Matt Lucas
Lucas at V Festival 2007
Birth name	Matthew Richard Lucas
Born	(1974-03-05) 5 March 1974 (age 38) Paddington, London, England
Medium	Actor, Comedian, Writer
Years active	1994–present
Genres	Character comedy, Sketch comedy, Black comedy
Influences	Barry Humphries Vic Reeves Bob Mortimer David Walliams
Spouse	Kevin McGee (m. 2006–2008) «start: (2006-12-16)–end+1: (2008-10-23)»"Marriage: Kevin McGee to Matt Lucas" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Matt_Lucas) (divorced)
Notable works and roles	Little Britain Les Misérables Shooting Stars Catterick Rock Profile Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire Come Fly with Me Alice in Wonderland

Matthew Richard "Matt" Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English comedian, screenwriter, singer, and actor best known for his acclaimed work with David Walliams in the television show Little Britain; as well as for his portrayals of the scorekeeping baby George Dawes in the comedy panel game Shooting Stars, Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Alice in Wonderland, and the roguish innkeeper Thénardier in the musical Les Misérables.

In May 2007, he was placed seventh in the list of the UK's 100 most influential gay men and women, by British newspaper The Independent.

Early life[link]

Lucas was born in Paddington, London, the son of Diana (née Williams) and John Stanley Lucas (1944–1996),^[1] who ran a chauffeuring business.^[2] Lucas was raised in an observant Jewish family,^[3] with some of his British-born mother's family having fled Nazi Germany.^[4] His family were members of Edgware and District Reform Synagogue. Lucas grew up in Stanmore, Middlesex;^[3] he has an older brother, Howard.^[5] He has had alopecia since his childhood, which in interviews he has inconsistently attributed to various events, including a delayed reaction to a car accident at the age of four.^[6] He lost all of his hair when he was six years old.^[7] Lucas' father died of a heart attack aged 52, in Brent, Greater London.^[1][8]

Lucas was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, the same school as attended by comic actors David Baddiel and Sacha Baron Cohen. He went on to study drama in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bristol between 1993 and 1995.^[9]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Lucas' association with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer began in 1992. In 1995, Lucas appeared in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer. He went on to star with them in Shooting Stars. He quickly rose to fame as George Dawes, the giant baby, who would deliver a string of meaningless gags (often in character) and insults before delivering the score, while sitting at and playing a drum kit. He also appeared on occasion as Marjorie Dawes, George's mother, who also appears in Little Britain.

He appeared with Reeves & Mortimer again, in the BBC series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), and Catterick in a variety of roles. In 1999, Lucas paired up with David Walliams, with whom he had already worked with in both Mash and Peas and Sir Bernard's Stately Homes, to create Rock Profile, a comedy show that spoofed famous musicians and musical personalities. It is notable for being one of their first comedic collaborations, which fuelled their inspiration to then create the well-known show, Little Britain. Lucas has also written for actor Sacha Baron Cohen.

His music video appearances include; the Damien Hirst-directed video for Blur's "Country House", "Jesusland" by Ben Folds in 2005, "I'm with Stupid" by the Pet Shop Boys and "Vindaloo" and "Naughty Christmas" by Fat Les.

Lucas ventured into the world of stage musicals in 2002, when he took one of the main roles in Boy George's musical Taboo, at The Venue, London. He played the part of performance artist Leigh Bowery.

[edit] Little Britain

Little Britain is commercially Lucas' most successful work. Originally a radio show on BBC Radio 4, it later became a TV series. Lucas plays, among many others, four characters in the series, which he writes and acts in along with David Walliams: apparently disabled Andy Pipkin, teenage Bristol chav Vicky Pollard, homophobic homosexual Daffyd Thomas and insensitive slimming club organiser Marjorie Dawes.

[edit] After Little Britain

In 2005, he took his first role in a television drama, a supporting part as a Venetian duke in the BBC historical serial Casanova, written by Russell T Davies. Also in 2005, he did voice work in the BBC children's program, King Arthur's Disasters. Since 2006, Lucas has been the voice of the radio and television character Digit Al, devised as part of a public information campaign on digital switchover. On 26 November 2006 he appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. He made a cameo appearance in Shaun of the Dead as the cousin of Shaun's friend Yvonne.

In 2007, he released "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", originally by The Proclaimers, with Peter Kay as a charity single for Comic Relief.^[10] He performed the single as Little Britain character Andy Pipkin, along with Kay playing as Brian Potter. After being available for less than 48 hours on iTunes alone, the track entered the UK Top 40 at number 3. On 25 March, it went to number one, where it stayed for three weeks, selling over 400,000 copies.^[4] He also starred as Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows, a 2006 television adaptation of the Kenneth Grahame novel.

