Barry Humphries, the comedian best known for his character Dame Edna Everage who blossomed from an Australian suburban housewife into a self-described gigastar, died on Saturday. He was 89.
The Sydney Morning Herald said Humphries died at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, where he had been treated for various health issues.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Humphries in a tweet, calling him a "great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind". "Tim, I could talk to you and about you and behind your back for ages," the character once said in typical fashion as she was wrapping up a conversation with actor and comedian Tim Allen on one of her talkshows.
Sent to a conservative high school, he was described by a friend as a "spectacular misfit" who would turn his back on school football matches to knit. Bored with his home city, Humphries moved to Britain in 1959, part of a wave of creative expatriates including humorist Clive James and artist Brett Whiteley, showcasing the Australian voice: earthy and irreverent but superficially polite.
He also voiced the character of Bruce the Shark in "Finding Nemo", wrote a satirical advice column, as Edna, for Vanity Fair, and curated a cabaret festival where he rejected acts that involved swearing - a decision he said would encourage creativity.
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