Barry Humphries, Creator of Dame Edna Everage, Passes Away at 89

According to various sources, Barry Humphries, comedian and creator of Dame Edna Everage, passed away surrounded by family at a hospital in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, April 22.

In a statement, his family remembers the comedian as a man who was "completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit."

The statement continues: "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 ​a​​​​rt 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."

John Barry Humphries AO CBE (born 17 February 1934) was an Australian actor, artist, author, comedian and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, a writer, and a landscape painter. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time ... [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin".

Humphries appeared on Broadway in the Tony & Drama Desk Award-winning Dame Edna: The Royal Tour from 1999 to 2000, returning in 2004 with Dame Edna: Back with a Vengence, followed by All About Me with Michael Feinstein in 2010.

Most recently, Humphries played the West End and toured the UK with his solo show Barry Humphries: The Man Behind the Mask.

Watch Barry Humphries as Dame Edna below.

Dame Edna shares her complaint about Phantom of the Opera with Andrew Lloyd Webber.