Index Investing News
Friday, May 9, 2025
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Home
  • World
  • Investing
  • Financial
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Stocks
  • Crypto
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Home
  • World
  • Investing
  • Financial
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Stocks
  • Crypto
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Index Investing News
No Result
View All Result

Barry Humphries, renowned actor behind Dame Edna Everage, dead at 89

by Index Investing News
April 22, 2023
in World
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
Home World
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Tony Award-winning comedian Barry Humphries, internationally renowned for his garish stage persona Dame Edna Everage, a condescending and imperfectly veiled snob whose evolving character has delighted audiences over seven decades, has died. He was 89. 

His death in the Sydney hospital, where he spent several days with complications following hip surgery, was confirmed by his family. 

“He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit,” a family statement said.

“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.”

Humphries accepts the Wizard of Oz award for his fictional character Sir Les Patterson at the Oldie Of The Year Awards 2021 at The Savoy Hotel in London on Oct. 19, 2021. (Chris Jackson/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)

Humphries had lived in London for decades and returned to native Australia in December for Christmas. 

He told The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper last month that his physiotherapy had been “agony” following his fall and hip replacement.

“It was the most ridiculous thing, like all domestic incidents are. I was reaching for a book, my foot got caught on a rug or something, and down I went,” Humphries said.

He has remained an active entertainer, touring Britain last year with his one-man show The Man Behind the Mask.

The character of Dame Edna began as a dowdy Mrs. Norm Everage, who first took to the stage in Humphries’ hometown of Melbourne in the mid-1950s. She reflected a postwar suburban inertia and cultural blandness that Humphries found stifling.

Edna is one of Humphries’ several enduring characters. The next most famous is Sir Les Patterson, an ever-drunk, dishevelled and lecherous Australian cultural attaché.

A man holds his hand to his nose and makes a face at a large painting of a woman.
Barry Humphries, in his role as cultural attaché Sir Les Patterson, examines a portrait of his other incarnation, Dame Edna, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on March 16, 1999. (Reuters)

Patterson reflected a perception of Australia as a Western cultural wasteland that drove Humphries along with many leading Australian intellectuals to London.

Humphries, a law school dropout, found major success as an actor, writer and entertainer in Britain in the 1970s, but the United States was an ambition that he found stubbornly elusive.

A high point in the United States was a Tony Award in 2000 for his Broadway show Dame Edna: The Royal Tour.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the celebrated comedian.

“For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone,” Albanese tweeted, referring to the melancholic and rambling Stone, one of Humphries most enduring characters. “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.” 

Farewell, Barry Humphries, you Comedy genius.

—@rickygervais

Piers Morgan, British television personality, also paid tribute. “One of the funniest people I’ve ever met,” Morgan tweeted.

“A wondrously intelligent, entertaining, daring, provocative, mischievous comedy Genius,” Morgan added. 

A life of comedy

John Barry Humphries was born in Melbourne, Australia, on Feb. 17, 1934. His parents were comfortable, loving and strait-laced, and must have wondered about their eldest son, whom they called Sunny Sam. His mother used to tell him to stop drawing attention to himself.

Before he’d finished at the prestigious Melbourne Grammar School, Humphries was more interested in art and second-hand bookshops than football. At 16, his favourite author was Kafka and later said he “felt a little foreign.” He spent two years at Melbourne University, where he embraced Dadaism.

In 1959, he settled in London and was soon working in Peter Cook’s comedy venue The Establishment. He played Sowerberry in the original London production of Oliver! in 1960 and repeated the role on Broadway. He appeared with Spike Milligan and William Rushton in Treasure Island.

Humphries, with New Zealand artist Nicholas Garland, created the Barry McKenzie comic strip for the satirical magazine Private Eye in 1964. When the strips came out as a book, the Australian government banned it because it “relied on indecency for its humour.” Humphries professed delight at the publicity and implored authorities not to lift the ban.

By then, his drinking was out of control. In Melbourne in late 1970, he was charged with being drunk and disorderly. He finally admitted himself to a hospital specializing in alcoholism for the treatment that would turn him into a lifelong abstainer.

The Dame Edna character first appeared in the 1970s in Aussie cult films, in which she appeared as the Barry McKenzie’s aunt. Former Australian Gough Whitlam knighted Edna in one of them. 

Married four times, Humphries is survived by his wife Lizzie Spender, four children and 10 grandchildren.





