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Dame Edna Everage
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== Character story == While Dame Edna was a fictitious character (whose life story was entirely created by Barry Humphries), so complete is her identity as an individual that Macmillan published ''My Gorgeous Life'', Edna's "autobiography" (written by Humphries but credited to Edna herself), on its non-fiction list.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lahr|1992|p=5}}</ref> Humphries also wrote an "Unauthorised Biography" of his life as Edna's manager: ''Handling Edna'', published in 2010. According to ''My Gorgeous Life'', and statements Edna made over the years, she was born Edna May Beazley in [[Wagga Wagga]], [[New South Wales]], with a sibling who would give birth to [[Barry McKenzie]]. Everage started her stage career in a sketch entitled "Olympic Hostess" in the revue ''Return Fare'' on 19 December 1955 as Mrs. Norm Everage, an "average Australian housewife" from [[Moonee Ponds]], a suburb in [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]]. She spent her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Switzerland and [[Martha's Vineyard]]. She was a friend and confidante of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] and advised prime ministers and presidents. Edna once took an on-air phone call from President [[Ronald Reagan]] to assure him that he was, indeed, still the president; and at stageshows she claimed to be giving former Australian Prime Minister, [[Julia Gillard]], [[elocution]] lessons. The character had three adult children, Bruce, Kenny, and Valmai. Her first daughter, Lois, when still an infant, went missing and was believed to have been abducted by a "rogue koala" during a family camp in the outback, Γ la [[Azaria Chamberlain]]. In ''Handling Edna, the Unauthorised Biography'', Humphries absolves the koala of any role in the affair and reveals the true fate of Lois, who in fact survived abduction to become a Catholic nun. Edna's surviving daughter, Valmai, assisted Dame Edna on her most recent programmes for [[ITV1]], including ''[[The Dame Edna Treatment]]'' and assisted on her live tour shows. Edna takes great pride in her two sons: Bruce, who works as an engineer in South Melbourne and is married to Joylene from [[Ivanhoe, Victoria|Ivanhoe]], and her youngest, Kenneth (or Kenny), who is a fashion designer in London and designed all of her frocks. Dame Edna refers often to him and his partner, Clifford Smale, both of whom Edna believes are searching for "Miss Right", although she admits they are looking "in some very strange places". Kenny appeared in [[Les Patterson|Sir Les Patterson]]'s documentary ''Les Patterson and the Great Chinese Takeaway'' as a boutique owner in Hong Kong. Dame Edna's mother was incarcerated in a "maximum-security twilight home for the permanently bewildered". Valmai and Kenny are the only family members who appeared on stage or screen with their mother. Her husband, Sir Norman Everage, died in 1988 after many years in hospital with prostate problems and a "testicular murmur"; Edna founded the non-profit "Friends of the Prostate" in his honour. Dame Edna was not with Norm when he died. And due to his insistence that all his organs be donated, by the time she reached his bedside, Norm had been "globally recycled" and all that remained was "a dent in the pillow". As a result, Dame Edna almost believed that Norm's cremation was a "waste of money". In the 21st century, Edna demonstrated her social conscience and sensitivity, telling audiences of her intention to adopt an African child from "the country where [[Madonna]] shops for loved ones".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aco.com.au/?url=/humphries-reviews |title=ACO Home |publisher=Aco.com.au |access-date=21 March 2013}}</ref> Dame Edna spent many years accompanied by her bridesmaid and constant companion [[Madge Allsop]] (played by [[Emily Perry (English actress)|Emily Perry]]), a New Zealander from [[Palmerston North]] who assisted Dame Edna with her appearances and television shows. (Perry died at the age of 100 in 2008 and Dame Edna's daughter Valmai replaced her on stage). Madge never spoke a public word (although she sang on [[Comic Relief]]), and while she was often the butt of Dame Edna's jokes, the two were devoted.<ref>{{Harvnb|Everage|1989}} (For all of this section)</ref> In ''Handling Edna, the Unauthorised Biography'', Humphries gives Madge a voice and explains the sad loss of her own husband in New Zealand's boiling mud, whilst the couple were on their honeymoon. When Dame Edna appeared on BBC Radio 4's ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' in July 1988, she was permitted to take Madge Allsop to the desert island as her luxury, assuring [[Sue Lawley]] that Allsop was an "inanimate object".<ref name="DID">https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jan/06/desert-island-discs-75-defining-moments-from-75-years-castaways</ref> On some of her shows (''The Dame Edna Experience'') Dame Edna was joined on stage by 'Chuck' ([[Charlton Heston]]) where he would be mildly humiliated and mistreated. Dame Edna was praised for her insights into her homeland. When asked why Australians are so good at sport she commented: "the climate, the diet, the outdoor life, and the total lack of any intellectual distraction".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barnes |first=Simon |date=10 May 1997 |title=Australia unfair |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/10th-may-1997/63/spectator-sport |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=The Spectator Archive}}</ref> Dame Edna launched a campaign to be appointed as a [[BBC]] [[news presenter|newsreader]] in 2009 after the corporation announced it wished to seek a female newsreader over 50 years old.