State funeral held at Sydney Opera House for the late Barry Humphries

Australian Community Media

The much-loved Aussie performer, best known for his Dame Edna Everage character, has been remembered at a state funeral in Sydney.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:12 Ladies and gentlemen, we now turn to the screen for a message from the Honourable Anthony

00:16 Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia.

00:20 One of the great strengths of Australian democracy is our bicameral parliament.

00:26 Two great chambers of the people, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

00:31 They are a study in contrast but ultimately they complement and balance each other.

00:36 As impressive as that is, Australia has long benefited from an even greater example of

00:41 the duality of power.

00:43 Dame Edna Everidge and Sir Les Patterson.

00:47 Two halves of the one extraordinary whole.

00:50 Two contrasting figures who ultimately balanced each other.

00:54 And if Dame Edna represented the refinement, the consideration and the style of the Upper

00:59 House, Sir Les was without doubt the Lower House.

01:03 It's probably safe to say there was never a House any lower than Sir Les.

01:09 Yet just as Parliament ultimately answers to the Governor-General, Dame Edna and Sir

01:15 Les also answered to a higher power, Barry Humphries.

01:19 No matter how unruly his creations became, it was Barry who had the final word.

01:25 And what a word it was.

01:27 Barry had the ultimate power.

01:30 A power he exercised with a glee that never knew any bounds.

01:34 Just like this place, he brought people from every state and territory together.

01:39 And in the process, this genius, this comedic giant, brought such joy to every part of Australia.

01:49 Then, like a never-ending bunch of gladioli, he showered it upon the world.

01:56 Valet Barry Humphries.

01:59 To read a message on behalf of His Majesty, King Charles III, would you please welcome

02:08 Minister Tony Burke.

02:11 [Applause]

02:24 It almost sounds like a line from the show to say I have a message from the Palace.

02:29 But I do in fact have a message from the Palace.

02:31 And it's my great honour to read this message on behalf of His Majesty, the King.

02:36 His Majesty was a great admirer of Barry Humphries.

02:41 And these words are more beautiful than any I could choose.

02:47 I suspect that all those who appeared on stage or on TV with Barry's Dame Edna, or who found

02:57 her appearing at the back of the Royal Box, will have shared that unique sensation where

03:06 fear and fun combine.

03:12 Those who tried to stand on their dignity soon lost their footing.

03:20 Those who wondered whether Australia's housewife superstar might this time just go too far

03:28 were always proved right.

03:34 No one was safe.

03:37 Barry Humphries, through his creations, poked and prodded us, exposed pretensions, punctured

03:45 pomposity, surfaced insecurities, but most of all, made us laugh at ourselves.

03:54 This cultured and erudite man, with his love of literature and the visual arts and passion

04:00 for Weimar cabaret, could not have been more different from his various stage incarnations.

04:08 Like so many, I have been deeply saddened by his passing.

04:14 Life really won't be the same without him.

04:18 May our gladioli bloom in celebration of his memory.

04:26 When I was 16, I saved up to go and see Barry Humphries on stage in Back With a Vengeance.

04:32 I sat upstairs with the paupers and it was the funniest show I'd ever seen in my life,

04:37 and remains the funniest show I've ever seen in my life.

04:41 I loved it so much that I saved up even more money and sat near the front so I could see

04:46 this genius at work.

04:48 And it was a real light bulb moment for me.

04:50 It was the moment that I thought, that's what I want to do.

04:53 I want to wear a dress.

04:54 And if I make people laugh, that's the bonus.

04:57 Later in life, I got to befriend Barry and spending time with him was one of the greatest

05:04 pleasures in my life.

05:06 He was as funny off stage as he was on stage.

05:09 And that can't be said about many comedians.

05:12 He has left an incredible legacy that will make us laugh forever.

05:18 Barry Humphries was one of the funniest people in the world, but you all know that.

05:24 He's also one of the kindest and most generous person to me.

05:30 We always hit it off.

05:31 We always got on so well.

05:33 We've had so many moments together, both public and private and many television appearances

05:38 together.

05:39 And I will miss him so much because he was just one of the most funniest people.

05:47 His stories like Robin Williams, like Billy Connolly, he was a raconteur of incredible,

05:54 credible importance and genius.

05:58 It's sad that we won't be seeing him again, but we have so many memories of him, his books,

06:05 his TV appearances and the wonderful jokes and the wonderful kindness that he showed

06:11 to me and everyone.

06:13 I hope you all have the most wonderful day there and celebrate with laughter because

06:18 that was what Barry was all about.

06:20 Bless you.

06:21 It's impossible to overstate the brilliance of Barry.

06:25 It's also very difficult to to sum him up.

06:30 He was the most remarkable man who had the most remarkable life in, as Les would call

06:39 it, the arts, from his darderist performance art beginnings, subversive, moving into into

06:50 theatre, then dominating Saturday night mainstream television, but infusing it with such sly,

06:58 clever, sophisticated wit and satire to conquering the West End, to conquering Broadway, to his

07:07 tours in later life of America, finally conquering that great home of entertainment.

07:15 From a distance before I knew him, there was something intimidating about Barry, his wit,

07:21 his sophistication, his love of art, his love of books.

07:25 And then when I got to know him, I was so shocked and delighted to find this remarkably

07:32 vulnerable, sensitive and giving human being that it became my great pleasure to know as

07:40 a friend.

07:42 And I was lucky, if that is the word, to spend some time with him in the last weeks of his

07:47 life when I was touring Australia, I got to visit him.

07:52 And as upsetting as that was, it was also wonderful to know that he knew what people

08:00 thought of him, family and friends were able to see him and speak to him and tell him what

08:06 he meant.

08:07 And what he meant was a huge deal.

08:12 He was the best.

08:13 He was the master.

08:15 There is nobody better than Barry Humphries.

08:18 And I was honoured to call him a friend.

08:21 And I salute his talent, which was just interstellar.

08:27 In 1976, Barry Humphries, or perhaps more accurately Dame Edna Everidge, attended Royal

08:35 Ascot races in the UK.

08:37 The event is famous for its very strict dress code.

08:41 And Dame Edna tackled this formidable set of rules with a hat the size of an umbrella

08:48 and a model of this Sydney Opera House perched on the top.

08:53 A breaching shark jumped out of the Sydney Harbour that completed the ensemble.

09:00 The hat was one of many fashion choices to reference this building, from bespoke spectacles

09:07 to the iconic Sydney Opera House dress worn on the last night of the proms at Royal Albert

09:14 Hall that sparked Dame Edna to say to the poms, "Our house is better than your hall."

09:20 [LAUGHTER]

09:23 Barry loved this building, and no one wore it better than him.

09:28 The Sydney Opera House is a fitting place to say our goodbyes to Barry, not just because

09:33 of its sales or its dramatic exterior, but because of what's inside, the stage.

09:39 And it was on that stage before an audience where he was most at home.

09:44 This is an excerpt of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Fire of Driftwood, which was one of Barry's

09:51 favourites.

09:53 We sat and talked until the night descending filled the little room.

09:59 Our faces faded from the sight.

10:02 Our voices only broke the gloom.

10:05 We spake of many a vanished scene, of what we once had thought and said, of what had

10:12 been and what it might have been, and who had changed and who was dead.

10:19 And all that fills the hearts of friends when first they feel that secret pain, their lives

10:25 thenceforth have separate ends and never can be one again.

10:30 [END]

10:32 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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