Remembering Barry Humphries, the man who enriched the culture, reimagined the one man show and upended the cultural cringe
His street performances around Melbourne in the early 1950s foreshadowed performance art in Australia.
- His street performances around Melbourne in the early 1950s foreshadowed performance art in Australia.
- He was the most daring student prankster Melbourne University had ever known.
- Years later, academic Peter Conrad accurately described Humphries’ adolescence as a “one man modern movement”.
- It also gave him his first taste of the power of an audience to determine what happens in the theatre.
The birth of Edna
- Edna was a composite portrait of various women whose mannerisms had imprinted themselves in his brain as a boy, growing up in staid Camberwell.
- Wearing a massive hat sculpted to resemble the Sydney Opera House, Edna stopped the crowds at Royal Ascot that year.
- The image of her in that sumptuous creation (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum) launched Edna and Humphries around the world.
Conquering the world
- She skewered dozens of politicians, pop stars, singers and actors who graced the program every week.
- Her appearance with Jerry Hall singing Stand by your Man remains one of the most hilarious television moments of that time.
- Humphries’ success on British television in the 1980s and 1990s were among the major achievements of his career.
The early years
- Eric ran a flourishing building business (he might be called a developer nowadays) and Louisa was a homemaker.
- He loved dressing up and accompanying his mother on trips to the city or out for lunch with other ladies.
- At Melbourne Grammar, Humphries found the boys who excelled in sports rewarded and praised for their achievements.
- An interest in art or music was considered by the headmaster to be suspicious, a disappointment for Humphries, passionate about art.
A transformational artist
- With his mask off he was as witty as when he wore it.
- Manning Clark called him one of the “mythmakers and prophets of Australia […] enriching the culture which had been dominated by the straiteners”.
- Read more:
Friday essay: Barry Humphries' humour is now history – that's the fate of topical, satirical comedy