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Barry Humphries

 

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Barry Humphries


 
 
John Barry Humphries, AOOrder of Australia Summary

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established by Queen Elizabeth II on February 14, 1975 'for the purpose of ac...
, CBEOrder of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V....
 (born 17 February 1934, KewKew, Victoria

Kew is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria....
, MelbourneMelbourne

Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australi...
, VictoriaVictoria (Australia) Overview

Victoria is a state located in the south-eastern corner of Australia....
) is an AustraliaAustralia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland o...
n comedianComedian

A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh....
, satirist and character actorCharacter actor

A character actor is an actor who predominantly performs in similar roles throughout the course of a career....
 perhaps best known for his on-stage and televisionTelevision

Television is a telecommunication system for...
 alter egoAlter ego

An alter ego is another self, a second personality or persona within a person....
s Dame Edna EverageDame Edna Everage

Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
, a Melbourne housewife, and Sir Les PattersonSir Les Patterson

Sir Les Patterson is a fictional character portrayed by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attachéCultural attaché

A cultural attach? is a diplomat with special responsibility for promoting the culture of his or her homeland....
 to BritainFacts About United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast...
. He is also a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter.

His characters, especially Edna EverageDame Edna Everage

Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
, have brought him international renown, and he has appeared in numerous films, stage productions and television shows.
His Barry McKenzieBarry McKenzie Summary

Barry McKenzie or Bazza McKenzie is a fictional character originally created by the Australian comedian Barry Humphrie...
comic stripComic strip

A comic strip is a drawing or sequence of drawings that tells a story....
s about Australians in London appeared in Private EyePrivate Eye

Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop....
magazine with drawings by Nicholas GarlandFacts About Nicholas Garland

Nicholas Withycombe Garland is a political cartoonist for the Daily Telegraph....
. The stories about "Bazza" (also Humphries' nicknameNickname

A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or thing's real name ....
) gave wide circulation to Australian slangSlang

Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or langu...
, particularly jokes about drinking and its consequences, much of it invented by Humphries.

He has been married four times; his fourth wife Lizzie Spender is the daughter of British poet Sir Stephen SpenderStephen Spender

Sir Stephen Harold Spender CBE, was an English poet and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the clas...
.






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Timeline

1934   Born






Quotations


(to a member of the audience, Back with Vengeance tour, Melbourne, 2006) I'm trying to think of a word to describe your outfit ...affordable.

Hello possums! (Greeting to her audience)

I was born in Melbourne with a precious gift. Dame Nature stooped over my cot and gave me this gift. It was the ability to laugh at the misfortunes of others.






Encyclopedia


John Barry Humphries, AOOrder of Australia Summary

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established by Queen Elizabeth II on February 14, 1975 'for the purpose of ac...
, CBEOrder of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V....
 (born 17 February 1934, KewKew, Victoria

Kew is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria....
, MelbourneMelbourne

Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australi...
, VictoriaVictoria (Australia) Overview

Victoria is a state located in the south-eastern corner of Australia....
) is an AustraliaAustralia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland o...
n comedianComedian

A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh....
, satirist and character actorCharacter actor

A character actor is an actor who predominantly performs in similar roles throughout the course of a career....
 perhaps best known for his on-stage and televisionTelevision

Television is a telecommunication system for...
 alter egoAlter ego

An alter ego is another self, a second personality or persona within a person....
s Dame Edna EverageDame Edna Everage

Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
, a Melbourne housewife, and Sir Les PattersonSir Les Patterson

Sir Les Patterson is a fictional character portrayed by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attachéCultural attaché

A cultural attach? is a diplomat with special responsibility for promoting the culture of his or her homeland....
 to BritainFacts About United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast...
. He is also a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter.

His characters, especially Edna EverageDame Edna Everage

Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
, have brought him international renown, and he has appeared in numerous films, stage productions and television shows.
His Barry McKenzieBarry McKenzie Summary

Barry McKenzie or Bazza McKenzie is a fictional character originally created by the Australian comedian Barry Humphrie...
comic stripComic strip

A comic strip is a drawing or sequence of drawings that tells a story....
s about Australians in London appeared in Private EyePrivate Eye

Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop....
magazine with drawings by Nicholas GarlandFacts About Nicholas Garland

Nicholas Withycombe Garland is a political cartoonist for the Daily Telegraph....
. The stories about "Bazza" (also Humphries' nicknameNickname

A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or thing's real name ....
) gave wide circulation to Australian slangSlang

Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or langu...
, particularly jokes about drinking and its consequences, much of it invented by Humphries.

He has been married four times; his fourth wife Lizzie Spender is the daughter of British poet Sir Stephen SpenderStephen Spender

Sir Stephen Harold Spender CBE, was an English poet and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the clas...
. He has two daughters and two sons from his second and third marriages, to Rosalind Tong and Diane Millstead respectively.

