Dame Edna star Humphries dies at 89

Australian entertainer Barry Humphries, best known for his comic character Dame Edna Everage, has died at the aged of 89.

The star had been in a hospital in Sydney after suffering complications following hip surgery in March. He had a fall in February.

Humphries’ most famous creation became a hit in the UK in the 1970s and landed her own TV chat show, the Dame Edna Everage Experience, in the late 1980s.

His other personas included the lecherous drunk Sir Les Patterson.

In a statement, his family remembered him as “completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit”.

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They said Humphries’ fans were “precious to him”, and said his characters, “Which brought laughter to millions, will live on”.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute shortly after the news of Humphries’ death broke.

“A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift,” Mr Albanese said.

Melbourne-born Humphries moved to London in 1959, appearing in West End shows such as Maggie May and Oliver!

Inspired by the absurdist, avant-garde art movement Dada, he became a leading figure in the British comedy scene alongside contemporaries like Alan Bennett, Dudley Moore and Spike Milligan.

BBC/Dominica Nwabufo