Personal Info
Birth date
1934-02-17 (91 Years)
Day of death
2023-04-22
Gender
Male
Known for
Acting
Place of birth
Camberwell, Melbourne, Australia
Also known as
Dame Edna Everage
John Barry Humphries
Edna Everage
Les Patterson
Barry McKenzie
Sandy Stone
Bazza McKenzie
Barry Humphries
Biography
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (17 February 1934 - 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, perhaps best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the Court of St. James's. He was a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin. Humphries' characters, especially Dame Edna Everage, have brought him international renown, and he had appeared in numerous films, stage productions and television shows. Originally conceived as a dowdy Moonee Ponds housewife who caricatured Australian suburban complacency and insularity, Edna had evolved over four decades to become a satire of stardom, the gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally feted Housewife Gigastar, Dame Edna Everage. Humphries' other major satirical character creation was the archetypal Australian bloke Barry McKenzie, who originated as the hero of a comic strip about Australians in London (with drawings by Nicholas Garland) which was first published in Private Eye magazine. The stories about "Bazza" (Humphries' nickname, as well as an Australian term of endearment for the name Barry) gave wide circulation to Australian slang, particularly jokes about drinking and its consequences (much of which was invented by Humphries), and the character went on to feature in two Australian films, in which he was portrayed by Barry Crocker. Humphries' other satirical characters include the "priapic and inebriated cultural attaché" Sir Les Patterson, who has "continued to bring worldwide discredit upon Australian arts and culture, while contributing as much to the Australian vernacular as he has borrowed from it", gentle, grandfatherly "returned gentleman" Sandy Stone, iconoclastic 1960s underground film-maker Martin Agrippa, Paddington socialist academic Neil Singleton, sleazy trade union official Lance Boyle, high-pressure art salesman Morrie O'Connor and failed tycoon Owen Steele. Humphries died following complications from hip surgery at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney on 22 April 2023. Description above from the Wikipedia article Barry Humphries, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
7.4
Overview:
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.The Graham Norton Show
7.2
Overview:
Each week celebrity guests join Irish comedian Graham Norton to discuss what's being going on around the world that week. The guests poke fun and share their opinions on the main news stories. Graham is often joined by a band or artist to play the show out.The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
5.411
Overview:
Jay Leno hosts some of the biggest celebrities in the world.The View
4.5
Overview:
ABC Daytime's morning chatfest, currently featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro discussing the most exciting events of the day. Hot topics in the news, the best experts in their field, celebrity interviews and general entertainment are all part of The View.Late Night with Conan O'Brien
7.2
Overview:
Stepping into the late-late slot vacated by David Letterman, Conan O'Brien stars in a show that far outdoes its competition in sheer strangeness. Along with the celebrity interviews and musical numbers typical of late-night talk shows, this program make frequent use of odd walk-on characters and frequent "visits" from celebrity guests.The South Bank Show
5.6
Overview:
The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show that was produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.The Tony Danza Show
6.1
Overview:
The Tony Danza Show was a daytime variety talk show that premiered on September 13, 2004 in syndication and was distributed by Buena Vista Television.Q&A
3.8
Overview:
Hosted by Hamish Macdonald, Q&A puts punters, pollies and pundits together in the studio to thrash out the hot issues of the week. It's about democracy in action - the audience gets to ask the questions.Saturday Night Live
7
Overview:
A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.The One Show
4.538
Overview:
A topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One.Hollywood Squares
7.2
Overview:
On September 14, 1998, a Hollywood Squares revival debuted with Tom Bergeron as its host. In addition to her production duties, Whoopi Goldberg served as the permanent center square, with series head writer Bruce Vilanch, Gilbert Gottfried, Martin Mull, and Caroline Rhea as regular panelists and Brad Garrett, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jeffrey Tambor, George Wallace, Kathy Griffin and various others as semi-regular panelists. Shadoe Stevens returned to announce, although he was not given a square on the panel as he had been when John Davidson was host.QI
7.9
Overview:
Comedy quiz show full of quirky facts, in which contestants are rewarded more if their answers are 'quite interesting'.Omnibus
7.2
Overview:
Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.The Wednesday Play
4.5
Overview:
An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.Pebble Mill
3.1
Overview:
Pebble Mill was a re-launched version of the 1970s daily chat show Pebble Mill (also known as Pebble Mill At One for a while) which aired on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The series premiered on October 14, 1991. The show was a mixture of celebrity guests and music. Alan Titchmarsh was a presenter on the show throughout it's complete run. Other presenters included Judi Spiers, Gloria Hunniford and Ross King.An Audience with...
5.3
Overview:
An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.RTL Samstag Nacht
8.2
Overview:
RTL Samstag Nacht was a comedy show, which ran from 6 November 1993 to 23 May 1998 on the German TV network RTL. RTL Samstag Nacht was the first major comedy show in German television, created after the example of the long-running American show Saturday Night Live and broadcast late on Saturday night. It helped comedy in German television to a breakthrough and was a model for several later comedy shows. Karl Ranseier was a recurring character featured in fake news reports telling about his death at the end of each episode. The name Karl Ranseier has become a catchphrase in Germany that has led to its own joke category of Ranseiers which are in widespread usage outside of the comedy origin.Wogan
4.5
Overview:
Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.Who Do You Think You Are?
