Dame Edna Everage
is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. [1] As Dame Edna, Humphries has written several books and hosted various television shows (on which Humphries has also appeared as himself). In 1979 Dame Edna was the subject of a BBC Arena mockumentary: La Dame aux Gladiolas
.
While Humphries freely states that Dame Edna is a character he plays, Dame Edna consistently denies being a fictional character or drag performer, and refers to Humphries as her "entrepreneur" or manager. Indeed, Dame Edna has frequently said that the thought of a man dressing up as a woman for entertainment purposes is repulsive.
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DAME EDNA TICKETS
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Fictional biography
According to Dame Edna's autobiography, and to statements she has made, she was born Edna May Beazley in the rural city of
Wagga Wagga, and started her stage career on 19 December 1955 as Mrs. Norm Everage, an "average Australian housewife" from
Moonee Ponds, a
Melbourne suburb. Dame Edna was born with a sibling, who gave birth to
Barry McKenzie.
She is easily recognisable for her
lilac-coloured hair (which she claims is natural) and over-the-top
cat eye glasses.
She spends her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in
Los Angeles,
London,
Sydney,
Switzerland and
Martha's Vineyard. She is a friend and confidante of the
Queen.
Like Humphries, Dame Edna has four adult children: two daughters, Valmai (who assisted Dame Edna on her most recent programme for
ITV1,
The Dame Edna Treatment
) and Lois. Her two sons are Bruce, who is married to Joylene, and her youngest, Kenneth (or Kenny), who, when described by Dame Edna, comes across as a
caricature of a
gay man. Dame Edna shows no awareness of his homosexuality, despite often referring to his 'partner', Clifford Smale. Kenny was shown in
Sir Les Patterson's documentary 'Les Patterson and the Great Chinese Takeaway' as a boutique owner in Hong Kong. Dame Edna's mother is incarcerated in a "maximum-security twilight home for the bewildered". Valmai and Kenny are the only family members (yet) to be seen. Her husband, Sir Norman Everage, died in 1988 after many years in hospital suffering from prostate problems and a "testicular murmur".
Besides these family members, her elderly "bridesmaid" Madge Allsop (played by
Emily Perry), a
New Zealander from
Palmerston North, was often present during Dame Edna's appearances and television shows. (Perry died at the age of 100 in 2008 and now Dame Edna's daughter Valmai has replaced her on stage). Madge never spoke a word, though she was often the butt of Dame Edna's jokes.
Dame Edna is praised for her insights into her homeland. When asked why Australians are so good at sport she commented
"Good food and diet; open air life; juicy steaks; sunshine — and the total absence of any kind of intellectual distraction."
Honors
On 7 March 2007 her home town (
Melbourne) re-named a city street in her honour: Dame Edna Place
[2], formerly Brown Alley off Little Collins Street, was officially opened by the
Lord Mayor of Melbourne,
John So. Dame Edna Place is opposite Royal Arcade and The Causeway, between the major roads, Elizabeth Street and Swanston Street; it was, until its renaming, a service alley for adjoining buildings. Dame Edna was not at the renaming ceremony but was represented by ten look-alike Dames.
On 16 June 2007 Dame Edna's alter-ego Barry Humphries became a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment.
[3]
In
MAC Cosmetics 2008 Winter Line-Up, a Dame Edna collection of cosmetics were released including eye shadow, lipstick, powder, and nail polish.
Performances
The Edna Everage character first appeared in a
Melbourne comedy revue in 1955. At this time she was "Mrs Norm Everage". An interview with Mrs Everage was one of the programmes screened on
HSV-7's first day of programming in 1956.
Her overseas debut, now as Edna Everage, was in the early 1960s at comedian
Peter Cook's nightclub,
The Establishment, in London's West End, where she received a poor review from
Bamber Gascoigne, then the drama critic for
The Spectator
. Barry Humphries cites
Peter Cook as being instrumental in launching Edna's UK career.
In 1972, she appeared as
Barry McKenzie's "Aunt Edna" in the film,
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
and its sequel
Barry McKenzie Holds His Own
. It was during this time that she was "knighted" by then Australian Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam, becoming "Dame Edna".
