Legendary Australian entertainer has died at the age of 89 following .
The comedian’s death was confirmed by a spokesperson for St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, with including from Ricky Gervais and Matt Lucas.
David Fatkor told the PA News Agency: ‘I can confirm Barry Humphries passed away this evening Sydney time, around 7pm on Saturday evening (11am GMT).’
A statement from the Humphries family said: ‘He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit.
‘With over 70 years on the stage, he was an entertainer to his core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that will sadly never be.
‘His audiences were precious to him, and he never took them for granted.
‘Although he may be best remembered for his work in theatre, he was a painter, author, poet, and a collector and lover of art in all its forms.
‘He was also a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and a friend and confidant to many. His passing leaves a void in so many lives.
‘The characters he created, which brought laughter to millions, will live on.’
The Bedazzled actor had been readmitted to the hospital earlier this week in from the operation, it was reported on Wednesday.
Humphries’ family were by his side, and he was said to be ‘comfortable’. Their statement at the time thanked his fans for their ‘support and best wishes.’
The star, who is best known for his drag alter ego , with his witty humour during comedy performances.
He was also a film producer, screenwriter, author, landscape painter and satirist, as well as popular figure on the West End stage, where he had his breakthrough in the 1960s in the original production of the musical Oliver!
Born in Melbourne, Victoria on February 17, 1934, Humphries grew up in the suburbs and enjoyed spending hours playing dress-up in the back garden.
He then spent two years at Melbourne University, studying Law, Philosophy and Fine Art while also undertaking his National Service with the Australian Army Reserve.
It was during his time that he developed his love of Dadaism, an avant-garde art movement that saw its artists reject the logic and reason of modern society in favour of nonsense and anti-bourgeois statements in their work, which took in collage, cut-up technique, sculpture and assemblage among other things.
Humphries also began to become famous for his notorious public pranks, which included tricking people into thinking he was eating his own vomit by secretly emptying a tin of Heinz Russian Salad into an air sickness bag.
After leaving university, he joined the Melbourne Theatre Company and created his much-celebrated character, Dame Edna Everage, who made her public debut in a 1955 sketch when Humphries was 21.
He then moved over to Sydney’s Phillip Street Theatre in 1957, which became a leading venue for satire, before starring as Estragon, one of the two main characters in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, in its Australian debut.
In 1959, Humphries headed to London, gaining the public’s attention with his turn as Mr Sowerberry in Oliver!, a role he later reprised on Broadway, before moving over to star as Fagin in the 1967 West End revival, and once more at the London Palladium in 1997.
He also appeared in Maggie May and a 1968 production of Treasure Island, alongside his friend Spike Milligan.
Humphries’ other famous friends included Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, with the actor then making his film debut in a small role in their comedy Bedazzled in 1967, which was later remade with Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley in 2000.
The star truly found his stride during this period too with Dame Edna Everage and other comic character creations in his one-man stage shows, returning to Australia to tour them until Just a Show received a West End transfer in 1969 – which also led to his BBC TV series The Barry Humphries Scan**ls.
Other popular characters of Humphries’ included boozy and lecherous cultural attaché Sir Les Patterson, as well as Sandy Stone, an elderly Australian man whose daughter died as a child.
Dame Edna made her movie debut in 1970 in The n**ed.n**ed Bunyip, and over the following years both she or Humphries appeared in movies including Side by Side, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel Shock Treatment.
Later movies were Dr Fischer of Geneva, Immortal Beloved, Spice World and the 2002 adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, in which he played Mrs Crummles, the wife of actor Nathan Lane’s part.
Some of his most famous recent roles were voicing Bruce the shark in , as well as in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012.
On TV, The Dame Edna Experience was a big success in the late 1980s, with its two series worth of guest stars including Sir Sean Connery, Dusty Springfield and Sir Roger Moore. He also filmed one-off specials and shows in the US, where he chatted to more stars such as Cher and Barry Manilow.
The Dame Edna Treatment in 2007 marked Humphries’ return to ITV in the UK, and yet more celebrity interviews, this time with the likes of Sigourney Weaver and Dame Shirley Bassey.
Due to his link with the show, he made for an entertaining and appropriate judge on Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BBC talent contest I’d Do Anything in 2008, as the theatre impresario launched a nationwide search for an actress to play Nancy in a revival of Oliver!
In 2012, he after over 60 years of Dame Edna Everage and productions like the Oliver Award-winning A Night with Dame Edna, Look at Me When I’m Talking to You and record-breaking Edna, The Spectacle in 1988, which became the first solo show to fill the Theatre Royal Haymarket since it first opened in 1663.
His farewell tour travelled Australia and the UK until 2013.
Over his life, Humphries also wrote multiple books, including two autobiographies and two novels, and as a self-confessed ‘bibliomaniac’ reportedly owned over 25,000 books.
Humphries married four times over the course of his life, first tying the knot in 1955 with Brenda Wright.
The couple divorced after two years, with Humphries going on to marry Rosalind Tong in 1959 and then Diane Millstead in 1979. From these two marriages he has four children: daughters Tessa and Emily and sons Oscar and Rupert.
He is also survived by his wife Elizabeth Spencer, who he wed in 1990, with the couple living together in his West Hampstead home.
Humphries was made CBE in 2007 among his numerous other awards over the years, including a special Tony Award, Officer of the Order of Australia, Australia’s Centenary Medal and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Comedy Awards.
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