Airdate: Barry Humphries In His Own Words

Documentary special Barry Humphries: In His Own Words is a tribute to the life of iconic Australian comedian Barry Humphries, told using only his own words from an in-depth interview recorded in 2015 for the ABC series Stop Laughing this is Serious.

It will screen on the same day as the NSW State Memorial Service.

Best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, Humphries’ biographer Anne Pender described him in 2010 as not only “the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin”.

Humphries’ characters brought him international renown. He appeared in numerous
stage productions, films, and television shows. Originally conceived as a dowdy
Moonee Ponds housewife who caricatured Australian suburban complacency and
insularity, Dame Edna Everage evolved over four decades to become a satire of
stardom – a gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally fêted
“Housewife Gigastar”.

Production Credit: An ABC Factual production. Commissioning Editor Stephen Oliver.

Friday 15 December at 8:30pm on ABC.