The “Telegraph” publishes a eulogy to Barry Humphries “signed” by Dame Edna Everage, the character he has embodied throughout his career.
Like a letter to himself. Two days after Australian comedian Barry Humphries died on Saturday at the age of 89, the “Telegraph” broadcast a eulogy signed by Dame Edna Everage. A character that the actor created in the 1950s, which he embodied throughout his career and which made him a star in the Anglo-Saxon world.
According The Independentit is not the wording of the Telegraph but the actor who wrote this eulogy, and transmitted it to him during his lifetime.
“Barry Humphries was a stranger who wanted to be an actor (…) when I met him in the early 1950s,” reads Dame Edna Everage’s eulogy.
“It is true that he was the one who put me on stage for the first time, in December 1955, but it was with the aim of denigrating me and provoking easy laughter at my expense, by ridiculing the wonderful Aussie way of life.”
Comedian eclipsed by his creation
The message quips how, on the strength of his international success, the character has eclipsed his creator: “How the roles have been reversed! I have become the star and he is only a footnote in my career spectacular.”
“His tragedy will have been his desire to be an artist, and we know what happens to failed artists – Hitler, for example – they become either interior designers or mass murderers.”
“Barry was spared that fate. He became rich through my efforts by getting me to sign a contract that bound me for life.” And to conclude with a word for his loved ones: “He had a charming family, and my heart is with them.”
A “comedy genius”
Dame Edna Everage effectively became the character of Barry Humphries’ career. He first camped this lilac-haired bourgeois on stage, before landing television appearances from Australia to the United Kingdom via the United States.
In 2002, it was in his guise that he presented the show given at Buckingham Palace in honor of Queen Elizabeth II who was celebrating her golden jubilee. He did the same in 2006 for the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Many comedy stars paid tribute to Barry Humphries over the weekend. In particular Ricky Gervais, who called him on Twitter of “comedy genius”.
