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Barry Humphries
Acting
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 …
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
Barry Humphries's Filmography
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Barry Humphries: The Last Laugh
as Self
Barry Humphries at the BBC
as Self (archive material) / Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson
Barry Humphries - A Life of Laughs
as Self (Archive)
Parkinson at 50
as Dame Edna Everage (archive footage)
Show of Titles
as "Anyone Can Whistle" Performer
Dame Edna Rules The Waves
as Dame Edna Everidge
Standing Up for Sunny
as Barry Humphries
No Poster
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: The Missing Sketches
as Self
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
as Charlie / Dame Edna
Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show
as Self
Blinky Bill the Movie
as Wombo (voice)
The Last Impresario
as Self
Jack Irish: Dead Point
as Justice Logan
Justin and the Knights of Valour
as Braulio (voice)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
as The Great Goblin
Kath & Kimderella
as Dame Edna Everage
Making Mary and Max
as Self
Mary and Max
as Narrator (voice)
Salvation
as Client
We Are Most Amused
as Self
Gaybo Laughs Back
as Dame Edna
Not Quite Hollywood
as Self
The Man Inside Dame Edna
as Self/Dame Edna/Les Patterson
Little Britain Down Under
as Dame Edna Everage
It Started with Swap Shop
as Self
No Poster
Telling Schoolgirl Tales: The Making of 'The Getting of Wisdom’
as Self
Da Kath & Kim Code
as John Monk
Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
as Self - Edna Everage
Barry Humphries Presents Back to My Roots and Other Suckers
as Sir Les Patterson/Owen Steele/Sandy Stone/Dame Edna Everage
Finding Nemo
as Bruce (voice)
Nicholas Nickleby
as Mrs. Crummles/Mr. Leadville
Welcome to Woop Woop
as Blind Wally
Spice World
as Kevin McMaxford
Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills
as Bert / Lady Shopper / Manager
Sir Les And The Great Chinese Takeaway
as Les Patterson/Dame Edna
The Leading Man
as Humphrey Beal
Les Patterson 'Has A Stand Up' - Live & Rampant
as Les Patterson
Some Interesting Facts About Peter Cook
as Self
Napoleon
as Kangaroo (voice)
Immortal Beloved
as Clemens Metternich
Selling Hitler
as Rupert Murdoch
Joan Rivers: Abroad in London
as Dame Edna Everage
A Late Lunch With Sir Les
as Les Patterson
An Audience with Jackie Mason
A Night on Mount Edna
as Dame Edna Everage
One More Audience with Dame Edna Everage
as Dame Edna Everage
Barry Humphries: This is Your Lunch
as Self/Dame Edna
The Marsupials: The Howling III
as Academy Award Presenter
Les Patterson Saves the World
as Sir Les Patterson / Dame Edna Everage
An Aussie Audience with Dame Edna
as Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson / Self
Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage
as Dame Edna/Les Patterson
Royal Variety Performance 1984
Dr. Fischer of Geneva
as Richard Deane
No Poster
A Birthday Tribute to Dame Edna Everage
as Dame Edna/Sir Les Patterson
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
as Self - Various Roles
Shock Treatment
as Bert Schnick
The Rocky Horror Treatment
as (archive footage)
A Toast to Melbourne
An Audience with Dame Edna Everage
as Dame Edna
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
as Our Guests at Heartland
The Getting of Wisdom
as Rev. Strachey
Pleasure at Her Majesty's
as Edna Everage
The Great MacArthy
as Col Ball-Miller
Side by Side
as Rodney
Barry McKenzie Holds His Own
as Aunt Edna Everage / Dr. Meyer Delamphrey / Offensive Buck-toothed Englishman / Senator Douglas Manton
Percy's Progress
as Dr. Anderson / Australian TV Lady
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
as Aunt Edna Everage / Hoot / Dr. DeLamphrey
The Naked Bunyip
as Edna Everage
The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom
as Mr. Wainwright
Bedazzled
as Envy
No Poster