He has made appearances in Kath & Kim and Neighbours (the latter alongside David Walliams as Little Britain characters Lou and Andy), as well as a cameo role, playing 'Chris' or 'Jammy' at the wedding fayre, in the BBC Three sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Lucas has co written (with Walliams) and performed in a new series of Little Britain USA for HBO.

Lucas was the first celebrity to make an appearance in 2008's Big Brother Celebrity Hijack on E4.

On 9 April 2009, the series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, featuring Matt Lucas as a regular performer, premièred on Comedy Central, the first major comedy series Lucas had worked on since Little Britain. In 2010, Lucas played Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland,.^[11]

Starting in February 2010, Lucas began hosting his own radio show, And The Winner Is, in which he handed out a fictional series of awards based on nominations by his guests.^[12]

On 3rd October 2010, Matt played Thénardier in the 25th Anniversary Concerts of Les Misérables, at the O2 Arena in London. A year later, from 23rd June to 10th September 2011, he reprised the role at The Queen's Theatre, in the West End. He has since collaborated with Alfie Boe, who played Jean Valjean, to record a duet of "The Impossible Dream" on Boe's debut album.

Also in 2011, Lucas lent his voice to the CGI film Gnomeo and Juliet, as well as playing a small role as the roommate of Kristen Wiig in the comedy Bridesmaids.

On Christmas Day 2010, the BBC began showing Matt Lucas and David Walliams' new series, Come Fly with Me. The show followed the familiar style of Walliams and Lucas each playing multiple characters, but unlike Little Britain, it focused entirely on the working environment of the airline industry. In an interview shown on BBC 3 on 9 February 2011, it was stated that the creators considered bringing travel agent character Carol Beer from Little Britain to the new series, but decided against it, as they didn't want viewers to see the new show as merely a Little Britain spinoff. Instead, all new characters were introduced. A second season of the show was announced in early 2011, and is reportedly in production.

On 28 March 2012, Lucas appeared as the "Generation X" guest on the Australian game show Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation.

On 10 April 2012, Lucas' own BBC One show The Matt Lucas Awards began. This can be understood as a send-up of awards programmes in general, inviting a number of panelists (generally speaking, comedians) to give their nominations for awards for a series of prizes concerning trivial topics.

Personal life[link]

Lucas is a patron of the Karen Morris Memorial Trust, a UK charity for leukaemia patients and their families. In April 2004, he appeared on Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and won £62,500 for the charity.^[13]

He is an avid supporter of Arsenal F.C.^[14] Lucas admitted, whilst a guest on The Rob Brydon Show, that he does not drive because of his tendency of daydreaming.

In December 2006, Lucas entered into a civil partnership with Kevin McGee,^[15] in a lavish ceremony in Central London. In attendance were various celebrities, including Barbara Windsor, Neil Tennant, Elton John and Courtney Love.^[16] After six years together, the couple divorced through the High Court in 2008, becoming the first high-profile same-sex couple divorce in Britain.

Biography[link]

Official

• Boyd Hilton; Matt Lucas; David Walliams (2006). Inside Little Britain. London: Ebury Press. ISBN 0-09-191231-8. 

Unofficial

• Neil Simpson (2006). Yeah But No But: The Biography of Matt Lucas and David Walliams. London: John Blake. ISBN 1-84454-258-0. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Matt Lucas at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC Little Britain Page

Dame Edna
at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, April 2011.
First appearance	December 1956, Victoria, Australia
Last appearance	Present
Created by	Barry Humphries
Portrayed by	Barry Humphries
Information
Nickname(s)	"Dame Edna" and "Mrs Norm Everage"
Title	Dame
Spouse(s)	Norm Everage
Children	Kenny Bruce Valmai Lois
Religion	Protestant

Dame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favourite flower, the gladiola ("gladdies") and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna, Humphries has written several books including an autobiography, My Gorgeous Life, appeared in several films and hosted several television shows (on which Humphries has also appeared as himself and other alter-egos).

Humphries has regularly updated Edna, originally a drab Melbourne, Australia housewife satirising Australian suburbia. The character adopted an increasingly outlandish wardrobe after being performed in London in the 1960s, and grew in stature and popularity. Following film appearances and an elevation to damehood in the 1970s, the character evolved to "Housewife and Superstar", then "Megastar" and finally "Gigastar". Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Dame Edna became increasingly known and popular in the U.S. after multiple stage and television appearances.