<ref>{{cite news|title=I would be stimulating to sit with|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8276000/8276111.stm|access-date=24 September 2013|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=26 September 2009}}</ref> Dame Edna claimed to have various medical conditions, such as [[Asperger syndrome]], [[bipolar disorder]], [[gluten intolerance]], [[restless legs]] and [[attention deficit hyperactivity disorder|attention deficit disorder]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/dame-edna-says-a-sassy-goodbye-on-farewell-tour/|title=Dame Edna says a sassy goodbye on farewell tour|last=Berson|first=Misha|date=16 January 2015|website=[[The Seattle Times]]|access-date=22 April 2022|quotation=In her defense, Dame Edna insists she has "mild Asperger's syndrome" and "says the things other people wished they could say" but keep a lid on.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/reviews/this-dame-aint-no-drag-eat-pray-laugh-in-adelaide|title=This Dame ain't no drag! Eat Pray Laugh in Adelaide|last=Searles|first=Mick|date=23 January 2013|website=Aussie Theatre|access-date=22 April 2022|quotation=Claiming to suffer from Asperger's, bi-polar, gluten intolerance, restless legs and attention deficit disorder, there might just be a clue to the truth in that list of conditions as to why this is a farewell tour.}}</ref> In 2016, after Humphries made comments that were criticised as [[transphobia|transphobic]], Dame Edna's official social media accounts made a post in which she distanced herself from the comments, stating that she had fired him years earlier but that he "refuses to accept dismissal" and opining that he "is losing the plot" and "deserves our pity not our disapproval". In the same message, she also claimed partial [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal Australian]] and [[Jews|Jewish]] ancestry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/01/06/dame-edna-disassociates-herself-from-own-alter-ego-barry-humphries-over-trans-comments/|title=Dame Edna 'disassociates' herself from own alter ego Barry Humphries over trans comments|last=Duffy|first=Nick|date=6 January 2016|website=[[PinkNews]]|access-date=22 April 2022}}</ref> === Honours === [[File:Dame Edna Place commons.jpg|thumb|upright|Dame Edna Place in Melbourne, marked by lit signs on each wall]] On 7 March 2007, Melbourne renamed a city street in her honour: Dame Edna Place,<ref>{{cite news|title=Melbourne alley named after Dame Edna|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-03-07/melbourne-alley-named-after-dame-edna/2210862|access-date=24 September 2013|newspaper=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]|date=7 March 2007}}</ref> formerly Brown Alley off Little Collins Street, was officially opened by the [[Lord Mayor]] of Melbourne, [[John So]]. Dame Edna Place is opposite Royal Arcade and The Causeway, between the major roads, Elizabeth Street and Swanston Street; it was, until its renaming, a service alley for adjoining buildings. Dame Edna was not at the renaming ceremony but was represented by ten look-alike Dames. Everage Street in suburban [[Moonee Ponds]] has also been named in her honour. In 1982, Dame Edna's alter-ego Barry Humphries was made an Officer of the [[Order of Australia]] for "services to the theatre"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869869|title=It's an Honour β Honours β Search Australian Honours|work=itsanhonour.gov.au|access-date=11 February 2015|archive-date=11 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411174719/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869869|url-status=live}}</ref> and on 16 June 2007 he was made a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] for services to entertainment.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21915846-2,00.html?from=public_rss News.com.au Dame Edna wins Queen's award] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102142523/http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C23599%2C21915846-2%2C00.html?from=public_rss |date=2 November 2007 }}.</ref> In [[MAC Cosmetics]] 2008 Winter Line-Up, a Dame Edna collection of cosmetics were released including eye shadow, lipstick, powder, and nail polish. A bronze statue was unveiled at [[Docklands, Victoria|Melbourne Docklands]] in January 2009. It is located by the Yarra river near Harbour Town which also includes statues of singer John Farnham, Dame Nellie Melba, and Graham Kennedy. In 2020, a species of brightly iridescent Australian [[soldier fly]] was named ''[[Opaluma ednae]]'' in honour of the character, "whose signature hair has a striking resemblance to the colouration of this species." Other species described in the same article were named ''[[Opaluma rupaul|O. rupaul]]'' (after drag queen [[RuPaul]]) and ''O. [[wiktionary:fabulous|fabulosa]]''.<ref name=LW>{{cite journal |author1=Bryan D. Lessard |author2=David K. Yeates |author3=Norman E. Woodley |title=Opaluma Lessard & Woodley, gen. nov: a new genus of iridescent soldier flies (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) from Australia, including seven new species |journal=[[Austral Entomology]] |date=August 2020 |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=467β486 |doi=10.1111/aen.12485 |s2cid=221463567 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aen.12485 |access-date=16 September 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
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