Barry Humphries (1934–2023)

April 26, 2023

Barry Humphries
Barry Humphries
Photo: WTCA
Wikimedia CC-BY-2.5

All at Naxos were saddened to learn of the passing of Barry Humphries, the highly popular entertainer who connected globally with audiences via a range of artistic platforms that included music, drama and comedy. It is probably in the latter discipline that he will be most fondly and best remembered for his range of personas, including the wickedly outrageous comedienne-cum-chanteuse character of Dame Edna Everage. Her lightning repartee, targeting monarchs and the man in the street in equal measure, matched the improvisatory skills of the greatest jazz giants. Dame Edna’s recording for Naxos as narrator in a programme that included Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf remains as popular and fresh today as when it was recorded, some twenty-five years ago. Although her mischievous twinkle is sadly no longer with us, that blue rinse will surely never fade.

Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna Everage
Photo: Eva Rinaldi
Wikimedia CC BY-SA 2.0
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Narrated by Dame Edna Everage

‘… exuberantly eccentric … highly entertaining’
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‘… effortlessly entertaining.’
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