Dame Edna Creator Barry Humphries Dead At 89

Legendary Australian comedian, Barry Humphries has died at the age of 89.

Famous for his iconic characters such as Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, Humphries was surrounded by family when he died. He had been in the hospital due to health issues caused by a broken hip.

The news of his readmission to the hospital had been broken by Entertainment Reporter Peter Ford on Channel Seven’s Sunrise.

“Barry won’t give up easily. Whether that’s a realistic goal, I don’t know … I am told that Barry’s health has worsened in the last week,” Ford said.

Early Life

Born in Kew, east of Melbourne on the 17th of February 1934, his education was at Melbourne Grammar School where he excelled in literature and the arts. He later studied law, fine arts and philosophy at the University of Melbourne before turning his attention to theatre and street drama.

He joined the Melbourne Theatre Company and it was there that the first incarnation of what would become one of his most iconic characters, Edna Everage was created.

In 1959, he moved to London and jumped straight into a series of West End productions, comedy programs, and a bawdy cartoon strip that would later lead to the Australian movie The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. The film’s success led to a sequel and from there, Humphries’s career continued to go up.

The Country Sends Its Tributes

Since the announcement of his death, many across the country and on the international stage have posted their tributes on social media about the late comedian. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote on his Twitter “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.”

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

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also shared his tribute, writing “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.”

RIP Barry Humphries, 89.
One of the funniest people I’ve ever met. A wondrously intelligent, entertaining, daring, provocative, mischievous comedy genius. As hilarious in private as he was as the iconic Dame Edna. What a life, what a character. Thanks for all the laughs, Barry. pic.twitter.com/M9tHIW2IY7

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 22, 2023

Transphobic Comments Over The Years

While he’s been an Aussie icon around the world for his characters, Humphries had been repeatedly slammed for his transphobic comments over the years.

In January 2016, he stirred outrage after having described gender-reassignment surgery as “self-mutilation” in comments about Caitlyn Jenner.

“You’re a mutilated man that’s all,” Humphries told the Daily Telegraph.

“Self-mutilation, what’s all this carry on? Caitlyn Jenner – what a publicity-seeking ratbag.”

Humphries had argued that his words had been “grotesquely interpreted,” when speaking to The Sunday Times Magazine.

In 2018, during an interview published in the UK’s Spectator, Humphries had been asked whether his character Dame Edna Everage had sparked any backlash from transgender activists.

Humphries, 84 at the time, called “transgenderism” a “fashion.”

“How many different kinds of lavatory can you have? And it’s pretty evil when it’s preached to children by crazy teachers,” he said.

Humphries response to a statistic that stated “more than 40 per cent of trans men and women have attempted or considered suicide,” and activists hope to have transphobia “treated in law as a form of assault” as “terrible ratbaggery.”

Barry Award Renamed In Response To His Transphobic Comments

In 2019, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival dropped his name from its major prize, the Barry Award due to his divisive comments about transgender folks.

It has now since been changed to the Melbourne International Comedy Award.

Humphries, who had been married four times, is survived by his four children and wife of 24 years, Elizabeth Spender.