2.8
Overview:
Australian celebrities play detective as they go in search of their family history, revealing secrets from the past. Along the way there will be scandal, adultery, pioneers, bushrangers, artists and royalty. Join the trail of discovery to uncover where these celebrities came from as they find out just who they think they are.Ally McBeal
6.6
Overview:
Ally McBeal is a young lawyer working at the Boston law firm Cage and Fish. Ally's lives and loves are eccentric, humorous, dramatic with an incredibly overactive imagination that's working overtime!Finding Nemo
7.816
Overview:
Nemo, an adventurous young clownfish, is unexpectedly taken from his Great Barrier Reef home to a dentist's office aquarium. It's up to his worrisome father Marlin and a friendly but forgetful fish Dory to bring Nemo home -- meeting vegetarian sharks, surfer dude turtles, hypnotic jellyfish, hungry seagulls, and more along the way.The Dame Edna Experience
5
Overview:
The Dame Edna Experience is a British television comedy talk-show hosted by Dame Edna Everage. It ran for twelve regular episodes on ITV, plus two Christmas specials. The first seven aired for the first time in 1987, the next seven in 1989. It was directed by Ian Hamilton and Alasdair MacMillan and produced by London Weekend Television. Regulars on the program, besides Dame Edna, were her "bridesmaid" Madge Allsop and Robin Houston who was the announcer, with orchestra conducted and arranged by Laurie Holloway. Each program featured several celebrity guests, usually three, but some programs included up to eight guests. There would also be other invited "guests" like Kurt Waldheim and Imelda Marcos who once introduced at stage right would fall victim to a trap door or something similar and fail to make it to their chair. The entire series was released on DVD by BBC Video in June 2004, and can now also be purchased as a complete set including the Christmas specials and the three An Audience with Dame Edna specials, plus other material. The series was released for Region 2 by Network DVD in the UK in 2007, as a 4-disc set. For reasons unknown, the Region 2 release does not include the 1989 Christmas special "The Dame Edna Satellite Experience" that ended the second series and featured Ursula Andress, Yehudi Menuhin, and Robert Kilroy-Silk. It does, however, include the one-off 1990 Christmas special A Night On Mount Edna with guests Mel Gibson, Charlton Heston, Gina Lollobrigida and Julio Iglesias.The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
7.358
Overview:
Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit enjoying his quiet life, is swept into an epic quest by Gandalf the Grey and thirteen dwarves who seek to reclaim their mountain home from Smaug, the dragon.The Great Comic Relief Bake Off
NYR
Overview:
Comic Relief takes over the Great British Bake Off tent. Different celebrity faces battle it out with their baking skills to claim one of the coveted Comic Relief Star Baker titles.I'd Do Anything
NYR
Overview:
I'd Do Anything was a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom and broadcast on BBC One. It premièred on 15 March 2008. The show searched for a new, unknown lead to play Nancy and three young performers who will take it in turns to play Oliver in a West End revival of the British musical Oliver!. The show, named after the song "I'd Do Anything", was hosted by Graham Norton with Andrew Lloyd Webber again overseeing the programme, together with theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh. In January 2008, John Barrowman confirmed he would be taking part in the show. The BBC also confirmed in late February 2008 that Barry Humphries would join Barrowman and Denise Van Outen on the judging panel of the show. Auditions for the show began in January 2008, with the show airing on BBC One throughout March, April and May 2008. In the final, on 31 May, Jodie Prenger was announced as the winner of the series.The Dame Edna Treatment
5.3
Overview:
The Dame Edna Treatment was a British, ITV talk show created by Barry Humphries and starring his characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. It aired on ITV at various times. The theme tune was written and performed by Robin Gibb. It was based upon the 1997 British talk show Dr Dame Edna Kisses It Better. It is set in Dame Edna's health-spa, where her celebrity guests have come for some "treatment". Viewing figures varied from 2.5m according to Digital Spy.Acting
2023Barry Humphries: The Last Laugh as Self
2023Barry Humphries at the BBC as Self (archive material) / Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson
2021Parkinson at 50 as Dame Edna Everage (archive footage)
2021Show of Titles as "Anyone Can Whistle" Performer
2019Dame Edna Rules The Waves as Dame Edna Everidge
2019Standing Up for Sunny as Barry Humphries
2019Magical Land of Oz (3 Episodes) as Narrator (voice)
2016Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: The Missing Sketches as Self
2016A Granny's Guide to the Modern World (3 Episodes) as Unknown
2016Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie as Charlie / Dame Edna
2015Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show as Self
