Australian satirist Barry Humphries, known for his onstage and TV drag persona Edna Everage and for his character Sir Les Patterson, has died. He was 89.
The BBC reported that Humphries had been in hospital in Sydney, Australia, and had been suffering from complications following surgery in March.
“A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said following the news of Humphries’ death.
“RIP Barry Humphries – one of the greatest ever Australians – and a comic genius who used his exuberant alter egos, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, to say the otherwise unsayable. Also an infallibly brilliant Spectator contributor. What a loss,” said former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Twitter.
For his one-person show “Dame Edna: The Royal Tour,” which had a run on Broadway, Humphries received a Special Tony Award for a live theatrical presentation in 2000, and in 2014 “Barry Humphries’ Farewell Tour — Eat, Pray, Laugh!” was nominated for an Olivier Award.
Variety panned “All About Me,” a Broadway show that awkwardly paired Humphries with song man Michael Feinstein in 2010, but declared, “It’s a joy to have Dame Edna Everage back on Broadway, regardless of the indignities she’s forced to suffer in ‘All About Me.’ After umpteen appearances, Barry Humphries’ monstrously funny incarnation of an Australian housewife run amok on fame and flattery still retains its savage wit.”
Australian satirist Barry Humphries, known for his onstage and TV drag persona Edna Everage and for his character Sir Les Patterson, has died. He was 89.
The BBC reported that Humphries had been in hospital in Sydney, Australia, and had been suffering from complications following surgery in March.
“A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said following the news of Humphries’ death.
“RIP Barry Humphries – one of the greatest ever Australians – and a comic genius who used his exuberant alter egos, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, to say the otherwise unsayable. Also an infallibly brilliant Spectator contributor. What a loss,” said former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Twitter.
For his one-person show “Dame Edna: The Royal Tour,” which had a run on Broadway, Humphries received a Special Tony Award for a live theatrical presentation in 2000, and in 2014 “Barry Humphries’ Farewell Tour — Eat, Pray, Laugh!” was nominated for an Olivier Award.
Variety panned “All About Me,” a Broadway show that awkwardly paired Humphries with song man Michael Feinstein in 2010, but declared, “It’s a joy to have Dame Edna Everage back on Broadway, regardless of the indignities she’s forced to suffer in ‘All About Me.’ After umpteen appearances, Barry Humphries’ monstrously funny incarnation of an Australian housewife run amok on fame and flattery still retains its savage wit.”