Barry Humphries, Comedian Who Played Dame Edna Everage, Dies at 89

Australian satirist Barry Humphries, known for his onstage and TV drag persona Edna Everage and for his character Sir Les Patterson, has died. He was 89.

The BBC reported that Humphries had been in hospital in Sydney, Australia, and had been suffering from complications following surgery in March.

“A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said following the news of Humphries’ death.

“RIP Barry Humphries – one of the greatest ever Australians – and a comic genius who used his exuberant alter egos, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, to say the otherwise unsayable. Also an infallibly brilliant Spectator contributor. What a loss,” said former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Twitter.