Early life

Barry Humphries was born in the MelbourneMelbourne

Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australi...
 suburb of CamberwellCamberwell, Victoria

Camberwell is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the local municipality of the City of Boroondara....
 in VictoriaVictoria (Australia)

Victoria is a state located in the south-eastern corner of Australia....
, AustraliaAustralia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland o...
. His grandfather was an immigrant to Australia from ManchesterManchester

The City of Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in the North of England, historically notable for its centra...
, England. His father was a well-to-do construction manager and Barry grew up in a "clean, tasteful and modern home" in CamberwellCamberwell, Victoria

Camberwell is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the local municipality of the City of Boroondara....
, then one of Melbourne’s new ‘garden suburbs’. His early home life set the pattern for his eventual stage career -- Barry's parents bought him everything he wanted, but his father in particular spent little time with him so he spent hours playing dress-ups in the back garden.

"Disguising myself as different characters and I had a whole box of dressing up clothes ... Red Indian, sailor suit, Chinese costume and I was very spoiled in that way ... I also found that entertaining people gave me a great feeling of release, making people laugh was a very good way of befriending them. People couldn't hit you if they were laughing."


His parents nicknamed him "Sunny Sam", and his early childhood was happy and uneventful, but in his teens Barry began to rebel against the strictures of conventional suburban life by becoming "artistic" – much to the dismay of his parents who, despite their affluence, distrusted "art". A key event took place when he was nine -- his mother gave all his books to the Salvation ArmySalvation Army

The Salvation Army is a Protestant evangelical Christian denomination founded in 1865 by Methodist ministers William Booth a...
, cheerfully explaining: "But you've read them, Barry."

Humphries responded by becoming a voracious reader, a collector of rare books, a painter, a theatre fan and a surrealist. Dressing up in a black cloak, black homburg and mascara'd eyes, he invented his first sustained character, "Dr Aaron Azimuth", dandyDandy

A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and the cultivation of leisure...
 and Dadaist.

Educated at Camberwell Grammar SchoolFacts About Camberwell Grammar School

Camberwell Grammar School is an independent school for boys located in the suburb of Canterbury in Melbourne, Victoria, Aust...
, he has been awarded his place in the Gallery of Achievement there. His father’s building business prospered and Barry was sent to Melbourne Grammar SchoolMelbourne Grammar School

Melbourne Grammar School is an independent school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, founded in 1858....
 where he spurned sport, detested mathematics, shirked cadets "on the basis of conscientious objection" and matriculated with brilliant results in English and Art.

He spent two years studying at Melbourne University|Queen's College]]), where he studied lawLaw Summary

Law is the set of rules or norms of conduct which forbid, permit or mandate specified actions and relationships among people...
, philosophyPhilosophy

Philosophy is a field of study that includes diverse subfields such as aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphys...
 and fine arts. During this time he became Australia’s leading exponent of the deconstructive and absurdist art movement, DadaDada

Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in neutral Zrich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 19...
. The Dadaist pranks and performances he mounted in Melbourne were experiments in anarchy and visual satire which have become part of Australian folklore. An exhibit entitled "Pus In Boots" consisted of a pair of Wellington bootWellington boot

The Wellington boot, also known as a welly, a wellie, a gumboot or a rubber boot, is a type of boot ...
s filled with custard; a mock pesticide product called "Platytox" claimed on its box to be effective against the platypusPlatypus

The platypus is a 39–60 cm long, semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia and Tasmania, and one of the f...
, a beloved and protected species in Australia.

He was part of a group that made a series of recordings of DadaDada Summary

Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in neutral Zrich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 19...
-influenced recordings in Melbourne from 1952-53. "Wubbo Music" (Barry has said that "wubbo" is a pseudo-Aboriginal word meaning "nothing") is thought to be one of the earliest recordings of experimental musicExperimental music Summary

Experimental music is any music that challenges the commonly accepted notions of what music is....
 in Australia.

He was also legendary for his provocative public pranks. One infamous example involved Humphries dressing as a Frenchman, with an accomplice dressed as a blind person; the accomplice would board a tram, followed soon after by Humphries. At the appropriate juncture Humphries would force his way past the "blind" man, yelling "Get out of my way, you disgusting blind person", kicking him viciously in the shins and then jumping off the tram and making his escape in a waiting car.

An even more extreme example was his notorious "sick bag" prank. This involved carrying a tin of condensed soup onto an aircraft, which he would then surreptitiously empty into an air-sickness bag. At the appropriate point in the flight, he would pretend to vomit loudly and violently into the bag. Then, to the horror of passengers and crew, he would proceed to eat the contents. One April Fool's Day Humphries placed a roast dinner and glass of champagne in an inner-city binBIN

The abbreviation or acronym BIN has several different meanings:...
. Later in the morning, when there were many businesspeople queuing at a nearby building, Humphries approached the group as a dirty, dishevelled man. He walked to the bin, opened the lid and proceeded to lift the roast and drink from it. Much to the amazement of watchers-by, he found a suitable seating area and began to eat it.

Such stunts were the early manifestations of a lifelong interest in the bizarre, discomforting and subversive.

