Creator of Dame Edna Barry Humphries passes away at age 89

Barry Humphries | Dame Edna Everage: Barry Humphries, a Tony Award-winning comedian known worldwide for his outrageous stage persona Dame Edna Everage has passed away. For seven decades, fans have enjoyed seeing her develop into a pretentious snob with a condescending demeanour. He was 89.

His family stated that he passed away in the Sydney hospital where he had been admitted after experiencing complications from hip surgery.

According to a family statement, "He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit."

"With over 70 years on the stage, he was an entertainer at his very core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that, sadly, will never be," they continued.

Humphries spent much of his life in London before travelling back to his native Australia in December for the holiday.

He described his recent physiotherapy as "agony" in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald published last month.

"It was the most absurd thing, just like domestic issues in general. I was grabbing for a book when my foot tripped over something and I fell," Humphries recalled of his mishap.

Humphries has continued to perform as a comedian, touring the United Kingdom last year with his one-man show "The Man Behind the Mask."

In Humphries' hometown of Melbourne, in the middle of the 1950s, a dowdy Mrs. Norm Everage initially appeared on stage as the basis for the role of Dame Edna. Humphries considered her to be a constraining reflection of the postwar suburbia immobility and cultural blandness.

One of Humphries' many memorable characters is Edna. Sir Les Patterson, an Australian cultural attaché who is perpetually intoxicated, dishevelled, and lecherous, is the next most well-known person.

Patterson captured the idea that Australia was a Western cultural wasteland, which led Humphries and many other prominent Australian intellectuals to move to London.

In the 1970s, Humphries, a law school dropout who became a successful actor, writer, and entertainer in Britain, struggled to achieve his American dream.

A highlight in the US was winning a Tony Award in 2000 for his Broadway production of "Dame Edna: The Royal Tour."

Anthony Albanese, the prime minister of Australia, paid tribute to the renowned comedian.

Sandy Stone was one of Barry Humphries' most enduring roles, and Albanese tweeted, "For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone," referring to the melancholy and meandering Stone. "But Barry was always the brightest star in that cosmos. He was both gifted and a gift. He was a superb writer, satirist, and individual.

Ricky Gervais, a British comedian, wrote on Twitter: "Farewell, Barry Humphries, you comedy genius."

The British television personality Piers Morgan tweeted that he was "one of the funniest people I've ever met."

"A wondrously intelligent, entertaining, daring, provocative, mischievous comedy genius," Morgan continued.

In addition to his many other talents, Humphries was a well-known character actor with several stage and screen appearances, a published author of books and an autobiography, and a skilled landscape painter.

On February 17, 1934, John Barry Humphries was born in Melbourne. His parents, who were content, loving, and upstanding, must have been concerned about their oldest son, Sunny Sam. His mother would advise him to refrain from attracting attention to himself.

Humphries was less interested in football before graduating from the elite Melbourne Grammar School and more drawn to the arts and used bookstores. His favourite writer at age 16 was Kafka, and he subsequently remarked that he "felt a little foreign."

He studied for two years at Melbourne University, when he became a supporter of the subversive, anarchist, and absurdist Dadaist movement in European art.

His contributions included "Pus In Boots," a pair of waterproof rubber boots with custard inside, and, on the performance art front, boarding a tram with an accomplice who appeared to be blind and screamed "Get out of my way, you disgusting blind person."

He moved to London in 1959 and started working at Peter Cook's comedy club The Establishment shortly after. He originated the part of Sowerberry in the 1960 London premiere of "Oliver!" and reprised it on Broadway. He had an appearance alongside William Rushton and Spike Milligan in "Treasure Island."

In 1964, Humphries and New Zealander Nicholas Garland collaborated to establish the Barry McKenzie comic strip for the satirical publication Private Eye.

The Australian government outlawed the book version of the comic strips because it "relied on indecency for its humour." Humphries claimed to be delighted by the attention and begged officials not to relax the prohibition.

Humphries' drinking had gotten out of hand at that point. In late 1970, he was accused of being intoxicated and unruly in Melbourne. In order to receive the treatment that would make him a lifelong abstainer, he ultimately checked himself into a hospital that specialised in treating alcoholism.

Despite the former restriction, the Australian government provided financial backing for the first Barry McKenzie movie in 1972. The criticism was harsh, largely because the critics were terrified of what the first movie to show beer-induced vomiting would do to Australia's reputation abroad.

However, it was a blockbuster, and in a follow-up two years later, McKenzie's aunt Edna received a knighthood from then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

He was married four times; his wife Lizzie Spender, four children, and ten grandkids remain.