Barry Humphries AO CBE (1934–2023), actor, writer and artist, was the world's all-time most successful solo theatrical performer. Born in Melbourne, in the early 1950s he commenced studying Law at the University of Melbourne, where he became interested in Dadaism and began performing in revues. Abandoning his degree after two years, he joined the Melbourne Theatre Company and in 1954, while touring regional Victoria with a MTC production of Twelfth Night, he created a character named Edna inspired by the lady mayoresses and other municipal officials he encountered. Mrs (later Dame) Edna Everage made her stage debut in a sketch at Melbourne University’s Union Theatre in December 1955. He revived Edna for revues at Sydney’s Phillip Street Theatre in 1957 and after his return to Melbourne, Humphries created another of his archetypes of suburban mediocrity: the washed-out, ruminative Sandy Stone. In London from 1959, Humphries performed at Peter Cook’s legendary venue The Establishment, and became part of a cohort of comedians and satirists that included Cook, Dudley Moore, Spike Milligan and Alan Bennett. During the 1960s he appeared in several films, numerous West End stage productions and on BBC Television’s The Late Show. He also contributed to the satirical magazine Private Eye, for which he created a comic strip about an uber-boorish Australian bloke named Barry McKenzie. Back in Australia from 1970, Humphries co-wrote the feature film The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972), and premiered another of his best-known characters: the deeply offensive, lecherous ‘cultural attaché’ Les Patterson. Humphries many and varied film credits include roles in The Getting of Wisdom (1977), The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball (1982), Immortal Beloved (1994), Spice World (1997), and An Unexpected Journey (2012) – the first film in Peter Jackson’s three-part adaptation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit. In 2003 he was the voice of Bruce, the shark, in the animated film Finding Nemo. Throughout all this time, Humphries remained committed to his true calling and from the 1950s onwards performed his satirical one-man comedy shows in Australia, Britain, Europe and the USA. Edna Everage's wild vigour carried her through such triumphs as Housewife, Super-star; Edna, the Spectacle; Dame Edna, The Royal Tour; and Eat Pray Laugh!, which Humphries announced would be her last. Despite once claiming that he took up acting to entertain himself, Humphries’ contribution to his craft was honoured with many prestigious awards including a Mo Award (1989), a British Comedy Award for Lifetime Achievement (1999), a Special Tony Award (2000), the JC Williamson Award (2007), and an Outer Critics Circle Award (2000). Humphries’ was named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1982, and in 2007 he was named a Commander of the British Empire for his services to entertainment. He was the subject of the National Portrait Gallery's first large-scale biographical exhibition in 2002, and the following year he gained an honorary doctorate – in Law – from the University of Melbourne. His many books include two different autobiographies, More Please (1992) and My Life as Me (2002) as well as an autobiography of Edna Everage, My Gorgeous Life (1997).
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2001
© Polly Borland
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