Edna describes her chat-shows as "an intimate conversation between two friends, one of whom is a lot more interesting than the other" (by which she means herself). The character has been used to satirise the cult of celebrity, class snobbery, and prudishness and is often used by Humphries to poke fun at the political leaders and fashions of the times. Her larger-than-life persona and scathing but dead-on commentary on society and celebrity, as well as her habit of treating celebrities like ordinary people (on her TV shows) and ordinary people like celebrities (in her stage shows) have become signatures.^[1]

Although Humphries freely states that Edna is a character he plays, Edna refers to Humphries as her "entrepreneur" or manager. Humphries and his staff of assistants and writers only refer to Edna as "she," and "her," never mixing the character with Humphries himself. It is this precision and richness of identity which gives Dame Edna her unique force as a character.^[2]

In March 2012, Humphries announced that the character would be retired at the end of the current stage tour.^[3]

Character Story[link]

While Dame Edna is a fictitious character whose life story has been 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.^[4] Humphries has also written an "Unauthorised Biography" of his life as Edna's manager: Handling Edna, published in 2010.

According to My Gorgeous Life, and statements Edna has made over the years, she was born Edna May Beazley in the city of Wagga Wagga, with a sibling who would give birth to Barry McKenzie. Everage started her stage career on 19 December 1955 as Mrs. Norm Everage, an "average Australian housewife" from Moonee Ponds, a Melbourne suburb. 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, and has 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 recent stageshows the character has claimed to be giving Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, elocution lessons.

The character has 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-out in the outback, à 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, has assisted Dame Edna on her recent programme for ITV1, including The Dame Edna Treatment and has assisted on her live tour shows. Edna takes great pride in her two sons: Bruce, who is married to Joylene, and her youngest, Kenneth (or Kenny), who designs 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 Sir Les Patterson's documentary Les Patterson and the Great Chinese Takeaway as a boutique owner in Hong Kong. Dame Edna's mother is incarcerated in a "maximum-security twilight home for the bewildered". Valmai and Kenny are the only family members (so far) who have appeared on stage or screen with their mother. Her husband, Sir Norman Everage, died in 1988 after many years in hospital suffering from 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 recent years, Edna has demonstrated her social conscience and sensitivity, telling audiences of her intention to adopt an African child from "that country where Madonna does her shopping" for loved ones.^[5]

Dame Edna spent many years accompanied by her bridesmaid and constant companion Madge Allsop (played by 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 now Dame Edna's daughter Valmai has 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.^[6] 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.

Dame Edna is praised 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."

Dame Edna launched a campaign to be appointed as a BBC newscaster in 2009 after the corporation announced it wished to seek a female newsreader over 50 years old.^[7]

Honours[link]

Dame Edna Place at night, marked by lit signs on each wall.

On 7 March 2007 her home town, Melbourne, renamed a city street in her honour: Dame Edna Place,^[8] 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"^[9] and on 16 June 2007 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment.^[10]

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 Melbourne Docklands in January 2009.^[11]

Invention of the character[link]

Barry Humphries was invited to join the fledgling Union Theatre Repertory Company early in 1955 and toured Victorian country towns performing Twelfth Night, directed by Ray Lawler. On tour, Humphries invented Edna gradually as part of the entertainment for the actors during commutes between country towns. Humphries gradually developed a falsetto impersonation of a Melbourne housewife, imitating the Country Women's Association representatives who welcomed the troup in each town. At Lawler's suggestion, Mrs Everage (later named Edna after Humphries' nanny) made her first appearance in a Melbourne University's UTRC revue at the end of 1955, as the city prepared for the 1956 Olympic Games. The sketch involved a houseproud "average housewife" offering her Moonee Ponds home as an Olympic billet, spruiking her home as possessing "burgundy wall-to-wall carpets, lamington cakes and reindeers frosted on glass dining-room doors".^[12]

At this time the character was billed as "Mrs Norm Everage" (Humphries describing this name as "Everage as in 'average', husband Norm as in 'normal'")^[13] and had none of the characteristic flamboyant wardrobe of later years.

According to one author, Edna came into her own during the 1980s when the policies of Thatcherism -- and what he described as the "vindictive style of the times"-- allowed Dame Edna to sharpen her observations accordingly.^[14] Lahr wrote that Edna took Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's "seemingly hypocritical motto" of "caring and compassion" for others and turned it on its head, Edna became the voice of Humphries' outrage. ^{[14][dubious – discuss][vague]}

Stage and screen performances[link]

1950s–1999[link]

Humphries played the character at comedy clubs, satirising the atmosphere of 1950s Melbourne suburbia. An interview with "Mrs Everage" was one of the programmes screened on HSV-7's first day of programming in 1956. Another revue called Rock'n'Reel followed in 1958 at the New Theatre in Melbourne.