He had written and performed songs and sketches in university revues, so after leaving university he joined the newly formed Melbourne Theatre CompanyMelbourne Theatre Company

The Melbourne Theatre Company, which is the oldest professional theatre in Australia, known popularly as the MTC, is based i...
 (MTC). It was at this point that he created the first incarnation of what became his best-known character, Edna EverageDame Edna Everage

Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
. The first stage sketch featuring Mrs Norm Everage, called "Olympic Hostess", premiered at Melbourne University's Union Theatre on December 12, 1955. In his award-winning autobiography, More Please (1992), Humphries relates that he created a character similar to Edna in the back of a bus while touring country Victoria in Twelfth Night with the MTC at the age of twenty. The dowdy Moonee Ponds housewife, originally created as a caricature of Australian suburban complacency and insularity, has evolved over four decades to become a satire of stardom, the gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally feted Housewife Gigastar, Dame Edna EverageDame Edna Everage

Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
.

Humphries' other satirical characters include the legendary comic strip hero, nephew of Dame Edna (and progenitor of Crocodile DundeeCrocodile Dundee

Crocodile Dundee is a 1986 Australian comedy film set in the Australian Outback in the area around "Walkabout Creek" and...
) Barry McKenzieBarry McKenzie

Barry McKenzie or Bazza McKenzie is a fictional character originally created by the Australian comedian Barry Humphrie...
; the "priapic and inebriated cultural attaché" Sir Les PattersonSir Les Patterson

Sir Les Patterson is a fictional character portrayed by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
, 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 StoneSandy Stone (Barry Humphries character) Overview

Sandy Stone is a male character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
; iconoclastic '60s underground film-maker Martin Agrippa, PaddingtonPaddington

Paddington is in the City of Westminster, London, England, 2.2 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross....
 socialist academic Neil Singleton, sleazy trade unionTrade union Overview

"A Trade Union , ... is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the condition...
 official Lance Boyle, high-pressure art salesman Morrie O’Connor and failed tycoon Owen Steele.

Humphries then moved to Sydney and joined Sydney's Philip Street Revue Theatre, Australia's leading venue for revue and satirical comedy. After a long season in revue he appeared as EstragonEstragon Summary

Estragon is one of the two main characters from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot....
 in Waiting for GodotWaiting for Godot

Waiting for Godot , subtitled A Tragicomedy in Two Acts, is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, written in the late...
, Australia's first ever production of a Samuel BeckettSamuel Beckett

Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish dramatist, novelist and poet....
 play.

London and the 1960s

In 1959 he settled in LondonLondon

London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom....
 where he lived and worked throughout the Sixties. He became friends with leading members of the British comedy scene including Dudley MooreDudley Moore

Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE , was a British musician, actor and comedian who was enormously popular in his home country fo...
, Peter CookPeter Cook

Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian who is widely regarded as the leading figure in the British ...
, Alan BennettAlan Bennett

Alan Bennett is an English author and actor famous for his work, boyish appearance and his sonorous Yorkshire accent....
, Jonathan MillerJonathan Miller

Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller, CBE is a British physician, theatre and opera director and television presenter....
, Spike MilliganSpike Milligan Summary

Terence Alan Milligan, KBE , known as Spike Milligan, was a writer, artist, musician, humanitarian and comedian....
, Willie RushtonWillie Rushton

William George Rushton, commonly known as Willie Rushton was an English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and per...
 and fellow Australian expatriate comedian-actors John BluthalJohn Bluthal

John Bluthal is a film and television actor, mostly in comedy....
 and Dick BentleyDick Bentley

Charles Walter Bentley born in Melbourne, Australia was a comedian and actor....
. Humphries performed at Cook's comedy venue The EstablishmentThe Establishment (club)

The Establishment was a short-lived London nightclub of the early 1960s, in Greek Street, Soho and famous in retrospect for ...
, where he also became friends with and was photographed by leading photographer Lewis MorleyLewis Morley

Lewis Morley to English and Chinese parents, is a photographer....
, whose studio was located above the club. He contributed to the satirical magazine Private EyePrivate Eye

Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop....
, of which Cook was publisher, his best-known work being the cartoon strip The Wonderful World of Barry McKenzie. The bawdy cartoon satire of the worst aspects of Australians abroad was written by Humphries and drawn by New ZealandNew Zealand

New Zealand is a country in the south-western Pacific Ocean consisting of two large islands and many much smaller islands, m...
 born cartoonist Nicholas GarlandNicholas Garland Overview

Nicholas Withycombe Garland is a political cartoonist for the Daily Telegraph....
. The book version of the comic strip, published in the late' 60s, was for some time banned in Australia.

Humphries appeared in numerous West End stage productions including the musicals Oliver!Facts About Oliver!

Oliver! is a British musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart....
and Maggie May, by Lionel BartLionel Bart

Lionel Bart was an English composer of songs and musicals, best known for Oliver!...
, and stage and radio productions by his friend Spike Milligan, in particular The Bed Sitting Room.

In 1962 when Humphries was in CornwallCornwall

Cornwall is a county in South West England on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar....
 with his wife, he fell over a cliff near ZennorZennor Summary

Zennor is a village and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall in the United Kingdom....
 and landed on a ledge 150ft below, breaking bones. The rescue by helicopter was filmed by a news crew from ITN. The footage of the rescue were shown to Humphries for the first time on a 2006 BBC show - Turn Back TimeTurn Back Time (TV)

Turn Back Time started on 9th August 2006, and is hosted by Dara Ó Briain....
.

Humphries' first major break on the British stage came when he was cast in the role of the undertaker Mr Sowerberry for the original 1960 London stage production of Oliver! He recorded Sowerberry's feature number "That's Your Funeral" for the original London cast soundtrack album (released on DeramÐeram

Stari ?eram or colloquially ?eram is an open green market and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia...
) and reprised the role when the production moved to BroadwayBroadway theatre

Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States....
 in 1963, where it became the first London stage musical to be transplanted to Broadway and receive the same critical and audience reception it had received in Britain. In 1967 he starred as FaginFagin

Fagin is a fictional character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist....
 in the Piccadilly TheatrePiccadilly Theatre Overview

The Piccadilly Theatre is situated on Denman Street in London's West End, hidden behind Piccadilly Circus....
's revival of Oliver! which featured a young Phil CollinsPhil Collins

Philip David Charles Collins is an English rock and pop musician....
 as The Artful DodgerThe Artful Dodger

The Artful Dodger is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist....
. In 1997 Barry reprised the role of Fagin in Cameron MackintoshCameron Mackintosh

Sir Cameron Mackintosh is a successful British theatrical producer....
's award winning revival at the London PalladiumLondon Palladium

The London Palladium is one of the most famous of London's West End theatres, and one of the largest, with 2,286 seats....
.

In 1967 his friendship with Cook and Moore led to his first film role, a cameo as "Envy" in the hit film Bedazzled starring Cook and Moore with Eleanor BronEleanor Bron

Eleanor Bron is a British actress....
, and directed by Stanley DonenStanley Donen

Stanley Donen is an American film director and choreographer hailed by David Quinlan as "the King of the Hollywood musicals"...
. The following year he appeared in The Bliss Of Mrs Blossom with Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine

Shirley MacLaine is an Academy Award-winning American actress, well-known not only for her acting, but for her devotion to h...
.

In the late '60s Humphries contributed to BBC-TV's popular The Late Show (which also featured OzOz (magazine)

Oz was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963–69 in Sydney, Australia and, in its second and ...
magazine editor Richard NevilleRichard Neville (writer)

Richard Neville is an Australian author and futurist, originally known for publishing and editing the counterculture magazi...
) but Humphries found his true calling with his one-man satirical stage revues, in which he performed as Edna Everage and other character creations including Les PattersonSir Les Patterson

Sir Les Patterson is a fictional character portrayed by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries....
 and Sandy Stone. "A Nice Night's Entertainment" (1962) was the first such revue. It and "Excuse I: Another Nice Night's Entertainment" (1965) were only performed in Australia. In 1968 Humphries returned to Australia to tour his one-man revue Just A ShowJust a Show

Just a Show is a late-night entertainment and variety program seen on cable television throughout the Minneapolis/St....
; this production transferred to London's Fortune TheatreFortune Theatre

For the New Zealand theatre, see Fortune Theatre...
 in 1969. Humphries' gained considerable notoriety with "Just A Show". It polarized British critics but was successful enough to lead to a short-lived BBC television series The Barry Humphries Scandals, one of the precursors to the Monty PythonMonty Python

Monty Python, or The Pythons, is the collective name of the creators of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British te...
 series.

Film roles

Since the late '60s Humphries has appeared in numerous films, mostly in supporting or cameo roles. His credits include the UK sex comedy Percy's ProgressPercy's Progress

Percy's Progress a British film dating from 1974....
(1974), David Baker's The Great McCarthy and Bruce Beresford's Barry MacKenzie Holds his Own (1974) -- in which Edna was made a Dame by then Australian PM Gough WhitlamGough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam AC, QC , always known as Gough Whitlam , Australian politician and 21st Prime Minister of Austral...
.

Other film credits include Side By Side (1975) and The Getting Of Wisdom (1977). The same year, he had a cameo as Edna in the Robert StigwoodRobert Stigwood

Robert Stigwood is an Australian music producer, primarily for film and stage....
 musical film Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (which became infamous as one of the biggest film flops of the decade), followed in 1981 by his part as the fake-blind TV-show host Bert Schnick in Shock TreatmentShock Treatment

Shock Treatment is a follow-up to the classic cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show -- "Not a prequel, not a seque...
, the sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture ShowThe Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a science fiction-comedy-horror musical film directed by Jim Sharman from a screenpla...
.

He was more successful with his featured role as Richard Deane in Dr Fischer of Geneva (1985); this was followed by The Howling III (1987), a cameo as Rupert MurdochRupert Murdoch

Keith Rupert Murdoch AC, KCSG, is a businessman and media magnate, most known for being the owner of News Corporation....
 in the miniseries Selling Hitler (1991) with Alexei SayleAlexei Sayle

Alexei David Sayle is a British comedian, actor and author....
, a three-role cameo in Philippe MoraPhilippe Mora

Philippe Mora is a French-born Australian film director....
's horror satire Pterodactyl Woman From Beverly Hills (1994), the role of Count Metternich in Immortal BelovedImmortal Beloved (film)

Immortal Beloved is a 1994 film about the life of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. It grossed over $14.3 million in the US...
(1994), as well as roles in The Leading ManThe Leading Man

The Leading Man is drama film directed by John Duigan. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 1996....
(1996), the Spice GirlsFacts About Spice Girls

The Spice Girls were an all-female English pop group who formed in 1994 in London, England....
' film SpiceworldSpiceworld (film)

Spiceworld: The Movie is the debut feature film by British pop act the Spice Girls....
, the Australian feature Welcome To Woop WoopWelcome to Woop Woop

Welcome to Woop Woop is a 1997 Australian comedy film, directed by Stephan Elliott starring Johnathon Schaech and Rod Ta...
(1997), and Nicholas NicklebyNicholas Nickleby (2002 film)

Nicholas Nickleby is a 2002 British/American drama film with comedic undertones written and directed by Douglas McGrath....
(2002), in which he donned female garb to play Nathan LaneNathan Lane

Nathan Lane is an award-winning American comedian and actor of the stage and screen. ...
's wife.

Barry has also featured in various roles in comedy performance films including The Secret Policeman's Other BallThe Secret Policeman's Other Ball

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball was the fourth of the benefit shows staged by the British Section of Amnesty International...
(1982) and A Night of Comic Relief 2 (1989). In 1987 he starred as Les Patterson in one of his own rare flops, the disastrous Les Patterson Saves the WorldLes Patterson Saves the World

Les Patterson Saves the World is a 1987 Australian film. ...
, directed by George T. MillerGeorge T. Miller

George Trumbull Miller is a Scottish-born Australian film and television director and producer....
 of Man From Snowy River fame and co-written by Humphries with his third wife, Diane Millstead.

In 2003 Humphries had a small role in the animated film Finding NemoFinding Nemo

Finding Nemo is an Academy Award-winning computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released to thea...
. In it he plays a shark who attempts to curb his addiction to fish eating. He eventually falls off the wagonOff the wagon

A horse-drawn wagon initiated the idiom a derivative of "off the wagon," which as of the early 1900's has meant to swear off...
. Playing this role, given his own struggles with alcoholismFacts About Alcoholism

Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes wit...
, is perhaps a good example of Humphries' penchant for self-deprecation.

One-man shows

Humphries' forte has always been his one-man satirical stage revues, in which he appears as Edna Everage and a host of other character creations, including Les Patterson and Sandy Stone. There can be few (if any) comedians who can boast the career longevity he has enjoyed with Dame Edna, whose popularity shows no signs of flagging after fifty years. Humphries' success is also a tribute to the tremendous skill, style and insight — and the sheer hard work — that he invests in performing two-and-a-half hour shows of entirely original material, laced with ad-libbing, improvisation and audience participation segments.

Humphries has had many successful stage productions in London, most of which he subsequently toured internationally. Despite his later popularity, he encountered stiff resistance in the early years of his career — his first London one-man show A Nice Night's Entertainment (1962) received scathing reviews and it was several years before he made a second attempt. He gained considerable notoriety with his next one-man revue Just A ShowJust a Show

Just a Show is a late-night entertainment and variety program seen on cable television throughout the Minneapolis/St....
, staged at London's Fortune TheatreFortune Theatre

For the New Zealand theatre, see Fortune Theatre...
 in 1969. It polarized the critics but was a hit with audiences and became the basis of a growing cult following in the UK. He continued to gain popularity with his early '70s shows including A Load Of Olde Stuffe (1971) and At Least You Can Say You've Seen It (1974-75).

He finally broke through to widespread critical and audience acclaim in Britain with his 1976 London production Housewife, Superstar! at the Apollo TheatreApollo Theatre

The Apollo Theatre, designed by Lewin Sharp, is on Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End of London and was opened on 21 Februar...
. Its success in Britain and Australia led Humphries to try his luck with the show in New York in 1977, but it proved to be a disastrous repeat of his experience with Just A Show. Humphries later summed up his negative reception by saying: "When the New York Times tells you to close, you close."

His next show was Isn't It Pathetic At His Age (1978). Like many of his shows, the title quotes one of the remarks his mother often made when she took Barry to the theatre to see superannuated overseas actors touring in Australia during his youth.

His subsequent one-man shows include:

  • A Night With Dame Edna (1979), which won the Society of West End Theatres Award
  • An Evening's Intercourse With Dame Edna (1982)
  • Three seasons of Back with a Vengeance (1987-1988, 2005-2007)
  • Look at Me When I'm Talking to You (1996)
  • Edna, The Spectacle (1998) at the Theatre Royal HaymarketHaymarket Theatre

    The Theatre Royal Haymarket or Haymarket Theatre is a theatre on The Haymarket in London which dates back to 1720....
    , where he held the record as the only solo act to fill the theatre (since it opened in 1663) until controversial left-wing politician George GallowayFacts About George Galloway

    George Galloway, MP is a British politician noted for his socialist views, confrontational style, and rhetorical skill....
     sold it out in early 2007.
  • Remember You're Out which toured Australia in 1999.
  • Back With A Vengeance which toured Australia in 2007


He has made numerous theatrical tours in GermanyGermany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in central Europe....
, ScandinaviaScandinavia

Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe....
, the Netherlands, and in the Far and Middle East. In 2003 he toured Australia with his latest show, Getting Back To My Roots (And Other Suckers).

Dame Edna

Edna Everage is undoubtedly one of the most enduring Australian comic characters of all time, and one of the longest-lived comedic characterisations ever devised. Originally conceived in the late 1950s, Edna has long since transcended her modest origins as a satireSatire

Satire is a technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject to ridicule, often as an intended means of...
 of Australian suburbiaSubUrbia

SubUrbia is a play written by Eric Bogosian....
 to become one of the most successful, best-known and best loved comedy characters of all time. She has grown over the years to become, in the words of journalist Caroline Overington:

"... a perfect parody of a modern, vainglorious celebrity with a rampant ego and a strong aversion to the audience (whom celebrities pretend to love but actually, as Edna so boldly makes transparent, they actually loathe for their cheap shoes and suburban values).
(The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald is a major Australian broadsheet newspaper published daily in Australia's oldest and most popu...
)


Like her ever-present bunches of gladioli, one of the most popular and distinctive features of Edna's stage and TV appearances has been her extravagant wardrobe, with gaudy, custom-made gowns that satirically outdo the most outrageous creations of Hollywood showbiz designers such as Bob MackieBob Mackie

Robert Gordon Mackie is an American fashion designer, best known for his costumes for Cher and for The Carol Burnett Show'...
. Her costumes, most of which were created for her by Australian designer Bill GoodwinBill Goodwin

Bill GoodwinGoodwin was for many years the announcer and regular character of the Burns and Allen radio program....
, routinely incorporate Aussie kitschKitsch Summary

Kitsch is a German term that has been used to categorize art that is considered an inferior copy of an existing style....
 icons such as the flag, Australian native animals and flowers, the Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
 and the boxing kangarooKangaroo

A kangaroo is any of several large macropods ....
.

As the character evolved, Edna's always unseen family became an integral part of the satire, particularly the travails of her invalid husband Norm, who suffered from an almost lifelong onslaught of an unspecified prostateFacts About Prostate

The prostate is an exocrine gland of the male mammalian reproductive system....
 ailment. Her daughter Valmai and her gay, hairdresser son Kenny also became intrinsic elements of the act, as did her long-suffering best friend and New Zealand bridesmaid, Madge Allsop.

Throughout Edna's career, Madge has been played by English actress Emily PerryEmily Perry (English actress)

Emily Perry is an actress. She is best known for her recurring role as Madge Allsop, Dame Edna Everage's long-suffering, si...
 (born in 1907), who has the distinction of being the only other actor ever to appear on stage with Humphries in his stage shows, as well as making regular appearances in Dame Edna's TV programs.

Dame Edna is also notable as one of the few satirical characters to make a successful transition from stage to TV without losing popularity in either genre, and her decades-long popularity shows no signs of waning. The talk show format provided a perfect outlet for Humphries' rapier wit and his legendary ability to ad-lib, and it enabled Edna to draw on a wide and appreciative pool of fans among fellow actors and comedians, with scores of top-rank stars lining up to be lampooned on her shows. As other Australian actors have begun to make a wider impression in international film and television, Edna has not hesitated to reveal that it was her mentorship which helped "kiddies" like "little Nicole KidmanNicole Kidman

Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an Academy Award-winning actress, and one of Hollywood's leading actresses....
" to achieve their early success.

Sir Les Patterson

Sir Les Patterson is the other Humphries character still current, though mainly as pre-recorded segments in Dame Edna's show. He is the opposite of Dame Edna, uncouth and coarse.

Television roles

Humphries' numerous television appearances in Australia, the UK and the USA include The Bunyip, a children's comedy for Channel 7Channel 7

Channel 7 may refer to:*A small US-based personal computer game developer most famous for Iron Seed, a game set in space....
 in Melbourne. In the UK he made two highly successful series of his comedy talk show The Dame Edna ExperienceThe Dame Edna Experience

The Dame Edna Experience was a British television comedy talk-show hosted by Dame Edna Everage ....
for London Weekend TelevisionLondon Weekend Television

London Weekend Television was the ITV contractor for London and the South East, Friday 7:00pm/5:15pm to Monday, 5:59am....
. The series boasted a phalanx of superstar guests including Liza MinnelliLiza Minnelli

Liza May Minnelli is an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer....
, Sean ConnerySean Connery

Sir Thomas Sean Connery is an Oscar-winning Scottish film and stage actor who is best known as the original cinematic James...
, Roger MooreRoger Moore Overview

Sir Roger George Moore, KBE is an English actor known for his suave and witty demeanor....
, Charlton HestonCharlton Heston

Charlton Heston is an Academy Award-winning American film actor noted for heroic roles and his long involvement in politica...
 and Jane SeymourJane Seymour

Queen Jane, ne Jane Seymour was the third wife of King Henry VIII of England....
.

These enormously popular programs have since been repeated worldwide and the special A Night On Mount Edna won Humphries the Golden Rose of Montreux in 1991. He wrote and starred in ABC-TVAustralian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is Australia's national public broadcaster....
's The Life And Death Of Sandy Stone (1991), and presented the ABC social history series Barry Humphries' Flashbacks (1999).

