‘Farewell, possum!’: Barry Humphries – from Dame Edna Everage to the man behind the mask
When Barry Humphries was ill in hospital, he released a statement thanking fans for their kind wishes – but added that he wanted “more and more”.
Quipping from his infirmary bed was typical of a man who never missed a punchline. “Never be afraid to laugh at yourself,” as one of his famous quotes went. “After all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century.”
Comedian, satirist, author, producer, West End star, writer, painter, born entertainer: Barry Humphries did it all. His characters included Sir Les Patterson – the lecherous “phallus-brandishing” diplomat who once chased Kylie Minogue off stage at the Royal Festival Hall – and the “boring man of the suburbs” Sandy Stone.
Humphries portraying Sir Les Patterson, the Australian cultural attache character
But for all his achievements, following his death at the age of 89, he will be best remembered as Dame Edna Everage, the housewife-turned-megastar with the lilac hair, ostentatious glasses, and a knack for poking fun at the rich and famous.
“Dame Edna Everage is probably the most popular and gifted woman in the world today,” the biography on her website begins, before listing her many achievements: “Housewife, investigative journalist, social anthropologist, talk show host, swami, children’s book illustrator, spin doctor, Zettastar, Icon.”
A parody of small-minded suburban housewives in Australia, gladioli queen Dame Edna first appeared in the 1950s and landed her own chat show, The Dame Edna Experience, in the 1980s – interviewing everyone from Sean Connery, Cliff Richard and Lulu, to Jeffrey Archer, Germaine Greer and Joan Rivers – and paving the way for the likes of Caroline Aherne’s Mrs Merton and Paul O’Grady’s Lily Savage.
Dame Edna Everage ahead of her farewell show, Eat Pray Laugh
“Hello, possums!” was Edna’s famous catchphrase, and as her fame grew, so did her glasses and the garishness of her outfits. Speaking to the celebrities, her sharp-tongued but cheeky style allowed her to get away with remarks that others couldn’t.
“She can say things, for instance, about political correctness that I couldn’t possibly express,” Humphries told the Guardian in 2022. “The same is true of Sir Les Patterson. I never swear in real life. Both characters are wonderful outlets.”
Humphries said he was retiring Edna in 2012, but she soon reappeared, proving “indestructible”. Despite her worldwide success, he said Patterson was his favourite character to play, allowing him to release his “inner vulgarity”.
He lived to make people laugh and loved to shock
The star was born John Barry Humphries in 1934 to respectable parents who wanted something different for their anarchist son. “Barry, we don’t know where you came from,” his mother would say to him when he was younger.
As a child, he would spend hours playing in his back garden, dressing up as different characters. Rebelling against his parents’ attempts to steer him down an academic path, he created his very first character: Dr Aaron Azimuth, a Dadaist and agent provocateur.
“I was hankering for something and I didn’t know what it was and I thought it must be in this mysterious place they called ‘overseas’,” he told The Australian.
Humphries left Melbourne for Sydney and then the UK in 1959, but struggled to find success as a stage actor, leading to problems with alcohol. He later spoke about his struggles openly, telling how they eventually led to him giving up drink altogether. “The alternative to alcoholism is so much more fun,” he told The Times in 2022.
At the time, he was promoting Man Behind The Mask, an intimate tour just as himself, no characters. In the official quote, he described the show as “perhaps the bravest thing I’ve ever done”, showing “what it is like to be a clown”.
In an interview, he urged fans to “hurry and buy tickets”, because they just might get to experience “a Tommy Cooper moment” and witness his on-stage death.
“You might be there on that night. I do such a spectacular curtain call.”
He lived to make people laugh and loved to shock. According to Barry Humphries legend, he had been known to take cans of soup on to a plane when flying; after sneakily slurping a mouthful he would pretend to spew into a sick bag, only to spoon the apparent vomit up – much to the horror of his surrounding passengers.
Diana enjoying a chat with the flamboyant Dame
On stage as an actor, he appeared in shows such as Maggie May and several productions of Oliver! following his debut in The Demon Barger in 1959. He became one of the leading members of the British comedy scene at the time, alongside Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, Peter Cook and Spike Milligan.
On the big screen, his film credits included The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Finding Nemo, and he wrote several books, both as himself and in the guise of his characters. These included his own autobiographies, More Please and My Life As Me, and Dame Edna’s My Gorgeous Life.
Humphries’ career was not without controversy and in 2019, Melbourne International Comedy Festival dropped his name from its major prize, the Barry Award, following comments he made about transgender people. In interviews, he lamented the “new puritanism” of political correctness and defended his right to offend.
“There is no more terrible fate for a comedian than to be taken seriously,” he once said.
Queen Consort presents Barry Humphries the Wizard of Oz award for his fictional character Sir Les Patterson in 2021
During his career, he picked up several awards, including a lifetime achievement prize at the British Comedy Awards in 1999, and nominations for several BAFTAs.
In 1982, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia, and in 2007 a CBE in the UK, for services to entertainment.
Humphries leaves behind his wife Lizzie Spender, and four children from his earlier marriages.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
More entertainment news:
Paris Hilton’s home destroyed in fires
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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