Longtime stage personality of Australian comedian Barry Humphries, Dame Edna Everage evokes an older, more genteel age of female impersonation. With her trademark cat-eye glasses, lavender coiffure, and gently acerbic observations on aging, celebrity, and living the good life, Edna has the air of the late Queen Mother about her - and no doubt she is just as adored by her public. As Dame Edna, Humphries has written several books and hosted various television shows (on which Humphries has also appeared as himself).

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.

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 19th December 1955 as Mrs Norm Everage, an "average Australian housewife" from Moonee Ponds, a Melbourne suburb. When her husband, Norman 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 four adult children: two daughters, Valmai (currently assisting Dame Edna on her new programme for ITV1; The Dame Edna Treatment) and Lois, and two sons, Bruce and Kenneth, whom she describes in a caricature of gay men, though she shows no awareness of their homosexuality.

with "The Crocodile Hunter", Steve Irwin

In bed with Madge and rocker Ozzy Osbourne

Dame Edna became notable in the UK throughout the 1980s and early 1990s for her semi-regular television shows. She became popular with broadcaster ITV after her performance on the first An Audience With ... in 1980. She was later given her own gameshows and variety shows such as The Dame Edna Experience in 1987 and Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch in 1992, in which she and her sour-faced "bridesmaid" Madge had a look at people's houses. 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. - Dame Edna's creator, Barry Humphries (above), was the son of a well-to-do builder. He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School, before studying Law at Melbourne University. However, he became more interested in performance art, and dropped out after two years. He soon became Australia's leading exponent of the deconstructive and absurd art movement, Dadaism. Over a career of nearly fifty years, Barry Humphries has written many books, including a novel, made scores of recordings and written and produced films and television series.

Edna has produced records and books of her own, broken theatre records in England, and won fame and critical acclaim in the US. Humphries' other comic characters, mostly parodies of Australian culture, include Edna s nephew, Barry McKenzie; inebriated cultural attaché, Sir Les Patterson; and socialist academic, Neil Singleton. He has also remained a serious landscape artist. Humphries lives in Britain and the US, but makes frequent visits to Australia. Amongst his many awards and honours are the Order of Australia; honorary doctorates from Melbourne and Griffith Universities; the J.R. Ackerley Prize; the Golden Rose of Montreux; a Special Tony Award; and the Outer Critics Circle Award.

Besides these family members, her elderly "bridesmaid" Madge Allsop (played by Emily Perry), 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. Dame Edna is revered for her insights into her homeland. When asked why Australians are so good at sport she commented "Good food and diet; open air life; juicy steaks; sunshine - and the total absence of any kind of intellectual distraction."