Australian entertainer Barry Humphries, best known for his character Dame Edna Everage, has died at the age of 89.
Humphries had been in hospital in Sydney after suffering complications from a hip surgery in March.
Following the news of his passing, Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese said: “A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift.”
A spokesman for St Vincent’s hospital said Humphries died on Saturday evening at around 7pm local time (11am BST).
Comedian Rob Brydon, friend of Barry Humphries, said he was with the Australian entertainer just three days ago when “he was, as ever, making me laugh”.
“RIP Barry Humphries. A true great who inspired me immeasurably,” Brydon tweeted.
“It was a delight to call him my friend.
“I’ve been in Australia and was with him only 3 days ago. He was, as ever, making me laugh. His talent shone until the very end.
“My love goes out to Lizzie and all the family.”
Farewell, Barry Humphries, you Comedy genius.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) April 22, 2023
Australian actor Jason Donovan has said Barry Humphries was "quite simply an entertaining genius".
He tweeted: "Australia has lost one of its greatest!
"Funny, literate and fiercely intelligent, Barry Humphries was quite simply an entertaining genius.
"The characters he created brought laughter to millions... My thoughts are with family on this sad day!"
Humphries moved to London in 1959 to appear in the West End in shows such as Oliver! and Maggie May.
He was among the leading members of the British comedy scene, alongside Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Spike Milligan.
His famous Dame Edna character became a hit in the 1970s leading to the Dame Edna Everage Experience show in the late 80s.
In 1970, Humphries returned to Australia, where Dame Edna Everage made her film debut in John B Murray’s The Naked Bunyip.
The next year, he created a film version of the Barry McKenzie cartoons.
Humphries contributed to Private Eye magazine, most notably to the cartoon strip The Wonderful World Of Barry McKenzie about a “randy, boozy Australian rampaging through Swinging London”.
In 2003, Humphries voiced the shark Bruce in Pixar’s Finding Nemo, using an exaggerated Australian accent.
And in 2011, he travelled to New Zealand to perform the role of the Goblin King in the first instalment of Sir Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit.
In March 2012, Humphries announced his retirement from live entertainment, stating that he was “beginning to feel a bit senior”, but promised an extensive farewell tour, which was later extended.
Humphries married four times.
He has two daughters and two sons from his second and third marriages.
A self-proclaimed “bibliomaniac”, his house in West Hampstead was reported to have contained some 25,000 books, including many first editions from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In 2022, he appeared on UK stages as he toured with Barry Humphries: The Man Behind the Mask, described as a “revelatory trip through his colourful life and theatrical career”.
He said: “This is a show in which I am the principal character; it’s not Les, it’s not Edna, it’s not Sandy Stone. It is really about this character called ‘me’. I’m not in disguise.
“It is the story of my generation, it is a story of a life spent in the theatre and a life spent in comedy, and it will show what it is like to be a clown.
“In a way, this is perhaps the bravest thing I’ve ever done, and I hope the most entertaining. I think people might be agreeably shocked and they certainly will learn much they didn’t know.”
