April 22 (UPI) — Renowned Australian comedian Barry Humphries died at the age of 89 in Sydney, his family confirmed in a statement Saturday.
Best known for the portrayal of his characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, Humphries was in the hospital dealing with complications from hip surgery last month. He had a fall in February.
Humphries passed away peacefully surrounded by his family.
“He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit,” his family members said in a statement to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“With over seventy 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.”
His Dame Edna persona propelled Humphries to the peak of British television in the 1970s, eventually securing his own Dame Edna Everage Experience talk show in the 1980s.
He also became well known for his Sir Les Patterson character, a staple for three decades during Humphries’ stage performance.
Though many audiences know him best from TV, Humphries was also a prominent theater actor and a proponent of the arts in all forms.
“Although he may be best remembered for his work in theater, he was a painter, author, poet, and a collector and lover of Art in all its forms,” his family said. “He was also a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and a friend and confidant to many.”
Condolences poured in as news of his death broke.
“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,” former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter. “Also an infallibly brilliant Spectator contributor. What a loss.”
“For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote on Twitter.
“But the brightest star in that galaxy was always Barry. A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift. May he rest in peace.”
