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Barry Humphries / Dame Edna RIP

Met him through work numerous times over the last couple of decades, the last time a mere few months ago. Always a nice, down to earth and polite gentleman.

Quite sad to hear the news. Even though 89 is undoubtedly a good innings, it’s still a shame that it apparently was unexpected complications from a hip replacement op that got him, rather than illness or old age ailments.
 
Hollis said:
Always liked Sir Les Patterson. Happened to see him out of character as a guest on 'Saturday Kitchen' last year and he was hilarious.. really wish I'd gone to his stage show. He's got an interesting back story as a prankster in the 50s.
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A Dadaist:
He devised Melbourne’s first Dada exhibition, which among other absurdities featured riding boots filled with custard and titled “Pus in Boots”. On a busy Melbourne street, dressed as a tramp, he would approach what looked like freshly deposited vomit, which was in fact Russian salad, then proceed to eat it with considerable relish. “If I can disgust a large number of people,” he said, “it gives me almost as much satisfaction as it gives me to amuse them.”
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... from a long Times obit here: https://archive.ph/AOAG1
 
T & P said:
Met him through work numerous times over the last couple of decades, the last time a mere few months ago. Always a nice, down to earth and polite gentleman.

Quite sad to hear the news. Even though 89 is undoubtedly a good innings, it’s still a shame that it apparently was unexpected complications from a hip replacement op that got him, rather than illness or old age ailments.
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Sadly, death a little while after a fall is a very common way to go when you reach that age.
 
littlebabyjesus said:
Sadly, death a little while after a fall is a very common way to go when you reach that age.
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Ah, did he fall? I assumed it was a preplanned operation.

Come to think of it, I guess it’s unlikely most doctors would consider performing ordinary hip replacements for people in their late 80s if it was just a matter of quality of life improvement, rather than a life or death situation.
 
T & P said:
Ah, did he fall? I assumed it was a preplanned operation.

Come to think of it, I guess it’s unlikely most doctors would consider performing ordinary hip replacements for people in their late 80s if it was just a matter of quality of life improvement, rather than a life or death situation.
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My dad is 87 and just had a hip replacement.


Rip Dame Edna. :(
 
Nine Bob Note said:
Star of my all time favourite film

Shocktreatment-bert.jpg
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Ax^ said:
shock treatment sequel of sorts to the rocky horror show :)
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I haven't seen Shock Treatment in years... I totally forgot about this film! I think, every so often, VH1 plays it. But it is super rare. They might have stopped airing it around the same time they stopped airing RHPS.

farmerbarleymow said:
This is a nice front page

FuUY6l_aQAABAqC
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It's actually classy, imo. Nice front page, Herald.


Outside of the movie Finding Nemo, I don't think "kids these days" might know who he is.. let alone know that he lent his voice to the movie...
 
Saw him live in 1987. He did Reg and Edna. Just hilarious. Reg came on first and it was obvious he’d hung an enormous phallus in his loose fitting trousers. He’d scratch the end of it from time to time. Nothing was said through the performance.
 
Ming said:
Saw him live in 1987. He did Reg and Edna. Just hilarious. Reg came on first and it was obvious he’d hung an enormous phallus in his loose fitting trousers. He’d scratch the end of it from time to time. Nothing was said through the performance.
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But someone might have found this offensive!

Were the police not called? :eek:
 
Sadly the last time I saw Dame Edna on TV was an Xmas show a few years ago on the Beeb that I was looking forward to, but as soon as Sharon Osbourne was wheeled out as the guest, off went the TV. I trust there is shit-tons available on YT that I can watch at my leisure? I think she was usually on ITV who are no as dickish re: copyright on YT as the Beeb or C4.
 
abe11825 said:
I haven't seen Shock Treatment in years... I totally forgot about this film! I think, every so often, VH1 plays it. But it is super rare. They might have stopped airing it around the same time they stopped airing RHPS.


It's actually classy, imo. Nice front page, Herald.


Outside of the movie Finding Nemo, I don't think "kids these days" might know who he is.. let alone know that he lent his voice to the movie...
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What's Finding Nemo?
 
petee used Wikipedia to prove what Finding Nemo is.. That's funny - of all sites to sum up the movie.

I'd have answered krtek a houby by "A Disney fish movie". But glad krtek took the "these days" bit and made a joke out of it :D
 
I saw Barry Humphries do a show on Weimar cabaret at the Barbican maybe five years ago. He became interested in it as a boy after discovering some sheet music in a second hand bookshop in Melbourne which had likely ended up there after being brought to Australia by someone fleeing Nazi Germany. (Melbourne apparently had a very large number of refugees from there in the 30s/40s/50s and he knew quite a few concentration camp survivors.) He was an expert on the music and had met many of the greats who'd escaped and ended up working in Hollywood. (Lots of great anecdotes about meeting Billy Wilder/Frederick Hollander etc). He was also Stephen Spender's SIL who, having spent a lot of time in 30's Berlin with Christopher Isherwood, apparently remarked that it wasn't anything like Cabaret.

He came across as a very interesting and cultured man, very very far away from his fictional characters. RIP.
 
I always liked the touch of having a grey little woman sit silently on stage with him while did his Edna Everage thing: he'd introduce her by saying "this is Madge, she's a mega-star in New Zealand".
 
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