2023-04-22 15:36:57
Anyone in Germany who was interested in comedy in the 1990s couldn’t ignore the Australian. His most famous role was a woman.
Australian comedian Barry Humphries as Dame Edna. The role made him internationally famous.Greg Wood/AFP
Purple hair, butterfly glasses, lots of glitter and a very big mouth: Dame Edna has had a career spanning decades. The Melbourne suburban housewife was one of Australia’s biggest stars on stage, from London’s West End to Broadway to television talk, where she interviewed Sean Connery and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Behind Dame Edna Everage was actor, artist and author Barry Humphries, a distinguished man with a pocket square and a gentleman’s parting. Edna was by far his most famous role. Humphries has now died at the age of 89.
A hospital spokesman confirmed to the PA news agency that he died at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney on Saturday evening (local time). The entertainer had been treated there after complications from hip surgery. According to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper and other Australian media, his family wrote in a statement that Humphries remained true to himself to the end. He never lost his brilliant mind and unique wit.
When Dame Edna came on stage, travesty was still a foreign word for many
For Australia, Humphrie’s death is a loss comparable to Loriot’s for Germany. Dame Edna is a national icon. A square in Melbourne was named after her while she was still alive, and she ended up on a postage stamp from the Australian Post Office on her 50th birthday. She was allowed to say anything. Why are Australians so good at sports? “Good food and good nutrition, life in the fresh air, juicy steaks, sunshine – and the total absence of intellectual distraction.” She was shrill and outrageous, the Australians loved it, as did the English: There are pictures on which Prince Charles very enraptured stands next to Edna.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNPjtkQVjEQ
When Humphries first played the female role in 1955, many didn’t yet know what travesty was, let alone drag. Edna later appeared in films such as “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, the title “Dame” was spontaneously given to her in the 1970s by the Australian Prime Minister at the time, Gough Whitlam. She had her first internationally successful stage show in London in 1976 with “Housewife, Superstar!”. She also entertained audiences in Germany, for example in the 90s at the Hamburger Schauspielhaus: “Today I’m wearing my oldest dress. I see you too.” Back then, stand-up shows were new.
Dame Edna called Barry Humphries a liar when he claimed she was his creation. He’s just an “entrepreneur” and her manager.
Barry Humphries in ZivilPA Wire
Humphries teased with statements about transgender people
Humphries lived a long life as a dry alcoholic, he was married four times, like Edna he had four children. Edna’s offspring had adventurous lives: one daughter was kidnapped and went to a monastery, one became a leather lesbian, both sons were gay, which the mother didn’t want to believe. Humphries was inspired for the role by his own mother.
Sometimes he also made himself unpopular, for example with statements about transgender people or about learning Spanish. According to Dame Edna, the latter is actually only needed to talk to the staff. This annoyed Salma Hayek. Dame Edna replied that the actress was just jealous because Edna was originally supposed to get the role of Frida Kahlo – Hayek was only a second choice.
In 2012, Humphries announced the retirement of the lady with the purple hair. But there were still a few more performances. In an interview with ABC television, Humphries described his golden rule of entertaining the audience as follows: “I’ve always thought that if I’m amused, then others will be amused too.”
For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone.
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
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) April 22, 2023
Barry Humphries entertained people with “a galaxy of personalities,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Twitter. However, the brightest star in this galaxy was always Humphries himself. Australian actor Jason Donovan tweeted: “Australia has lost one of its greatest!”
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