Following a growing awareness and appreciation among British audiences for the Dame Edna character because of appearances on British TV shows, Humphries devised a stage show titled
Edna Everage Housewife Superstar
which was successfully presented in London's West End in the mid 1970s. The show featured monologues, songs and what was becoming an Edna trademark - interaction with the theatre audience.
In April 1976, Edna Everage made an appearance in
A Poke In The Eye (With A Sharp Stick)
- the first of what became
Amnesty International's
Secret Policeman's Ball series of benefit shows.Dame Edna performed a song for the show and was featured in the film of the show. Dame Edna also appeared in the 1981 Amnesty show
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
.
Edna makes a cameo appearance in the 1978 film
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
.
Dame Edna became notable in the
UK throughout the 1980s and early 1990s for her semi-regular television shows. her first specials were in 1978/1979 on the BBC. althourgh She became popular with broadcaster
ITV after her performance on
An Audience With Dame Edna
in 1980. She would go on to perform two more "
An Audience With..." specials (in 1984 and 1988) and was also given her own weekly shows such as
The Dame Edna Experience
in 1987 and
Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch
in 1992, in which she and her silent, sour-faced "bridesmaid", Madge (see below), had a look at people's houses.
In 2000 and 2004, Dame Edna appeared on
Broadway. These were ostensibly not "performances", but rather "appearances", with Dame Edna giving monologues and interacting with audience members. She won the 2000
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.
During 2001 and 2002, Dame Edna appeared in the fifth season of the television show
Ally McBeal
playing the guest role of Claire Otoms, a client of the show's law firm who later became a secretary at the same firm. The character shared Dame Edna's voice and style and was explicitly listed in the opening credits as being played by Dame Edna Everage (although Barry Humphries received a credit in the closing credits). Claire Otoms is an
anagram of "A Sitcom Role".
In the 2002 motion picture of
Nicholas Nickelby
Dame Edna plays the role of Mrs. Crummles, an actress and wife of the manager of a provincial theater company. Barry Humphries also appears in the film as Mr. Leadville.
Dame Edna appeared at the Queen's Golden Jubilee Concert, the "
Party at the Palace" in London in 2002, where she referred to the Queen as the "jubilee girl". She also featured at the
Closing Ceremony of the
Commonwealth Games 2006 in Melbourne, Australia. During her act she sang a song containing her thoughts on Melbourne and Australia in general. On 20 May 2006 she appeared on
ITV's coverage of
The Prince's Trust annual fundraiser. She took part in a
Blind Date
themed skit, picking
Chico Slimani over
Roger Moore and
Richard E Grant.
In the summer of 2006, Dame Edna appeared on
Jay Leno's
Tonight Show
alongside
Billy Crystal. On 23 September 2006, during an interview on
Parkinson
, she revealed that she would be returning to
ITV in 2007 with a new chat show,
The Dame Edna Treatment
. The show began on Saturday 17 March 2007, with the set-up being that Edna runs a health spa where various famous guests come for treatment.
On Wednesday 17 December 2006, Dame Edna appeared as a guest panellist on the
ABC TV Show
Spicks and Specks
where she sang with presenter
Adam Hills.
On Sunday 16 December 2007 she appeared as the final guest on the final episode of the
Parkinson
UK talk show.
On Thursday 29 May 2008 she appeared on
The Graham Norton Show alongside
Ray Mears and
Alanis Morissette.
On Friday 8 August 2008 she appeared on
Loose Women
on their final show of the series.
On Friday 12 September 2008, Monday 15 December 2008, and Wednesday 27 May 2009, she appeared as a guest on
The Tonight Show
with
Jay Leno.
In early 2009 she appeared in adverts to publicise the insurance company
Norwich Union's change of name to
Aviva, quoting her change of name from Mrs Everage.
