Barry Humphries is first and foremost a comedian and satirist - one of the funniest and most loved performers Australia has produced. Humphries has been a part of our cultural landscape for close to 50 years and has captured the hearts of millions of people from all around the world.

Barry Humphries was born in suburban Melbourne in 1934. From a young age he used to spend hours dressing up and inventing his own characters. School was not a totally enjoyable experience - "It was quite hard teaching me because I interrupted a lot and didn't always do my homework" - and comedy became a means of expressing himself and achieving acceptance among his peers.

Humphries went to London in his early twenties and became serious about acting. In London he wrote a comic strip about the adventures of an Australian bloke called Barry Mackenzie, which was made into a movie, also starring Mrs Edna Everage. His reputation as an actor and writer has grown ever since.

His most famous and enduring creation was Melbourne housewife, Dame Edna Everage. It was Dame Edna - internationally celebrated Megastar - who achieved worldwide fame for both herself and her creator. Her greeting to adoring audiences - "Hello possums!" - is now a part of the lexicon.