His other television shows and one-off specials include Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch (1992), Dame Edna's Work Experience (1996), Dame Edna Kisses It Better (1997) and also Dame Edna's Hollywood (1991-92), a series of three chat-show specials filmed in the U.S. for the NBC and the Fox network. Like The Dame Edna ExperienceThe Dame Edna Experience

The Dame Edna Experience was a British television comedy talk-show hosted by Dame Edna Everage ....
, these included an array of top celebrity guests such as Burt ReynoldsBurt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds is an Oscar-nominated American actor....
, CherCher

Cher Her father was John Sarkisian, an Armenian refugee....
, Bea Arthur, Kim BasingerKim Basinger

Kimila Ann Basinger is an Academy Award-winning American film actress and former fashion model....
 and Barry ManilowBarry Manilow

Barry Manilow is an American singer and songwriter best known for his hit recordings "I Write The Songs", "Mandy" and "Copac...
. Edna's most recent television special was Dame Edna Live At The Palace in 2003. He also starred in the Kath and Kim telemovie Da Kath and Kim Code in late 2005.

In 2007, Humphries returned to the UK's ITVITV

ITV is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent T...
 to host another comedy chat-show called The Dame Edna TreatmentThe Dame Edna Treatment

show_name = The Dame Edna Treatment| image = | caption = Series title card...
, a similar format to The Dame Edna ExperienceThe Dame Edna Experience Overview

The Dame Edna Experience was a British television comedy talk-show hosted by Dame Edna Everage ....
from 20 years earlier. The series once again boasted a collection of top celebrity guests such as Tim AllenTim Allen

Timothy Allen Dick is an American comedian, voice-over artist, reformed drug dealer and character actor perhaps best known ...
, Mischa BartonFacts About Mischa Barton

Mischa Anne Barton is a British/Irish actress and former child fashion model, now a naturalized U.S....
, Sigourney WeaverSigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver is an Academy Award-nominated American actress. ...
, Debbie HarryDebbie Harry Overview

Deborah Ann Harry is an American rock and roll musician from New Jersey....
, and Little BritainLittle Britain

Little Britain is a character-based BBC radio and television sketch show written by and starring Matt Lucas and David Wa...
stars David WalliamsDavid Walliams

David Walliams is an English comedy actor, best known for his partnership with Matt Lucas in the sketch show Little Britai...
 and Matt LucasMatt Lucas

...
.

In March 2008, Humphries joined the judging panel on the BBC talent show I'd Do AnythingI'd Do Anything (BBC TV series)

I'd Do Anything was a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom and broadcast ...
to find an unknown lead to play the part of Nancy in a West End revival of the musical Oliver!Oliver! Overview

Oliver! is a British musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart....
.

Success in the United States

Barry Humphries finally realised his long-delayed dream of success in the United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
 when he took Dame Edna - The Royal Tour to Broadway in 2000, scoring a smash hit and winning rave reviews. As a result Humphries won the inaugural 'Special Tony Award for a Live Theatrical Event' in 2000 and two National Broadway Theatre Awards for "Best Play" and for "Best Actor" in 2001. Asked what it was like to win a TonyTony Award

What is popularly called the Tony Award is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including mus...
 award by an Australian journalist he said "it was like winning 1000 Gold Logies at the same time".

Edna's new-found success in America led to many media opportunities, including a semi-regular role in the hit TV series Ally McBealAlly McBeal

Ally McBeal was a television series which ran on the FOX network from 1997 to 2002, and was one of the best-known comedy...
. Vanity FairVanity Fair (magazine)

Vanity Fair is an American magazine of culture, fashion, and politics published by Cond Nast Publications....
magazine then invited Dame Edna to write a satirical advice column but she unwittingly created a storm of controversy with a piece published in the February 2003 issue. Replying to a reader who asked if she should learn SpanishSpanish language

Spanish or Castilian is an Iberian Romance language....
, she replied:

"Forget Spanish. There's nothing in that language worth reading except Don QuixoteDon Quixote

or is a novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra....
, and a quick listen to the CD of Man of La ManchaMan of La Mancha

Man of La Mancha is a 1965 Broadway musical in one act which tells the story of the classic novel Don Quixote as a p...
will take care of that ... Who speaks it that you are really desperate to talk to? The help? Your leaf blower?"


Edna's satirical intent -- poking fun at the haughty attitudes of wealthy Americans who hire low-waged HispanicHispanic

Hispanic is a term denoting a derivation from Spain, its people and culture....
 domestic workers -- evidently went over the heads of some readers. Many who subsequently complained appeared not to realise that Dame Edna was merely a character and that 'she' was not really a woman. Members of the Hispanic community took the joke out of context, reading it as a deliberately racist remark, and complaints flooded in to the magazine. Hollywood actress Salma HayekSalma Hayek

Salma Hayek Jimnez is an Academy Award-nominated Mexican actress....
 responded angrily, penning a furious letter in which she denounced Dame Edna. Death threats were even received and Vanity Fair was eventually forced to publish a full-page apology to the Hispanic community.