On Tuesday 9 June 2009, she appeared as a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
On Friday 17 July 2009, she appeared as a guest on
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
Discography
- The Dame Edna Party Experience
(Epic Records, 1988) [4]
# Bad / When Will I Be Famous / Layla (Alias Edna) / I Should Be So Lucky / The Locomotion / Bad 'Nice' (Reprise)
# Waltzing Matilda (Instrumental Intro) / The Twist
# Venus / Like A Virgin / Girls Just Want To Have Fun / Venus (Reprise)
# Shout (Part 1)
# Shout (Part II)
# I Got You Babe (Who Needs You Babe) [with Sir Les Patterson]
# I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) / Stop! In The Name Of Love / Dancing In The Street / I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) (Reprise)
# Neighbours
# Leader Of The Pack / It's My Party
- Theme From Neighbours
(Epic Records, 1988) [Produced by David Mackay
# Theme From Neighbours (Caring And Sharing Mix) / Spooky Christmas
# Shout (Parts One And Two)
Controversy
In 2003,
Vanity Fair
magazine invited Dame Edna to write a
satirical advice column; a piece published in the February issue created a storm of controversy when Dame Edna, in a reply to a reader who asked if she should learn
Spanish, wrote:
Forget Spanish. There's nothing in that language worth reading except Don Quixote
, and a quick listen to the CD of Man of La Mancha
will take care of that ... Who speaks it that you are really desperate to talk to? The help? Your leaf blower?
Members of the Hispanic community read the joke as a deliberately racist remark, and complaints flooded in to the magazine. Hollywood actress
Salma Hayek responded angrily, penning a furious letter in which she denounced Dame Edna (not realising that 'she' was actually a man in drag). Death threats were even received and
Vanity Fair
was eventually forced to publish a full-page apology to the Hispanic community.
Humphries commented later: "If you have to explain satire to someone, you might as well give up." When Dame Edna was questioned about the controversy on the eve of her 2003 Australian tour, she retorted that Hayek's denunciation was due to "professional jealousy", and that Hayek was envious because the role of painter
Frida Kahlo (for which Hayek received an Oscar nomination) had originally been offered to Edna:
When I was offered the part of Frida I turned it down, and she was the second choice. I said 'I'm not playing the role of a woman with a moustache and a monobrow, and I'm not having same-sex relations on the screen' ... I'm not racist. I love all races, particularly white people. You know, I even like Roman Catholics.
Madge Allsop
Madge Allsop, Dame Edna's former sidekick and silent foil was played from 1987 by
Emily Perry. Madge was only known to speak on one occasion, when she sang and danced on a special
Comic Relief
sketch in the UK. When
Christiaan Barnard performed a face lift for Madge on
The Dame Edna Experience
, after the surgery, Madge was played briefly by
Anne Charleston. Madge appeared with Dame Edna on
Dame Edna's Hollywood
,
Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch
,
The Dame Edna Experience
, and
The Dame Edna Satellite Experience
. Perry died on 20th February 2008, at the age of 100.
Quotes
"The badge, Madge, the badge!"
"Quick Sticks"
"Spooky!"
"Call me old fashioned"
"Hello, Possums!"
"This double chin was grafted onto me, in Brazil. It belonged to Elizabeth Taylor. It was her left love handle."
"Andrew Lloyd Webber doesn't need necessarily to be on camera does he? I think the old phantom could have lent him a mask or two... No I'm teasing, and he'd know if he's watching, which I hope he isn't."
"In Australia, our houses aren't all joined together like yours to stop them from falling over."
"Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century."
"I'm trying to find a word to describe what you're wearing... affordable!"
"Never in England I was given any chance... I'm better than
Judi Dench, much much better and I'm afraid taller!"
Ad lib talking with an audience member during a Broadway "appearance": "Oh, you live in a French Provincial house in New Jersey. I wonder if they have New Jersey houses in France."
"I mean that in a loving, caring way!"
References in music
Dame Edna was also mentioned in a song, "This One's Just For You", by Australian songwriter and comedian,
Kevin Bloody Wilson.
References
- In Strine, the pronunciation of ''average'' comes perilously close to ''Everage''.
- Melbourne alley named after Dame Edna (ABC Online) accessed 7 March 2007
- News.com.au Dame Edna wins Queen's award.
- Dame Edna Everage discography