‘Comedy genius’: Global tributes for Barry Humphries

Humphries died on Saturday, aged 89, at St Vincents Hospital in Sydney the place he was being handled for problems stemming from hip surgical procedure earlier this yr.

He was surrounded by his rapid household, together with his spouse of 30 years Lizzie Spender, his kids Tessa, Emily, Oscar and Rupert, and 10 grandchildren.

Humphries, who has lived in London for many years, got here again to Sydney in December for Christmas. He subsequently suffered a fall that led to his hip alternative surgical procedure.

“He was utterly himself till the very finish, by no means shedding his good thoughts, his distinctive wit and generosity of spirit,” his household mentioned in a press release.

John Barry Humphries was born on February 17, 1934. He spent greater than 70 years on the stage and was “an entertainer to his core” who beloved his audiences and by no means took them with no consideration.

However he was additionally a painter, creator, poet and collector of artwork.

“He was additionally a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and a pal and confidant to many. His passing leaves a void in so many lives,” his household mentioned.

“The characters he created, which introduced laughter to thousands and thousands, will reside on.”

Humphries, who continued touring up till the final yr of his life, was a person of many faces led by his comedic alter egos, self-described housewife “gigastar” Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led the tributes for the entertainer, saying whereas Humphries was the creator of stars like Dame Edna, he was the brightest of all of them.

“An excellent wit, satirist, author and an absolute one-of-kind, he was each gifted and a present,” he mentioned.

Opposition Chief Peter Dutton mentioned Australia had misplaced its best raconteur, most good satirist and biggest cultural comic.

“He’ll eternally be a treasured Australian icon,” he posted on social media.

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson mentioned Humphries was “one of many biggest ever Australians”.

“What a loss,” he mentioned on Twitter.

Unsurprisingly, a number of tributes got here from Humphries’ fellow travellers on the earth of leisure, together with British comedians Ricky Gervais and Matt Lucas and Australians Adam Hills, Rove McManus, Marty Fields and Jason Donovon.

All praised his genius, intelligence and generosity.

London-based Hills mentioned he was “one of many biggest comedians of our time”, whereas Discipline dubbed him a “god of comedy”.

Welsh comic Rob Brydon, who’s in Australia and was with Humphries simply three days in the past, posted: “A real nice who impressed me immeasurably. It was a delight to name him my pal … His expertise shone till the very finish.”

Additionally in Australia, British comic Jimmy Carr mentioned it will be bittersweet doing gigs within the nation as “nobody will ever be nearly as good at crowd work once more”.

Monty Python member Eric Idle mentioned Humphries had made him chortle out loud since assembly him in 1968 and referred to as him “one of many biggest civilised comedians to have ever lived”.

Sir Michael Parkinson, who featured Humphries on his present in his guises as Dame Edna and Sir Les, mentioned he was one in every of his favorite visitors of all time and a pricey pal.

“In a time when the phrase is bandied round far too simply, we’ve got really misplaced a genius,” he mentioned.

-AAP