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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Barry Humphries, the Tony Award-winning comedian known internationally for his flamboyant stage presence, Dame Edna Everage, has died is a condescending, unabashed snob whose evolving personality has been entertaining audiences for the past 7 years. He is 89 years old.
He died in Sydney Hospital after spending days with complications following hip surgery, his family confirmed.
“He was completely himself until the end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique intelligence and generous spirit,” a family statement said.
“With more than 70 years on stage, he was an entertainer, touring until the last year of his life, with more shows planned, but sadly never,” they added.
Humphreys lived in London for decades and returned to his native Australia for Christmas in December.
He told the Sydney Morning Herald last month that his physical therapy had been “painful” following a fall and hip replacement.
“It was the most ridiculous thing, like all family events. I was reaching for a book and my foot got stuck in the rug or something and I fell,” Humphreys said of said when he fell.
Humphreys has been an active entertainer and toured the UK last year with his one-man show, The Man Behind the Mask.
The role of Lady Edna began as a scruffy Mrs Norm Everett, who made her stage debut in Humphreys’ hometown of Melbourne in the mid-1950s. She reflects the postwar suburban inertia and cultural mildness that Humphreys found stifling.
Edna is one of the few enduring characters in Humphreys’ writing. The next most famous was Sir Les Patterson, a drunken, disheveled and lecherous Australian cultural commissioner.
Patterson reflected a perception of Australia as a Western cultural wasteland that brought Humphreys to London with many of Australia’s leading intellectuals.
Humphries, a law school dropout, achieved great success as an actor, writer and entertainer in Britain in the 1970s, but found America an elusive ambition.
In 2000, he won a Tony Award for his Broadway production of Lady Edna: The Royal Tour, a high point in the United States.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the famous comedian.
“For 89 years, Barry Humphries has entertained us with roles ranging from Lady Edna to Sandy Stone,” Albanese tweeted, Refers to the brooding and rambling Stone, one of Humphreys’ most enduring characters. “But the brightest star in that galaxy was always Barry. A great wit, satirist, author and absolutely unique, he was as gifted as he was gifted.”
British comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted: “Farewell Barry Humphries you are a comedy genius.”
British TV personality Piers Morgan also paid tribute. “One of the funniest people I’ve ever met,” Morgan tweeted.
“A brilliant, funny, daring, provocative, mischievous piece of comedic genius,” Morgan added.
He was married four times and is survived by his wife Liz Spender, four children and 10 grandchildren.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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