‘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.
Despite The Who’s Quadrophenia being set over 60 years ago, Pete Townshend’s themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
The album is having a renaissance as Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia A Mod ballet is being brought to life via dance at Sadler’s Wells East, and Sky News has an exclusive first look.
As Townshend puts it, the album he wrote is “perfect” for the stage.
Pete Townshend
“My wife Rachel did the orchestration for me, and as soon as I heard it I said to her it would make a fabulous ballet and we never really let that go,” he tells Sky News.
“Heavy percussion, concussive sequences. They’re explosive moments. They’re also romantic movement moments.”
If you identify with the demographics of Millennial, Gen Y or Gen Z, you might not be familiar with The Who and Mod culture.
But in post-war Britain the Mods were a cultural phenomenon characterised by fashion, music, and of course, scooters. The young rebels were seen as a counter-culture to the establishment and The Who, with Roger Daltry’s lead vocals and Pete Townshend’s writing, were the soundtrack.
Quadrophenia the album is widely regarded as an essay on the British adolescent experience at the time, focusing on the life of fictional protagonist Jimmy – a young Mod struggling with his sanity, self-doubt, and alienation.
Townshend sets the rock opera in 1965 but thinks its themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
He says: “The phobias and the restrictions and the unwritten laws about how young men should behave. The ground that they broke, that we broke because I was a part of it.
“Men were letting go of [the] wartime-related, uniform-related stance that if I wear this kind of outfit it makes me look like a man.”
Paris Fitzpatrick and Pete Townshend. Pic: Johan Persson
This struggle of modern masculinity and identity appears to be echoing today as manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, incel culture, and Netflix’s Adolescence make headlines.
For dancer Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy, the story resonates.
Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy in the ballet
“I think there’s a connection massively and I think there may even be a little more revival in some way,” he tells Sky News.
“I love that myself. I love non-conforming to gender norms and typical masculinity; I think it’s great to challenge things.”
Despite the album being written before he was born, the dancer says he was familiar with the genre already.
“I actually did an art GCSE project about Mods and rockers and Quadrophenia,” he says.
“I think we’ll be able to bring it to new audiences and hopefully, maybe people will be inspired to to learn more about their music and the whole cultural movement of the early 60s.”
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In 1979, the album was adapted into a film directed by Franc Roddam starring Ray Winstone and Sting but Townshend admits because the film missed key points he is “not a big fan”.
“What it turned out to be in the movie was a story about culture, about social scenario and less about really the specifics of mental illness and how that affects young people,” he adds, also complimenting Roddam’s writing for the film.
Perhaps a testament to Pete Townshend’s creativity, Quadrophenia started as an album, was successfully adapted to film and now it will hit the stage as a contemporary ballet.
It appears that over six decades later Mod culture is still cool and their issues still relatable.
Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet will tour to Plymouth Theatre Royal from 28 May to 1 June 2025, Edinburgh Festival Theatre from 10 to 14 June 2025 and the Mayflower, Southampton from 18 to 21 June 2025 before having its official opening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London on 24 June running to 13 July 2025 and then visiting The Lowry, Salford from 15 to 19 July 2025.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
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The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
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