2015Blinky Bill the Movie as Wombo (voice)
2014Brilliant Creatures (2 Episodes) as Self
2014Jack Irish: Dead Point as Justice Logan
2013Justin and the Knights of Valour as Braulio (voice)
2013The Great Comic Relief Bake Off (1 Episode) as Contestant (Dame Edna Everage)
2012The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as The Great Goblin
2012Kath & Kimderella as Dame Edna Everage
2010A Comedy Roast (1 Episode) as Unknown
2010Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford (1 Episode) as Unknown
2009Making Mary and Max as Self
2009Mary and Max as Narrator (voice)
2009Salvation as Client
2008We Are Most Amused as Self
2008Not Quite Hollywood as Self
2008Q&A (1 Episode) as Self - Panellist
2008I'd Do Anything (22 Episodes) as Himself - Judge
2008Who Do You Think You Are? (1 Episode) as Self
2007Little Britain Down Under as Dame Edna Everage
2007The Dame Edna Treatment (6 Episodes) as Unknown
2007The Graham Norton Show (1 Episode) as Self
2006It Started with Swap Shop as Self
2006The One Show (1, 1 Episode) as Self, Dame Edna Everage
2006Betjeman and Me (1 Episode) as Unknown
2006Telling Schoolgirl Tales: The Making of 'The Getting of Wisdom’ as Self
2005Da Kath & Kim Code as John Monk
2004Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball? as Self - Edna Everage
2004The Tony Danza Show (1 Episode) as Dame Edna
2003Barry Humphries Presents Back to My Roots and Other Suckers as Sir Les Patterson/Owen Steele/Sandy Stone/Dame Edna Everage
2003QI (1 Episode) as Self
2003Finding Nemo as Bruce (voice)
2003Micallef Tonight (1 Episode) as Self
2002Nicholas Nickleby as Mrs. Crummies/Mr. Leadville
1998Hollywood Squares (5 Episodes) as Unknown
1998Welcome to Woop Woop as Blind Wally
1998Parkinson (3 Episodes) as Dame Edna Everage
1997Spice World as Kevin McMaxford
1997Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills as Bert / Lady Shopper / Manager
1997Ally McBeal (12 Episodes) as Claire Otoms
1997The View (1 Episode) as Self
1996The Leading Man as Humphrey Beal
1995Some Interesting Facts About Peter Cook as Self
1995Napoleon as Kangaroo (voice)
1994Immortal Beloved as Clemens Metternich
1993The Team: A Season With McLaren (1 Episode) as Dame Edna Everage
1993RTL Samstag Nacht (1 Episode) as Unknown
1993Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1 Episode) as Dame Edna
1993Selling Hitler as Rupert Murdoch
1992Joan Rivers: Abroad in London as Dame Edna Everage
1992Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch (12 Episodes) as Dame Edna
1992The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2, 5 Episode) as Unknown, Dame Edna Everage
1991Dame Edna's Hollywood (3 Episodes) as Dame Edna Everage
1991Pebble Mill (1 Episode) as Self
1991Boulevard Bio (1 Episode) as Self
1990An Audience with Jackie Mason as Unknown
1988One More Audience with Dame Edna Everage as Dame Edna Everage
1987The Dame Edna Experience (13 Episodes) as Unknown
1987Howling III: The Marsupials as Academy Award Presenter
1987Les Patterson Saves the World as Sir Les Patterson / Dame Edna Everage
1986An Aussie Audience with Dame Edna as Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson / Self
1984Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage as Dame Edna
1984Dr. Fischer of Geneva as Richard Deane
1984A (BBC Arena) Birthday Tribute to Dame Edna Everage as Edna Everage
1982Wogan (2 Episodes) as Self
1982The Secret Policeman's Other Ball as Self - Various Roles
1981Shock Treatment as Bert Schnick
1981The Rocky Horror Treatment as (archive footage)
1981A Toast to Melbourne as Unknown
1980An Audience with Dame Edna Everage as Unknown
1980Russell Harty (1 Episode) as Unknown
1978Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as Our Guests at Heartland
1978The South Bank Show (1 Episode) as Self
1978An Audience with... (2, 1 Episode) as Dame Edna Everage, Dame Edna Everage / Sir Les Patterson
1977The Getting of Wisdom as Rev. Strachey
1976Pleasure at Her Majesty's as Edna Everage
1975Saturday Night Live (1 Episode) as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
1975The Great MacArthy as Col Ball-Miller
1975Side by Side as Unknown
1974Barry McKenzie Holds His Own as Aunt Edna Everage / Dr. Meyer Delamphrey / Offensive Buck-toothed Englishman / Senator Douglas Manton
1974Percy's Progress as Dr. Anderson / Australian TV Lady
1972The Adventures of Barry McKenzie as Aunt Edna Everage / Hoot / Dr. DeLamphrey
1970The Naked Bunyip as Edna Everage
1968The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom as Mr. Wainwright
1967Bedazzled as Envy
1967Omnibus (1, 1 Episode) as Sir Les Patterson, Self
1964The Wednesday Play (1 Episode) as Unknown
1962The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1, 1 Episode) as Dame Edna Everage, Self
Writing
2019Dame Edna Rules The Waves ... Writer
2003Barry Humphries Presents Back to My Roots and Other Suckers ... Writer
1987Les Patterson Saves the World ... Writer
1986An Aussie Audience with Dame Edna ... Writer
1984Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage ... Writer
1974Barry McKenzie Holds His Own ... Writer
1972The Adventures of Barry McKenzie ... Writer
Creator
2019Dame Edna Rules The Waves ... Creator