Barry Humphries

Acting

Barry Humphries

Born 1934-02-17 · Camberwell, Melbourne, Australia

John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (17 February 1934 - 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, perhaps best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the Court of St. James's. He was a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin. Humphries' characters, especially Dame Edna Everage, have brought him international renown, and he had appeared in numerous films, stage productions and television shows. Originally conceived as a dowdy Moonee Ponds housewife who caricatured Australian suburban complacency and insularity, Edna had evolved over four decades to become a satire of stardom, the gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally feted Housewife Gigastar, Dame Edna Everage. Humphries' other major satirical character creation was the archetypal Australian bloke Barry McKenzie, who originated as the hero of a comic strip about Australians in London (with drawings by Nicholas Garland) which was first published in Private Eye magazine. The stories about "Bazza" (Humphries' nickname, as well as an Australian term of endearment for the name Barry) gave wide circulation to Australian slang, particularly jokes about drinking and its consequences (much of which was invented by Humphries), and the character went on to feature in two Australian films, in which he was portrayed by Barry Crocker. Humphries' other satirical characters include the "priapic and inebriated cultural attaché" Sir Les Patterson, who has "continued to bring worldwide discredit upon Australian arts and culture, while contributing as much to the Australian vernacular as he has borrowed from it", 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 and failed tycoon Owen Steele. Humphries died following complications from hip surgery at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney on 22 April 2023.

Acting credits

Finding Nemo poster
7.8

Nemo, an adventurous young clownfish, is unexpectedly taken from his Great Barrier Reef home to a dentist's office aquarium. It's up to his worrisome father Marlin and a friendly but forgetful fish Dory to bring Nemo home -- meeting vegetarian sharks, surfer dude turtles, hypnotic jellyfish, hungry seagulls, and more along the way.

Finding Nemo

2003

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey poster
7.4

Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit enjoying his quiet life, is swept into an epic quest by Gandalf the Grey and thirteen dwarves who seek to reclaim their mountain home from Smaug, the dragon.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

2012

Mary and Max poster
7.9

A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York.

Mary and Max

2009

Spice World poster
4.9

World famous pop group the Spice Girls zip around London in their luxurious double decker tour bus having various adventures and performing for their fans.

Spice World

1997

Immortal Beloved poster
7.1

A chronicle of the life of infamous classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven and his painful struggle with hearing loss. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, his assistant, Schindler, searches for an elusive woman referred to in the composer's love letters as "immortal beloved." As Schindler solves the mystery, a series of flashbacks reveal Beethoven's transformation from passionate young man to troubled musical genius.

Immortal Beloved

1994

Justin and the Knights of Valour poster
5.9

A heart-warming tale about friendship, honor & courage, which sees a young boy become a man as he embarks on a quest to become a knight.

Justin and the Knights of Valour

2013

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie poster
5.3

Edina and Patsy are still oozing glitz and glamour, living the high life they're accustomed to; shopping, drinking and clubbing around London's trendiest hotspots. Blamed for a major incident at an uber fashionable launch party, they become entangled in a media storm and are relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi. Fleeing penniless to the glamorous playground of the super-rich, the French Riviera, they hatch a plan to make their escape permanent and live the high life forever more!

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie

2016

Blinky Bill the Movie poster
5.4

Blinky Bill is a little koala with a big imagination. An adventurer at heart, he dreams of leaving the little town of Green Patch and following in his missing father’s footsteps. When Blinky discovers a mysterious marker that hints at his Dad’s whereabouts, he embarks on a journey that takes him beyond the boundary of Green Patch and into the wild and dangerous Outback.

Blinky Bill the Movie

2015

Nicholas Nickleby poster
6.8

Nicholas Nickleby, a young boy in search of a better life, struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle.

