Five things you might not know about… Barry Humphries
The Australian entertainer is taking Dame Edna Everage out on the road one last time
1 At the age of 79, Barry Humphries is finally bringing the live curtain down on Dame Edna Everage with his Eat Pray Laugh! tour. He'll also be giving a final run-out to the sozzled Sir Les Patterson while that character's brother, Gerard, an unsavoury Catholic priest, is a new creation for us to experience.
2 Humphries first stumbled upon the roots of a character that has fully formed into the loveably monstrous Dame Edna back in 1955 while he was touring Australia in a production of Twelfth Night. It was a whole 20 years later that Edna took the UK by storm during a West End tour of Housewife Superstar.
3 In 2001, during the fifth series of Ally McBeal, 'Dame Edna' played the role of Claire Otoms, a client of the show's law firm who later worked there as a secretary.
4 Humphries was seen in the recent series of WW1 sitcom Chickens as the headmaster of the school in which pacifist George taught.
5 Dame Edna's beloved yet silent sidekick Madge (AKA Emily Perry) died in 2008 at the grand age of 100.
Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Tue 5–Sat 9 Nov.