Barry Humphries

Barry Humphries AC CBE
Humphries in 2001
Born	John Barry Humphries (1934-02-17)17 February 1934 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died	22 April 2023(2023-04-22) (aged 89) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Education	Camberwell Grammar School Melbourne Grammar School
Occupations	Actor author artist comedian satirist
Years active	1954-2023
Spouses	Brenda Wright ​ ​ (m. 1955; div. 1957)​ Rosalind Tong ​ ​ (m. 1959; div. 1970)​ Diane Millstead ​ ​ (m. 1979; div. 1989)​ Elizabeth Spender ​ (m. 1990)​
Children	4, including Tessa and Oscar
Comedy career
Years active	1951–2023
Genres	Character comedy satire
Notable works and roles	Dame Edna Everage Sir Les Patterson Sandy Stone

John Barry Humphries AC CBE (17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. Humphries's characters brought him international renown. He appeared in numerous stage productions, films and television shows. Originally conceived as a dowdy Moonee Ponds housewife who caricatured Australian suburban complacency and insularity, the Dame Edna Everage character developed into a satire of stardom – a gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally fêted "housewife gigastar".

Humphries's other satirical characters included the "priapic and inebriated cultural attaché" Sir Les Patterson, who "continued to bring worldwide discredit upon Australian arts and culture, while contributing as much to the Australian vernacular as he has borrowed from it"; ^{[citation needed]} gentle, grandfatherly "returned gentleman" Sandy Stone; iconoclastic 1960s' underground film-maker Martin Agrippa; Paddington socialist academic Neil Singleton; sleazy trade-union official Lance Boyle; high-pressure art salesman Morrie O'Connor; failed tycoon Owen Steele; and archetypal Australian "bloke" Barry McKenzie.