John Barry Humphries AO CBE (17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) was a comedian, actor, novelist, satirist, and drag performer from Australia. He was best known for creating and portraying Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson on stage and on television.
His biographer Anne Pender characterized Humphries in 2010 as not only “the most significant theatrical figure of our time… [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin” for his delivery of Dadaist and absurdist humor to millions.
Barry Humphries family
The renowned comedian married four times. In 1990, he married his fourth wife, Lizzie Spender, an actress and the daughter of the late poet Sir Stephen Spender. The pair lived in a palatial flat in North London but had just spent time in Australia.
When asked why his fourth marriage survived, he replied, “Oh, because I’m a little smarter now.” The truth is that I’m not an easy person to be married to, and I struggled with alcoholism for nearly 10 years.
Barry Humphries wife
Humphries had four marriages. His first marriage, to Brenda Wright, occurred when he was 21 years old and lasted less than two years. From his second and third marriages to Rosalind Tong and Diane Millstead, he had two daughters, Tessa and Emily, and two boys, Oscar and Rupert. Oscar, his eldest son, was the editor of the art magazine Apollo and a contributor to The Spectator. He is presently a curator of art. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Spender, his fourth wife (from 1990 until his death in 2023), is the daughter of British poet Sir Stephen Spender and concert pianist Natasha Spender. For forty years, they lived in a terraced townhouse in West Hampstead.
Barry Humphries children
From his second and third marriages to Rosalind Tong and Diane Millstead, he had two daughters, Tessa and Emily, and two boys, Oscar and Rupert. Oscar, his eldest son, was the editor of the art magazine Apollo and a contributor to The Spectator. He is presently a curator of art.
Barry Humphries parents
Eric Humphries (1905-1972), a construction manager, and Louisa Agnes (1907-1984) are his parents. In the late 1800s, his grandpa, John George Humphries, immigrated to Australia from Manchester, England.
Barry Humphries siblings
Humphries was the eldest child of four. He had a sister named Barbara, as well as two brothers named Christopher and Michael. He grew raised in the pleasant, middle-class, but decidedly 1950s district of Camberwell, which influenced his absurdist humor.
