Barry Humphries called accident that led to his death ‘the most ridiculous thing’ weeks before his passing
Weeks before his death aged 89, Barry Humphries called the accident that led to his passing “the most ridiculous thing”.
Barry Humphries called the accident that led to his death “the most ridiculous thing” weeks before his passing.
The Dame Edna Everage comic, who died aged 89 on Saturday (22.04.23) at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital surrounded by his loved ones, following complications from hip surgery, described how he took a tumble at home that led to him needing the operation, and said it had left him in “agony”.
He told The Sydney Morning Herald’s Private Sydney celebrity column: “It was the most ridiculous thing, like all domestic incidents are.
“I was reaching for a book, my foot got caught on a rug or something, and down I went.”
Barry – also renowned for his boozy, foul-mouthed Australian attaché character Sir Les Patterson – gave the interview from a “rehabilitation facility” after his fall, where he was convalescing and undergoing “very painful” sessions with a physiotherapist.
He added about his determination to get back on the road for his fans: “I have to get back on my feet ... I’m going back on tour later this year. The result of my broken hip means I now have a titanium hip ... you can call me ‘Bionic Bazza’.
“I sit a lot in the show, and there’s a bit of pacing ... I don’t think it’s going to be a problem, but I do have to get on with my physio.”
Despite retiring in 2012, Barry, who was married four times and had four children and 10 children, was last year back on stage in London with his one-man show ‘Man Behind the Mask’.
Barry also told how his medical bill was “bloody enormous”, adding: “I strongly advise not breaking your hip!”
In 1961, while playing the part of undertaker Sowerby, in the West End production of ‘Oliver!’, Barry slipped and fell down a cliff during a trip to Cornwall, and broke his arm following a fall down a 50-metre slope onto rocks.
He was later airlifted to hospital after being strapped to a stretcher dangling from a Naval helicopter.
