In news that’ll upset your mum, beloved Australian comedian, actor (and Dadaist) Barry Humphries (AO CBE) – creator of characters including Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patteson and Sandy Stone – will be retiring his characters from the stage for good with a final farewell tour.
Speaking with News Ltd., Humphries – who at 78 has been playing his best-known character, The Queen of Cultural Cringe, Dame Edna for 57 years – stated that:
“The fact of the matter is that I’m beginning to feel a bit senior. It’s the best aerobics you could do, leaping around on stage, but it’s gruelling when there are other things to do. I’ve got a contract to write another book, there are places I want to go, things I want to do (including) more painting.”
There’s no doubting that Humphries and his coterie of characters have been seen him become one of the most successful – and indeed nationally iconic – solo theatrical performers of all time both here and abroad, having received the highest accolades in Tony awards from sold-out shows on Broadway to the West End. Humphries will also star as the Goblin King in Peter Jackson’s upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit.
You simply can’t call someone ‘Possum’ anymore without conjuring the image of a septuagenarian man in drag and a purple wig. Not that that’s a bad thing:
