Dame Edna Everage
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Dame Edna Everage is a character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. As Dame Edna, Humphries has written several books, hosts various television shows (on which Humphries has also appeared as himself), and had a long-running role in the US television series Ally McBeal. In 1979, Dame Edna was the subject of a BBC Arena mockumentary: "La Dame aux Gladiolas."
Dame Edna is known for her lilac-coloured hair (which she claims is natural) and over-the-top eyeglasses.
While Humphries freely states that Dame Edna is a character he plays, Dame Edna consistently denies being a fictional character or drag performer, and refers to Humphries as her "entrepreneur" or manager. Indeed, Dame Edna has frequently said that the thought of a man dressing up as a woman for entertainment purposes is repulsive.
Official biography
According to Dame Edna's autobiography, and to statements she has made, she was born Edna May Beazley in the (then) small rural town of Wagga Wagga, and started her stage career on December 19 1955 as Mrs Norm Everage, an "average Australian housewife" from Moonee Ponds, a Melbourne suburb. When her husband, Norm Stoddard Everage, died of prostate cancer, Dame Edna became the founder and governor of a charity called Friends of the Prostate, and the creator of The World Prostate Olympics.
She spends her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Switzerland and Martha's Vineyard. She is a friend and confidante of the Queen.
Dame Edna has three adult children: a daughter named Valmai (currently in shoplifters rehabilitation programme) and two sons, Bruce and Kenneth, who are described in various terms that suggest they may be gay men who are partly in the closet, though she shows no awareness of the possibility. Dame Edna's mother is incarcerated in a "maximum-security twilight home."
Besides these family members, who are never seen, her elderly "bridesmaid" Madge Allsop (played by Emily Perry (I)), a New Zealander from Palmerston North, is often present during Dame Edna's appearances and television shows, but never speaks a word, though she is often the butt of Dame Edna's jokes.
Television programmes and performances
Dame Edna's appeared at the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2006 in Melbourne, Australia. During her act she sang a song containing her thoughts on Melbourne and Australia in general. More recently (20th of May, 2006) she appeared on ITV's coverage of The Prince's Trust annual fundraiser. She took part in a Blind Date themed skit, picking Chico Slimani over Roger Moore and Richard E Grant.
In 2000 and 2004, Dame Edna appeared on Broadway. These were ostensibly not "performances," but rather "appearances," with Dame Edna giving monologues and interacting with audience members.
Controversy
In 2003, Vanity Fair magazine invited Dame Edna to write a satirical advice column; a piece published in the February issue created a storm of controversy when Dame Edna, in a reply to a reader who asked if she should learn Spanish, wrote:
Forget Spanish. There's nothing in that language worth reading except Don Quixote, and a quick listen to the CD of Man of La Mancha will take care of that ... Who speaks it that you are really desperate to talk to? The help? Your leaf blower?
The satirical intent -- poking fun at the haughty attitudes of wealthy Americans who hire low-waged Hispanic domestic workers -- evidently went over the heads of some readers. Many who subsequently complained appeared not to realise that Dame Edna is a character and that she is not really a woman. Some members of the Hispanic community read the joke as a deliberately racist remark, and complaints flooded in to the magazine. Hollywood actress Salma Hayek responded angrily, penning a furious letter in which she denounced Dame Edna. Death threats were even received and Vanity Fair was eventually forced to publish a full-page apology to the Hispanic community.
Humphries commented later: "If you have to explain satire to someone, you might as well give up." When Dame Edna was questioned about the controversy on the eve of her 2003 Australian tour, she retorted that Hayek's denunciation was due to "professional jealousy", and that Hayek was envious because the role of painter Frida Kahlo (for which Hayek received an Oscar nomination) had originally been offered to Edna:
When I was offered the part of Frida I turned it down, and she was the second choice. I said 'I'm not playing the role of a woman with a moustache and a monobrow, and I'm not having same-sex relations on the screen' ... I'm not racist. I love all races, particularly white people. You know, I even like Roman Catholics.Dame Edna often refers to her late husband Norm's obelisk which still stands erect in the graveyard. Even after being disfigured by vandals, the elements and possibly even dingos, he remains rock solid to the end.
External links
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