The character's overseas debut, now as Edna Everage, was in the early 1960s at comedian Peter Cook's nightclub, The Establishment, in London's West End, where she received a poor review from Bamber Gascoigne, then the drama critic for The Spectator. Barry Humphries cites Peter Cook as being instrumental in launching Edna's UK career.

In 1972, the character appeared as Barry McKenzie's "Aunt Edna" in the film, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. In the sequel Barry McKenzie Holds His Own, the Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam cameos at the close of the film to confer upon Edna the title of Dame, henceforth to be known as "Dame Edna".

Following the lukewarm reception to Edna's early appearances in Humphries' 1969 stageshow "Just a Show" and the BBC television series "The Barry Humphries Scandals",^[15] a growing awareness and appreciation among British audiences for Edna emerged and Humphries devised a stage show titled Edna Everage Housewife Superstar which was successfully presented in London's West End in the mid 1970s. The show featured monologues, songs and what was becoming an Edna trademark – interaction with the theatre audience.

In April 1976, Edna made an appearance in A Poke in the Eye (with a Sharp Stick) – the first of what became Amnesty International's Secret Policeman's Ball series of benefit shows. Edna performed a song for the show and was featured in the film of the show. She also appeared in the 1981 Amnesty show The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Edna made a cameo appearance in the 1978 film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In 1979 she was the subject of a BBC Arena mockumentary: La Dame aux Gladiolas.

Humphries debuted the character off-Broadway in New York in the late 1970s, but the show received such a poor review from the New York Times that Humphries later joked that he thought "Well, I'll go back to Broadway but I'll wait till the critic's dead – and I had to wait 25 years. I had to wait a quarter of a century for that critic to die."^[16]

Edna's success grew in the UK throughout the 1980s and early 1990s however with semi-regular television shows. Her first specials were in 1978/1979 on the BBC. Although she became popular with broadcaster ITV after her performance on An Audience With Dame Edna in 1980. She would go on to perform two more "An Audience With..." specials (in 1984 and 1988).

In 1987, Edna starred alongside Humphries's vulgar alter-ego Les Patterson in the comedy feature Les Patterson Saves the World. In the same year The Dame Edna Experience, ostensibly a talk show which she described as "really a monologue interrupted by total strangers" aired, featuring high-profile "celebrity guests" such as Sean Connery, Mel Gibson, Joan Rivers, and Germaine Greer (an old friend of Humphries'), as well as Madge, her silent, sour-faced "bridesmaid and travelling companion." In 1989, the show was back for a second season, this time taking place in her "luxury penthouse suite" where her guests stayed and, in the case of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, did her grocery shopping. Subsequently these shows were aired in the U.S. on PBS, broadening her audience and enlarging her fame. Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch a reality/game show hybrid, aired in 1992, and saw her and Madge having a look at her "by invitation only, ladies audience" member's houses, and evaluating their housekeeping skills. U.S. television specials followed, as did an unsuccessful series which aired only one episode. She appeared as a guest of Phil Donahue on his talk show on 17 February 1993.

In 1997, she appeared in another television talk show Dr Dame Edna Kisses It Better. Edna continued her Australian stage and television appearances including a record five appearances as guest presenter at the TV Week Logie Awards^[17] and a notable role as a co-narrator (along with Humphries and Les Patterson) of the ABC's Australian social history series: Barry Humphries Flashbacks in 1999.

2000–2009[link]

In 2000 and 2004, Dame Edna appeared on Broadway, and toured America with both shows. These were ostensibly not "performances", but rather "appearances", with Dame Edna giving monologues and interacting with audience members. Her 2000 show, The Royal Tour, won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show, and a Tony Award.

During 2001 and 2002, Dame Edna appeared in the fifth season of the television show Ally McBeal playing the guest role of Claire Otoms, a client of the show's law firm who later became a secretary at the same firm. The character shared Dame Edna's voice and style and was explicitly listed in the opening credits as being played by Dame Edna Everage (although Barry Humphries received a credit in the closing credits). Claire Otoms is an anagram of "A Sitcom Role".

In the 2002 motion picture Nicholas Nickleby Dame Edna plays the role of Mrs. Crummles, an actress and wife of the manager of a provincial theatre company. Barry Humphries also appears in the film as Mr. Leadville.

Dame Edna appeared at the Queen's Golden Jubilee Concert, the "Party at the Palace" in London in 2002, where she referred to the Queen as the "jubilee girl".

The nostalgic "Barry Humphries Back to my Roots" tour featured, Humphries, