His next show was Isn't It Pathetic at His Age (1978), and, like many of his shows, the title derives from the sarcastic remarks his mother often made when she took Humphries to the theatre to see superannuated overseas actors touring in Australia during his youth. When Humphries was a guest on the BBC's Desert Island Discs radio programme in 2009, he made the following choices: " Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren" from Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier; Gershwin's "Things are Looking Up" sung by Fred Astaire; "Love Song" composed by Josef Suk; "On Mother Kelly's Doorstep" sung by Randolph Sutton; " Der Leiermann" from Schubert's Winterreise song cycle; the 2nd movement of Poulenc's Flute Sonata; Mischa Spoliansky's " Auf Wiedersehen"; and "They are not long the weeping and the laughter" from Delius' Songs of Sunset. We honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' continuous connection to Country, waters, skies and communities.

He was part of a group that made a series of Dada-influenced recordings in Melbourne from 1952 to 1953. In March 2012, Humphries announced his retirement from live entertainment, [43] stating that he was "beginning to feel a bit senior" and was planning to retire from show business. Humphries revived the Edna character (for what he said would be the last time) and the revue proved to be a major hit, playing eight shows a week for 14 months. In 1967 his friendship with Cook and Moore led to his first film role, a cameo as "Envy" in the film Bedazzled starring Cook and Moore with Eleanor Bron and directed by Stanley Donen. It was almost unanimously panned by Australian film critics, [27] but became a huge hit with audiences.Other exhibits the group mounted include "Creche Bang", a pram covered in meat and "Eye and Spoon Race", a spoon with a sheep's eye. Be prepared to read with a dictionary at hand: when writing as himself, Humphries savors the occasional obscure but evocative adjective (olid, nidorous, pinguid, fuliginous, grumous, hispid. Humphries described this schooling, in a Who's Who entry, as "self-educated, attended Melbourne Grammar School".

I always thought motion capture was something you did when you were taking a specimen at the doctor. We at Penguin Random House Australia acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the Traditional Custodians and the first storytellers of the lands on which we live and work. At one time he was invited to play the leading role of Captain Martin Bules in The Bedsitting Room which had already opened successfully at the Mermaid Theatre and was transferring to the West End. 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".

Her costumes, most of which were created for her by Australian designer Bill Goodwin, routinely incorporated Aussie kitsch icons such as the flag, Australian native animals and flowers, the Sydney Opera House and the boxing kangaroo. It was at this point that he created the first incarnation of what became his best-known character, Edna Everage. In the 1960s, throughout his sojourn in London, Humphries became increasingly dependent on alcohol; by the last years of the decade, his friends and family began to fear that his addiction might cost him his career – or even his life.

Barry Humphries tells of his Australian childhood in a comfortable suburb of Melbourne, and of his struggle to emerge from the clutches of his conventional, wealthy and doting parents into the persona of Dame Edna.During this time, he was a private in the Melbourne University Regiment, [7] serving a period of national service in the Citizens Military Force of the Australian Army. He was one of the many friends who tried in vain to help Peter Cook, who himself eventually died from alcohol-related illnesses. His elder son Oscar was editor of the art magazine Apollo [87] [88] and a contributing editor at The Spectator. He did not graduate from university (although he would receive an honorary doctorate almost 50 years later).