Barry Humphries AC CBE (b. 1934), actor, writer and artist, is the world’s all-time most successful solo theatrical performer. After studying law at the University of Melbourne, Humphries joined the Melbourne Theatre Company. In 1955 he created his suburban archetypes Mrs Edna Everage, a Moonee Ponds mother and housewife, her long-suffering husband Norm, and the washed-out, ruminative Sandy Stone. Since the late 1950s Humphries has performed in his own one-man shows in Australia, the UK, Europe and the USA, and Edna Everage’s wild vigour has carried her through such triumphs as Housewife, Super-star; Edna, the Spectacle; and Dame Edna the Royal Tour. In 2000 Humphries won a Special Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Theatre World Award, and an Outer Critics’ Circle Award. He was the subject of the Australian National Portrait Gallery’s first large-scale biographical exhibition in 2002; the following year, he was the voice of Bruce, the shark, in the animated film Finding Nemo and gained an honorary doctorate from the University of Melbourne. His many books include two different autobiographies, More Please (1992) and My Life as Me (2002). In 2012 he announced that the touring show Eat Pray Laugh would be his last.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Helga Leunig 2013
© Helga Leunig
Barry Humphries (age 55 in 1989)
Michael Leunig (age 44 in 1989)
John Clarke (age 41 in 1989)
Helga Leunig (4 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Angus Trumble pays tribute to John Clarke.
