#Dame Edna

[djohnhopper]

SAD NEWS:

Such sad news - one of a kind. Safe journey...

[missbcm]

[seattledaddyintraining]

New Etsy listings: Jinkx Monsoon in Chicago, Our Flag Means Death, Dame Edna, Challengers, and Taskmaster!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/coso127

[theartisticendeavor]

Hello Possums

Art by Alejandro Mogollo

[mayamistake]

"A sad reminder that while Dame Edna was a wonderful character and will be greatly missed, her creator was not. Straight, homophobic and transphobic, and really only got worse as the years went on. He made a lot of money on our backs, and supported us not at all. Goodbye Edna."

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Dame Edna in 1976.

* * * *

“Never be afraid to laugh at yourself. After all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century.” ― Dame Edna Everage

[travelling-my-little-pony]

Love Wishes id admiring a dress on display at the Victoria and Albert museum.

In London, England.

[oldinterneticons]

[lord-radish]

So an Australian celebrity just passed away. He was a comedian named Barry Humphries, his schtick was mostly character humor.

He was in Shock Treatment, for example, as a blind German performer (who isn't blind, and is a part of a nefarious plot to accumulate power through mass media control):

And his most famous role by far was that of Dame Edna Everage - absolute royalty by Australian standards, and beloved for decades:

I want to point something out here; Barry Humphries had been playing the character of Dame Edna since the 1970's. You might be tempted to go "oh well this is an outdated joke about a man in a dress and everyone's in on it and it's a horrible transphobic mess of a character" but NO - people ADORED Dame Edna.

She was taken entirely seriously as her own entity - and she was a humorous, exaggerated character who got big laughs, but it was a character who invited you to laugh with her, not point and gawk at her as a transphobic oddity. Her posh mannerisms, like calling everyone "possum" as a term of endearment, were iconic. She wouldn't shy away from slapstick, but she had grace and dignity and you interacted with her as her own entity.

It was a character played by Barry Humphries, but people spoke to Dame Edna as Dame Edna. Barry Humphries played Dame Edna completely straight. She was not only beloved, but respected - up until I was a teenager, Humphries would appear as Dame Edna on TV shows and conduct interviews completely in-character. She was funny, exaggerated and entirely authentic.

Australia LOVED Dame Edna. And apparently, so did England.

Here's Dame Edna meeting Queen Elizabeth II:

Here she is meeting Liza Minelli and Ozzy Osbourne:

And here's a few more pictures for flavor:

Barry Humphries was 89, and he kept maintaining that he was on the mend up until he passed. It's one of those sad situations where someone is fully there, ready to get back in their feet, and things just... go wrong. But 89 is a hell of a run.

It's been a while since I've seen Dame Edna on TV, but in hindsight it's truly magnificent how much of a positive, beloved character she was throughout her existence. Barry Humphries birthed a piece of Australian pop-cultural iconography and somehow created one of the most enduring and respected drag queens in history. We loved Dame Edna for being Dame Edna, and as much as we'll miss the man who played her for so many years, I think it's going to take a long time for Australia to say goodbye to her in particular.

[sling-b]

(EDIT: found out barry humphries was pretty transphobic, so don't take this as him being an ally... or an actual drag queen)

it's so weird how much the US demonises drag queens, while dame edna's been an aussie national treasure since the 1950s

[oldshowbiz]

[loveable-pizza-shit]

rest in peace to an absolutely amazing Aussie icon

[backtonormallife]

May their memory be a blessing

[monsterintheballroom]

Barry Humphries death: Australian comedian and Dame Edna star dies aged 89 | The Independent

Noooooo🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

[adreciclarte4]

Dame Edna, 2011 by Alice Hawkins

[midwesternartlovertraveler]

The Dame Edna Experience (1991)

I remember that this was the first time I saw Dame Edna. The show was on PBS.