LAST UPDATE | 22 Apr 2023

TRIBUTES ARE BEING paid across the world to Australian entertainer Barry Humphries, who has died at the age of 89.

During a seven-decade career, the stage and screen veteran entertained generations with satirical characters including Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson.

His death came following a readmission to hospital after suffering complications following hip surgery last month.

A family statement issued to the Sydney Morning Herald thanked fans and hospital staff for their “support and good wishes”.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has paid tribute to Humphries, describing him as “the brightest star” in “a galaxy of personas”.

“For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone,” Albanese wrote on Twitter.

For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone.

But the brightest star in that galaxy was always Barry.

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

May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/oSAKpxPGae

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) April 22, 2023

Irish comedian Dara Ó Briain also paid tribute to Humphreys on Twitter.

RIP Barry Humphries, one of the absolute funniest people ever. A huge life, lived long and well. He will be missed.

— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) April 22, 2023

Broadcaster Andrew Neil has said he visited Humphries in hospital two weeks ago when his “spirits and wit were as acute as ever”.

“So sad to learn Barry Humphries has passed away,” he tweeted.

“When I visited him in his Sydney hospital two weeks ago he was ailing from several health problems.

“But his spirits and wit were as acute as ever. We laughed away as the stories poured out. Funny, hugely literate, fiercely smart.

“I count myself lucky and privileged I got to see him one more time. A comic genius the likes of which we will never see again.”

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to Humphries’s contributions to the Spectator magazine.

RIP Barry Humphries - one of the greatest ever Australians - and a comic genius who used his exuberant alter egos, Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, to say the otherwise unsayable. Also an infallibly brilliant Spectator contributor. What a loss.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 22, 2023

Episodes from Humphries’ “hugely popular” BBC Radio 2 series Forgotten Music Masterpieces will be played in tribute to the late entertainer, the broadcaster has confirmed.

Laura Busson, commissioning executive for Radio 2, said: “Everyone at Radio 2 is saddened to hear of the passing of Barry Humphries.

“His six Radio 2 series of Barry Humphries’ Forgotten Music Masterpieces were hugely popular with our audience, and we will publish some of these programmes on BBC Sounds today for listeners to enjoy, in tribute to Barry.”

Humphries became a staple of the British comedy circuit after moving from Australia to London in 1959 and appearing in West End shows such as Maggie May and Oliver!

He was among the leading members of the British comedy scene, alongside Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Spike Milligan.

As well as Dame Edna Everage, he also appeared as the lecherous Sir Les Patterson and Sandy Stone, an elderly, childless man living in the suburbs.