Source link

Tags: actorBarryDamedeadEdnaEverageHumphriesRenowned
ShareTweetShareShare
Previous Post

N.F.L. Suspends Detroit Lions, Washington Commanders Players for Gambling

Next Post

MiB: Brian Hamburger, MarketCounsel – The Big Picture

Related Posts

Man Utd beat Athletic Membership to arrange Europa League ultimate with Tottenham | Soccer Information

Man Utd beat Athletic Membership to arrange Europa League ultimate with Tottenham | Soccer Information

by Index Investing News
May 8, 2025
0

Mason Mount scores twice as Manchester United come from behind to win 4-1 towards Athletic of their semifinal.Manchester United produced...

Why do popes change their names?

Why do popes change their names?

by Index Investing News
May 8, 2025
0

Robert Prevost, the first-ever American pope, will take the identify Leo XIV. ROME, Metropolitan Metropolis of Rome Capital — Cardinal...

Circus horror as fire-eater units fireplace to huge prime tent with 113 youngsters inside leaving a number of injured in inferno

Circus horror as fire-eater units fireplace to huge prime tent with 113 youngsters inside leaving a number of injured in inferno

by Index Investing News
May 8, 2025
0

A FIRE-EATER has set fireplace to an enormous prime circus tent with 113 youngsters inside, leaving a number of folks...

Youngsters discovered with 5,000 ants in Kenya given fantastic or 1-year jail sentence

Youngsters discovered with 5,000 ants in Kenya given fantastic or 1-year jail sentence

by Index Investing News
May 8, 2025
0

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Two Belgian youngsters discovered with 5,000 ants in Kenya got a selection of paying a fantastic of...

Two German MEPs to defy EU with Moscow go to – media — RT World Information

Two German MEPs to defy EU with Moscow go to – media — RT World Information

by Index Investing News
May 8, 2025
0

The EU parliamentarians have instructed dpa they need to ship a message of peace by collaborating in Victory Day celebrations...

Next Post
MiB: Brian Hamburger, MarketCounsel – The Big Picture

MiB: Brian Hamburger, MarketCounsel - The Big Picture

Ric Edelman on The Compound (Video)

Ric Edelman on The Compound (Video)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECOMMENDED

THIS Bank offering special FD rate of 8%! IDBI, other banks offering over 7% interest rate | Check latest interest rate of banks

THIS Bank offering special FD rate of 8%! IDBI, other banks offering over 7% interest rate | Check latest interest rate of banks

November 4, 2022
IFRS Accounting Customary Will Assist Higher Funding Selections

IFRS Accounting Customary Will Assist Higher Funding Selections

July 25, 2024
NDA’s Draupadi Murmu vs Opposition’s Yashwant Sinha in president election

NDA’s Draupadi Murmu vs Opposition’s Yashwant Sinha in president election

June 21, 2022
Israel Railways to compensate girl compelled to alter automotive

Israel Railways to compensate girl compelled to alter automotive

June 14, 2022
Vertex: A Valuation Re-Rating Play Of A Non-Discretionary Business (NASDAQ:VERX)

Vertex: A Valuation Re-Rating Play Of A Non-Discretionary Business (NASDAQ:VERX)

August 28, 2022
Why ‘Spring Breakers’ Marked the End of the Indie Sleaze

Why ‘Spring Breakers’ Marked the End of the Indie Sleaze

September 19, 2022
RBI Monetary Policy Review – MPC Hikes The Policy Repo Rate By 50 Bps To 5.9%: Motilal Oswal

RBI Monetary Policy Review – MPC Hikes The Policy Repo Rate By 50 Bps To 5.9%: Motilal Oswal

October 2, 2022
Twitter applies temporary limit to address data scraping, system manipulation: Elon Musk

Twitter applies temporary limit to address data scraping, system manipulation: Elon Musk

July 1, 2023
Index Investing News

Get the latest news and follow the coverage of Investing, World News, Stocks, Market Analysis, Business & Financial News, and more from the top trusted sources.

  • 1717575246.7
  • Browse the latest news about investing and more
  • Contact us
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • DMCA
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • xtw18387b488

Copyright © 2022 - Index Investing News.
Index Investing News is not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World
  • Investing
  • Financial
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Stocks
  • Crypto
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion

Copyright © 2022 - Index Investing News.
Index Investing News is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In