Australian comedian Barry Humphries, best known in the Anglo-Saxon world for his character Dame Edna Everage, a parody of a lilac-haired woman living in a wealthy suburb, died on Saturday at the age of 89 in Sydney, his agent announced.
The character of Dame Edna, a bourgeois woman who assured in a very serious and bombastic tone that the color of her hair was natural, was distinguished by glasses as extravagant as her dresses were showy.
Australians had seen him appear on the Melbourne stage in 1955 before landing roles on Australian, US and UK television.
In 2002 Dame Edna presented the show that was given at Buckingham Palace in honor of Queen Elizabeth II celebrating her Golden Jubilee. She had done the same in 2006 for the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne .
“Brilliant wit, unique humour, generosity of spirit”
The Australian Prime Minister paid tribute to this actor who was “gifted and generous”.
“He kept himself to the end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique humor or his generosity of spirit,” his agent said, recalling that Barry Humphries had spent more than 70 years on the stage and toured until 1980. past.
“Barry Humphries made us laugh through a whole galaxy of characters, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone,” another of his characters, a stuffy old bourgeois, he added, evoking “a formidable humorist, satirist, writer, and someone utterly unique.” .
Source: BFM TV