Humphries commented later. "If you have to explain satire to someone, you might as well give up." When questioned about the controversy (as Dame Edna) on the eve of her 2003 Australian tour, she retorted that Hayek's denunciation was due to "professional jealousy", and that Hayek was envious because the role of painter Frida KahloFrida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter of the indigenous culture of her country in a style combining Realism, Symbolism and Surre...
 (for which Hayek received an Oscar nomination) had originally been offered to Edna:

"When I was offered the part of Frida I turned it down, and she was the second choice. I said 'I'm not playing the role of a woman with a moustache and a monobrow, and I'm not having same-sex relations on the screen' ... I'm not racist. I love all races, particularly white people. You know, I even like Roman Catholics."

Other work


Humphries is the author of many books including two autobiographies, two novels and a treatise on Chinese drama in the goldfields. He has also written several plays and has made dozens of recordings. His first autobiography More Please won the J.R. Ackerley prize for biography in 1993.

  • Bizarre. Compilation. London: Elek Books, 1965.
  • Barry Humphries' Book of Innocent Austral Verse. Anthology. Melbourne: Sun Books, 1968.
  • Bazza Pulls It Off!: More Adventures of Barry McKenzie. Melbourne: Sun Books, 1971.
  • The Wonderful World of Barry MacKenzie. With Nicholas Garland; a comic strip. London: Private Eye/Andre Deutsch, 1971.
  • Barry McKenzie Holds His Own. Photoplay, with Bruce Beresford. Melbourne: Sun Books, 1974.
  • Dame Edna's Coffee Table Book: A guide to gracious living and the finer things of life by one of the first ladies of world theatre. Compendium. Sydney: Sphere Books, 1976.
  • Les Patterson's Australia. Melbourne: Sun Books, 1978.
  • Bazza Comes Into His Own: The Final Fescennine Farago of Barry McKenzie, Australia's first working-class hero - with learned and scholarly appendices and a new enlarged glossary. With Nicholas Garland. Melbourne, Sun Books, 1979.
  • The Sound of Edna: Dame Edna's Family Songbook. With Nick Rowley. London: Chappell, 1979.
  • A Treasury of Australian Kitsch. Melbourne: Macmillan, 1980.
  • A Nice Night's Entertainment: Sketches and Monologues 1956-1981. A Retrospective. Sydney: Currency Press, 1981.
  • Dame Edna's Bedside Companion. Compendium. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982.
  • Punch Down Under. London: Robson Books, 1984.
  • The Complete Barry McKenzie. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1988.
  • Shades of Sandy Stone. Edinburgh, Tragara Press, 1989. Limited edition.
  • My Gorgeous Life. As Edna Everage. London: Macmillan, 1989.
  • More Please. Autobiography. London, New York, Ringwood, Toronto, and Auckland: Viking, 1992.
  • The Life and Death of Sandy Stone. Sydney: Macmillan, 1990.
  • Neglected Poems and Other Creatures. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1991.
  • Women in the Background. Novel. Port Melbourne: William Heinemann Australia, 1995.
  • Barry Humphries' Flashbacks: The book of the acclaimed TV series. Sydney and London: HarperCollins, 1999.
  • My Life As Me: A Memoir: Autobiography. London: Michael Joseph, 2002.


He has been the subject of three critical and biographical studies:
  • The Real Barry Humphries by Peter Coleman. London: Coronet Books, 1991.
  • Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilization: Backstage with Barry Humphries by John LahrJohn Lahr

    John Lahr is an American theater critic and the son of actor Bert Lahr....
    . New York: Farrar Strauss Giroux, 1992.
  • A Portrait of the Artist as Australian: L'Oeuvre Bizarre de Barry Humphries by Paul Matthew St. Pierre. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004.

Awards

  • 1975 - Douglas Wilkie MedalDouglas Wilkie Medal

    The Douglas Wilkie Medal is an award presented to those who do the least for Australian rules football, in the best and fair...
  • 1982 - Officer of the Order of AustraliaOrder of Australia

    The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established by Queen Elizabeth II on February 14, 1975 'for the purpose of ac...
     for "services to theatre" (Queen's Birthday Honours, Australian List)
  • 1993 - J.R. Ackerley prize for his autobiography More, Please
  • 1994 - Honorary Doctorate at Griffith UniversityGriffith University Summary

    Griffith University is an Australian public university with five campuses in Brisbane and two at the Gold Coast....
  • 1997 - Sir Peter Ustinov Award for Comedy presented at the Banff Television Festival
  • 2000 - Special Tony AwardTony Award Summary

    What is popularly called the Tony Award is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including mus...
     for a live theatrical event at the 55th Annual Tony Awards for Dame Edna: The Royal Tour
  • 2000 - Special Achievement Award by the Outer Critics Circle for The Royal Tour
  • 2000 - Best Play from the National Broadway Theatre Awards for The Royal Tour
  • 2001 - Centenary MedalCentenary Medal Summary

    The Centenary Medal is an award created by the Australian Government in 2001....
  • 2003 - Honorary Doctorate of Law at his alma mater, University of MelbourneUniversity of Melbourne

    The University of Melbourne, located in Melbourne, Victoria, is the second oldest university in Australia, and the oldest in...
  • 2007 - Commander of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire

    The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V....
     for "services to entertainment" (Queen's Birthday Honours, UK List).

External links

  • biography with complete list of radio shows, television shows, films, books and records featuring Barry Humphries

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