Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais, the writer of The Office, After Life, and so many other hugely popular shows, has tweeted his tribute.
Farewell, Barry Humphries, you Comedy genius.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) April 22, 2023
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Born John Barry Humphries in Kew, Melbourne, in 1934, as a child he loved dress-ups and acting. The eldest child of working-class parents, his “boring” childhood in the leafy suburb of Camberwell was spent “disguising myself as different characters”.
“I also found that entertaining people gave me a great feeling of release,” he wrote, “making people laugh was a very good way of befriending them. People couldn’t hit you if they were laughing.”
As a teenager he became a lover of literature, theatre and art, all feeding into his first sustained character, Dr Aaron Azimuth, a cloaked dandy and dadaist. He attended Melbourne University but never graduated, leaving to make his theatrical debut at Melbourne’s Union theatre in 1953.
In 1959 he moved to London, where he befriended British comedians and satirists including Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett and Spike Milligan, all of whom he would work with repeatedly. He appeared in his first film, 1967’s Bedazzled, alongside Cook and Moore; wrote the cartoon The Wonderful World of Barry McKenzie in Private Eye; and acted in numerous West End productions, including Oliver!, The Demon Barber, and a stint as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, alongside Milligan.
Humphries’ first one-man show in London, A Nice Night’s Entertainment, opened in 1962 to scathing reviews. He finally cracked the mainstream in 1976’s Housewife, Superstar! The show’s success in the UK and Australia led Humphries to take it to the US in 1977; he later summed up the negative reception with: “When the New York Times tells you to close, you close.”
In the late 1980s, Everage landed her own talkshow in Britain, The Dame Edna Experience, delighting audiences in irreverent and waspish interviews with celebrities; in the 1990s Humphries took the format to the US, launching Dame Edna’s Hollywood. Giving interviews as Edna, she would claim that Barry Humphries was her manager, and he even wrote several books as her, including the 1989 autobiography, My Gorgeous Life: the Life, the Loves, the Legend. As Everage, Humphries won an Olivier for best comedy performance in 1979 and a Tony award in 2000, an achievement he described as “like winning a thousand Gold Logies at the same time”.
Over his career, Humphries appeared in films playing characters such as the Great Goblin in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Bruce the great white shark in Finding Nemo. He also appeared in The Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel Shock Treatment; the Spice Girls film Spice World; and had small roles in Da Kath and Kim Code and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
Humphries was married four times, and had four children. His last marriage, to the actor Lizzie Spender in 1990, lasted to his death. “Why has this last marriage endured? Oh, because I’m a bit smarter now,” he once said. “The truth is I’m not a very easy person to be married to.”
Read more about Barry Humphries’ life here.
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Peter Dutton, leader of Australia’s Liberal Party, has described Humphries as his country’s “finest cultural raconteur”.
Australia has lost its finest cultural raconteur, its most brilliant satirist, and its greatest cultural comedian with the passing of the witty and wonderful Barry Humphries AO CBE.
— Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) April 22, 2023
He will forever be a treasured Australian icon.
May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/JMPiMITAol
The broadcaster Andrew Neil has said he visited Barry Humphries in hospital two weeks ago when his “spirits and wit were as acute as ever”.
“So sad to learn Barry Humphries has passed away,” he tweeted.
So sad to learn Barry Humphries has passed away. When I visited him in his Sydney Hospital two weeks ago he was ailing from several health problems. But his spirits and wit were as acute as ever. We laughed away as the stories poured out. Funny, hugely literate, fiercely smart.
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) April 22, 2023
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The comedian Dara Ó Briain has described Barry Humphries as “one of the absolute funniest people ever”.
He tweeted:
RIP Barry Humphries, one of the absolute funniest people ever. A huge life, lived long and well. He will be missed.
Matt Lucas, meanwhile, also tweeted a tribute:
I wonder if all geniuses are as lovely as Barry Humphries. Thank you for delighting and inspiring us. Quite simply, you were the greatest. pic.twitter.com/86scyP449b
— Matt Lucas HQ (@RealMattLucas) April 22, 2023
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When any well-loved entertainer dies, it’s sad. Now Barry Humphries has died, and maybe it’s more so – because we’re losing not only Humphries, but his alter egos too, characters more fleshed-out and better known to the public than Humphries himself. Dame Edna was among the most enduring personas comedy has ever seen, and undoubtedly one of the greatest.
With her, and Sir Les Patterson, and with his contributions to Britain’s 60s satire boom, Humphries added to the gaiety of cultures (and subtracted from their dignity) across half a century and the span of the globe.
You don’t need to be Sigmund Freud to trace the source of Humphries’s outre comedy back to his repressive upbringing in 1930s Melbourne, and specifically his mother, who divided the world into things that were “nice” and things that were “uncalled for”.
No one in mid-century Australia was calling for a mocking comedy that ridiculed suburban mores – and by association, narrow-minded, unsophisticated Australia itself.
But that’s what Humphries gave them, first with “Mrs Norm Everage”, the surprisingly demure first incarnation of his greatest creation, then with his Barry McKenzie comic strip (and later, films) about a dimwit Aussie ex-pat, which saw the book of the comic strip banned in his home country.
Humphries must have been tickled by that: getting a rise out of people was a compulsion. You could see his sad late-career brush with transphobia, which saw his name removed from the Melbourne comedy festival’s prestigious annual award, as consistent with that. But it wasn’t. It’s significant that Humphries’s remarks about trans men were made offstage, not on.
I’m not saying his stage act was more polite, far from it. Many of his routines, such as the one that found the “transcendentally filthy” – Humphries’s own description – Sir Les Patterson chasing Kylie Minogue around the Royal Festival Hall with his (fake) penis out, might fall foul today of what Humphries took to calling “the new puritanism”.
But in his act, which was always meticulously prepared, he knew precisely how to calibrate offence and aggression. It was applied not with a bovver boot but with one of Dame Edna’s spindlier heels.
Read the full tribute here:
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Humphries an 'absolute one of a kind', says Australia's PM
Confirming the news on Saturday, the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, tweeted this tribute:
For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) April 22, 2023
But the brightest star in that galaxy was always Barry.
A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift.
May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/oSAKpxPGae
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Humphries 'completely himself until the very end', say fmily
Humphries’ family have released the following statement:
He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit
With over 70 years on the stage, he was an entertainer to his core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that will sadly never be.
His audiences were precious to him, and he never took them for granted. Although he may be best remembered for his work in theatre, he was a painter, author, poet, and a collector and lover of art in all its forms.“He was also a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and a friend and confidant to many. His passing leaves a void in so many lives.
The characters he created, which brought laughter to millions, will live on.
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Barry Humphries, Australian comedian and creator of Dame Edna Everage, dies aged 89
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.
