Cook befriended and supported Australian comedian and actor Barry Humphries, who began his British solo career at the club.

** Barry Humphries, Australian actor and comedian

In 2000, Australian actor Barry Humphries won the Special Tony Award for a live theatrical event at the 55th Annual Tony Awards for Dame Edna: The Royal Tour, Dame Edna being his " Melbourne Housewife " alter-ego who was recently on Broadway in the show All About Me.

The 1956 Melbourne Olympics announced a confident, prosperous post-war nation, and new cultural icons like Australian country music star Slim Dusty and dadaist Barry Humphries expressed a uniquely Australian identity.

The " Australian sense of humour " is often characterised as dry, irreverent and ironic, exemplified by the works of performing artists like Barry Humphries and Paul Hogan.

Since the 1950s, the satirical character creations of Barry Humphries have included housewife " gigastar " Edna Everage and " Australian cultural attaché " Les Patterson, whose interests include boozing, chasing women and flatulence.

During the 20th century, writers and performers like C J Dennis, Barry Humphries and Paul Hogan both mocked and celebrated Australian cultural stereotypes, while shifting demographics saw a diversification of artistic output, with writers like feminist Germaine Greer challenging traditional cultural norms.

The original stage production, which starred Ron Moody and Georgia Brown, contained such song hits as " As Long As He Needs Me " and " Consider Yourself " and is also notable for featuring Australian satirist Barry Humphries in his first major stage role as Mr Sowerberry and future rock stars Steve Marriott ( later the lead singer of The Small Faces and Humble Pie ) and Phil Collins ( of Genesis fame ) as The Artful Dodger.

Artists demonstratively concerned with Australian identity Albert Tucker, Clifton Pugh, Barry Humphries, Sidney Nolan, David Rankin, Arthur Boyd, Fred Williams, for example ) had great success with the public.

* Humphries, Barry: Barry Humphries ' Treasury of Australian Kitsch.

John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE ( born 17 February 1934 ) is an Australian comedian, satirist, Dadaist, artist, author and character actor.

Humphries ' other major satirical character creation was the archetypal Australian bloke Barry McKenzie, who originated as the hero of a comic strip about Australians in London ( with drawings by Nicholas Garland ) which was first published in Private Eye magazine.

The stories about " Bazza " ( Humphries ' nickname, as well as an Australian term of endearment for the name Barry ) gave wide circulation to Australian slang, particularly jokes about drinking and its consequences ( much of which was invented by Humphries ), and the character went on to feature in two Australian films, in which he was portrayed by Barry Crocker.

Humphries ' other satirical characters include the " priapic and inebriated cultural attaché " Sir Les Patterson, who has " continued to bring worldwide discredit upon Australian arts and culture, while contributing as much to the Australian vernacular as he has borrowed from it ", gentle, grandfatherly " returned gentleman " Sandy Stone, iconoclastic 1960s underground film-maker Martin Agrippa, Paddington socialist academic Neil Singleton, sleazy trade union official Lance Boyle, high-pressure art salesman Morrie O ' Connor and failed tycoon Owen Steele.

His first appearance at Phillip St was in the satirical revue Two to One, starring veteran Australian musical star Max Oldaker, with a cast including Humphries and future Number 96 star Wendy Blacklock.

Another artistic production undertaken at this time was a 1972 collaboration between Humphries and the Australian composer Nigel Butterley.

Humphries announced his Australian " Farewell Tour ", titled " Eat, Pray, Laugh!

The film was directed by Mark Hartley and interviews filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Dennis Hopper, George Miller and Barry Humphries.

Humphries left for London in his early 20s and enjoyed success on stage, including in Lionel Bart's musical, Oliver !.

Humphries appeared in numerous West End stage productions including the musicals Oliver!

In the late ' 60s Humphries contributed to BBC-TV's popular The Late Show ( which featured Oz magazine editor Richard Neville ) but Humphries found his true calling with his one-man satirical stage revues, in which he performed as Edna Everage and other character creations including Les Patterson and Sandy Stone.

Humphries has featured in various roles in comedy performance films including The Secret Policeman's Other Ball ( 1982 ) and A Night of Comic Relief 2 ( 1989 ).

Humphries ' forte has always been his one-man satirical stage revues, in which he appears as Edna Everage and a host of other character creations, including Les Patterson and Sandy Stone.

Humphries has also been the subject of numerous portraits by artist friends, including Clifton Pugh ( 1958, National Portrait Gallery ) and John Brack ( in the character of Edna Everage, 1969, Art Gallery of New South Wales ).

Humphries is the author of many books including two autobiographies, two novels and a treatise on Chinese drama in the goldfields.

" As Dame Edna, Humphries has written several books including an autobiography, My Gorgeous Life, appeared in several films and hosted several television shows ( on which Humphries has also appeared as himself and other alter-egos ).

