Barry Humphries, best known through the persona of Dame Edna Everidge, has died in Melbourne, Australia.
Those of us who loved his work remember Dame Edna but also his creations Barry McKenzie, Sir Les Patterson, Sandy Stone, and him in his own human form as a commentator and specialist on inter-war art and Australian decorative art.
Amazingly quick-witted and ascerbic, he was not a conventional comic, or stand-up in drag, but created Edna as a persona that commented on the nature of celebrity and deconstructed it from the inside.
Bugger.
With gladys and possums and entertainment written on the cheque butts.
The only one of the [Brilliant Creatures] (Brilliant Creatures (2014 TV series) - Wikipedia) (Germaine Greer, Clive James, Barry Humphries and Bob Hughes) the iconic Australian 60’s ex pats remains.
Very sad news. I saw Dame Edna a few years ago and it was the most genuine belly laughs I’ve ever had at a show. I was aching at the end. He will be missed.
I remember back around the 70s he used to have a column in one of the weekend papers. I never managed to read a single one without having to resort to a dictionary. Later, he continued the trend in his autobiographies.
I’m somewhat ambivalent about the accolades flowing for Barry Humphries. Personally, I found, that whilst he was quick witted and sometimes genuinely funny, other times he was full of bile and sought laughter at the expense of parodying classes of people…particularly the ordinary Australians, the likes of who lived in Moonee Ponds. Dame Edna became an icon in later years, but it was built upon a history of taking the piss.
Barry was no working-class kid made good. He went to Melbourne Grammar School in the days when that school was considered the best (and most expensive) private boys school in the state. His family and peers were all of the extreme upper class, so his decision to dress up as a working class mum from Moonee Ponds I feel was not intended to portray those people in a favourable light whatsoever. Les Patterson and Sandy Stone, I could see more humour in their characters than I could in Edna Everage.
And then of course there is his take on trans people. This is a bloke who lived in the theatre, the spiritual home of queer folk of all kinds. And yet his scathing diatribes against trans men (in particular) seemed queerly (pun intended) right out of place. I don’t know if he was just feeling a bit ignored when he made those comments, but they sure got him headlines again when he did. Aptly (in my opinion) the Melbourne Comedy Festival which previously had an award offered in Humphries’ name, chose to remove his name from that award. Bazza was a bit pissed off I heard.
There is also his close association with a known paedophile, Donald Friend from Bali. Apparently Humphries sought to absolve his ‘friend’ Friend on the basis of benevolent paedophila.
So yeah, sure, he was an Australian icon who spent most of his life in London. He brought shitloads of bums onto seats in theatres, he sold lots of books, he was a very wealthy man who made the start of his money and infamy taking the piss out of the working classes.
There is a question as to whether he will get a state funeral in Vic (reserved for the very highest of dignitaries). Dan Andrews, the Premier, turned down one for Cardinal George Pell. I hope he does the same for Barry Humphries.
I first became acquainted with Dame Edna in a PBS documetary series from years ago “The Story of English” One episode was “English in Exile”, about the development of English in Australia. Loved that whole series, and sought out Edna after that, online.
You know how I first heard of Dame Edna? It was as part of a series on the history of the English language. One episode was titled “English in Exile” about Australian English, and as a humorous part of it Dame Edna spoke, exhorting the women of Australia to speak in “proper” English.