Nicholas Nickleby

2002

The Leading Man poster
5.0

Successful playwright Felix Webb has a new play, 'The Hit Man', in rehearsal. Directed by his old friend Humphrey, it is already being hailed as a masterpiece; but Felix can't enjoy his success. He has fallen passionately in love with Hilary, a beautiful, fiesty young actress, and is preparing to desert his perfect family, his wife Elena and three lively children. His intolerable situation is further complicated when Humphrey casts Hilary as one of the leads in 'The Hit Man'. Enter Robin Grange, a charismatic young Hollywood actor making his London theatre debut. Robin is attractive, charming and dangerous, and soon inveigles his way into everyone's life. He ingratiates himself with the cast and, quickly grasping Felix's dilemma, sets about weaving his web of mischief. He suggests that if he were to seduce Elena, she would be distracted from Felix's affair, regain her self respect, and perhaps even willingly part from the unfaithful husband to whom she clings...

The Leading Man

1996

The Marsupials: The Howling III poster
4.5

A strange race of human-like marsupials appear suddenly in Australia, and a sociologist who studies these creatures falls in love with a female one. Is this a dangerous combination?

The Marsupials: The Howling III

1987

Napoleon poster
6.3

The adventures of Golden Retriever pup Napoleon and his friend, the parrot Birdo Lucci.

Napoleon

1995

Bedazzled poster
6.2

A hapless loser sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for seven wishes, but has trouble winning over the girl of his dreams.

Bedazzled

1967

Jack Irish: Dead Point poster
6.6

Jack Irish is thrown into a world of club owners, drug dealers and killers when he is hired by a judge to find a mysterious red book.

Jack Irish: Dead Point

2014

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band poster
4.3

A small town band makes it big, but loses track of their roots, as they get caught up into the big-time machinations of the music biz. Now, they must thwart a plot to destroy their home town. Built around the music of The Beatles, this musical uses some big name groups like Peter Frampton and Aerosmith.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

1978

Shock Treatment poster
5.9

Brad and Janet Majors find their strained marriage put to the test on popular Denton TV show Marriage Maze. Poor Brad is heavily sedated and institutionalised, whilst Janet is given a radical makeover and primed for stardom. But what are the real motivations behind the kooky DTV crew and their enigmatic head-honcho, Farley Flavors?

Shock Treatment

1981

Standing Up for Sunny poster
5.2

An isolated guy with cerebral palsy is railroaded into helping an unassertive comedienne, and finds love and acceptance through stand-up comedy.

Standing Up for Sunny

2019

Not Quite Hollywood poster
6.7

As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.

Not Quite Hollywood

2008

No artwork available
NR

This documentary showcases a number of new clips which have recently come to light from sketches which were thought to have been lost forever, some not seen for over 50 years, plus rare footage of routines performed in Australia when Cook and Moore made two episodes of their show, Not Only... But Also..., for the country back in 1971. Rob Brydon narrates this very special programme as Pete and Dud fans, friends and colleagues watch these newly discovered clips in the studio for the very first time. The programme includes contributions from Not Only... But Also... producer Dick Clement, Pete and Dud collaborator Barry Humphries, and long-time fans Richard Ayoade, Josie Lawrence, Will Sharpe and Ronnie Wood as they enjoy the sketches and reflect on the career of one of Britain's best-loved comedy partnerships.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: The Missing Sketches

2016

Show of Titles poster
NR

An evening of celebrated stars performing the titles songs from Broadway’s best.

Show of Titles

2021

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball poster
6.3

Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson’s colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News including Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones; comedian Victoria Wood and regional comic Jasper Carrott. Lewis secured a return appearance by Billy Connolly and a debut appearance by "alternative" comedian Alexei Sayle who Lewis had recently discovered and was managing. Building on the success of Pete Townshend's 1979 appearance Lewis recruited other rock musicians to perform at the 1981 show including Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof.

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

1982

Parkinson at 50 poster
10.0

Sir Michael Parkinson looks back over his 50 years as a broadcaster, revealing some tricks of the interview trade and remembering some of his favourite encounters.

Parkinson at 50

2021

Pleasure at Her Majesty's poster
7.0

The first of the Amnesty International comedy benefit galas. The title is a play on the phrase at Her Majesty's pleasure (the show was performed at Her Majesty's Theatre, London). This show came to be considered part of the Secret Policeman's Ball series of shows that it inspired, although it pre-dated the first show in the series by three years. The event was organized by a team of three: Monty Python member John Cleese, Amnesty's Assistant Director Peter Luff and Transatlantic Records executive Martin Lewis. It featured the cream of Britain's comedic talent of the era, setting a precedent that would inspire many subsequent Amnesty galas...

Pleasure at Her Majesty's

1976

The Last Impresario poster
5.5

Michael White might just be the most famous person you’ve never heard of. A notorious London theatre and film impresario, he produced over 300 shows and movies over the last 50 years. Bringing to the stage the risqué productions of Oh! Calcutta!, The Rocky Horror Show and to the screen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as well as introducing Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch and Yoko Ono to London audiences, he irrevocably shaped the cultural scene of the 1970s London.

The Last Impresario

2014

Behind the camera

The Adventures of Barry McKenzie poster
5.3

Barry McKenzie sets off for England with his aunt, Edna Everage, to advance his cultural education. Bazza is an innocent abroad, fond of beer, Bondi and beautiful sheilas, but he soon settles into the Australian ghetto in Earls Court, where his old mate Curly has a flat.

The Adventures of Barry McKenzie

1972

Barry McKenzie Holds His Own poster
5.4

Barry McKenzie's Aunt Edna is kidnapped by Count Von Plasma, the vampire head of an isolated Eastern European dictatorship who mistakes her for the Queen of England and thinks that kidnapping her will draw tourists to his country. Barry and his mates set out to rescue her and bring her back to Australia.

Barry McKenzie Holds His Own

1974

Les Patterson Saves the World poster
4.8

Fat middle aged 24/7 drunkard Les Patterson represents Australia at the UN where his fart literally incinerates an Arab ambassador. Patterson is reassigned to the Middle East so he can be tortured to death by the country he insulted. Patterson's arrival is the prefect distract of a coup and he is spared. At a bar Patterson meets a bio weapons scientist who's developed a horrific disease for the KGB whom plan to distribute it to the Pentagon via toilet seats. Patterson of course is far too drunk to understand anything happening and teams up with Dane Edna to save the world.

Les Patterson Saves the World

1987

Les Patterson 'Has A Stand Up' - Live & Rampant poster
NR

YES! Sir Lesley Colin Patterson, international diplomat is back, and I’m letting it all hang out on my very own HARD-CORE, LIVE, SEX EDUCATION TAPE for troubled adults and dysfunctional drinkers.

Les Patterson 'Has A Stand Up' - Live & Rampant

1996

Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage poster
9.0

Dame Edna shares her views and answers questions in front of a celebrity audience.

Another Audience with Dame Edna Everage

1984

Barry Humphries Presents Back to My Roots and Other Suckers poster
NR

Recorded live at the State Theatre, Victorian Arts Centre on the 15th of August 2003. Contains the hilarious on-stage antics of Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patterson and Sandy Stone.

Barry Humphries Presents Back to My Roots and Other Suckers

2003

Sir Les And The Great Chinese Takeaway poster
NR

Australian cultural attaché Sir Les Patterson visits his old haunts in Hong Kong before its administrative rule is returned from Britain to China.

Sir Les And The Great Chinese Takeaway

1997

Dame Edna Rules The Waves poster
3.5

Filmed in front of an audience, Dame Edna will host a very exclusive evening with celebrity chat, staffed by some familiar faces.

Dame Edna Rules The Waves

2019

An Aussie Audience with Dame Edna poster
NR

Comedy special, filmed in Australia

An Aussie Audience with Dame Edna

1986