Edna continued her Australian stage and television appearances including a record five appearances as guest presenter at the TV Week Logie Awards and a notable role as a co-narrator ( along with Humphries and Les Patterson ) of the ABC's Australian social history series: Barry Humphries Flashbacks in 1999.

Adams produced or co-produced other features including the critically panned but hugely popular film adaptation of Barry Humphries ' The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, directed by Bruce Beresford, which became the most successful Australian film ever made up to that time.

Humphries variously served in a range of shadow ministerial roles in the Kaine and Carnell oppositions, including:

Humphries has served on several Australian Senate committees, including the Select Committee on Mental Health ( 2005 – 2006 ).

Dame Edna, the drag persona of Australian actor Barry Humphries, is the host of several specials, including the Dame Edna Experience.

Imperial Airways and Woods Humphries initiated a programme of intimidation including slander and sackings of BALPA members.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's love child scandal ; Standard & Poor lowering the United States score for the first time ; the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal ; the United States debt-ceiling crisis ; Rupert Murdoch and the News of the World investigation ; the Greek debt contagion ; the Arab Spring ( including the 2011 Egyptian revolution and the 2011 Libyan civil war ); the removal of Don't ask, don't tell ; the claims of homosexuality in Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie ; the death of Osama bin Laden ; the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan ; the 2011 England riots ; the 2011 end times prediction by Harold Camping ; the widespread 2012 phenomenon ; the short-lived marriage by Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries ; the de facto bankruptcy of Borders Group and Netflix ; Justin Bieber's new hairstyle ; " Friday " by Rebecca Black ; the Royal Wedding ; the Occupy Wall Street movement ; the deaths of Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Taylor, Betty Ford, Randy Savage, and Amy Winehouse.

Barry Humphries has also been interviewed in Patterson's guise on numerous TV talk shows, including Parkinson ( 1982 ), The Panel ( 2003 ) and Rove Live ( 2005 ).

A generation of leading contemporary international writers who left Australia for Britain and the United States in the 1960s have remained regular and passionate contributors of Australian themed literary works throughout their careers including: Clive James, Robert Hughes, Barry Humphries, Geoffrey Robertson and Germaine Greer.

Humphries has produced five musical albums, including Bomb Iraq: Rusty Humphries Takes On the Terrorists, and Greeting From America: Wish You Were Here, a compilation album made for American troops serving in Iraq.

Dame Edna Everage, a comic creation of Barry Humphries, debuted in Melbourne in the 1950s and has featured at the West End theatre | West End and Broadway theatre | Broadway.

Humphries ' characters, especially Dame Edna Everage, have brought him international renown, and he has appeared in numerous films, stage productions and television shows.

Throughout Edna's career ( until Perry's death in 2008 ) Madge was played by English actress Emily Perry, who has the distinction of being the only other actor ever to appear on stage with Humphries in his stage shows, as well as making regular appearances in Dame Edna's TV programmes.

Typically, Patterson alternates with Edna and Sandy Stone in Humphries stage shows and he typically features in pre-recorded segments in Dame Edna's TV shows.

In 2007, Humphries returned to the UK's ITV to host another comedy chat-show called The Dame Edna Treatment, a similar format to The Dame Edna Experience from 20 years earlier.

Humphries in Toronto, Canada, during Dame Edna: The Royal Tour North American tour, December 2000

In 2000 Humphries took his Dame Edna: The Royal Tour show to North America winning the inaugural Special Tony Award for a Live Theatrical Event in 2000 and won two National Broadway Theatre Awards for " Best Play " and for " Best Actor " in 2001.

* Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilization: Backstage with Barry Humphries by John Lahr.

Dame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or " wisteria hue " hair and cat eye glasses or " face furniture ," her favourite flower, the gladiola (" gladdies ") and her boisterous greeting: " Hello Possums!

While Dame Edna is a fictitious character whose life story has been entirely created by Barry Humphries, so complete is her identity as an individual that Macmillan published My Gorgeous Life, Edna's " autobiography " ( written by Humphries but credited to Edna herself ) on its non-fiction list.

In 1982, Dame Edna's alter-ego Barry Humphries was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for " services to the theatre " and on 16 June 2007 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment.

In the same year The Dame Edna Experience, ostensibly a talk show which she described as " really a monologue interrupted by total strangers " aired, featuring high-profile " celebrity guests " such as Sean Connery, Mel Gibson, Joan Rivers, and Germaine Greer ( an old friend of Humphries '), as well as Madge, her silent, sour-faced " bridesmaid and travelling companion.

The character shared Dame Edna's voice and style and was explicitly listed in the opening credits as being played by Dame Edna Everage ( although Barry Humphries received a credit in the closing credits ).

On 18 March 2012, Humphries announced he would " retire " the Dame Edna character because he was " beginning to feel a bit senior ".

# Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage-Spunk!

Beresford remains close friends with Australian comedian, satirist and character actor Barry Humphries, best known for his on-stage / television alter ego Dame Edna Everage, and his family.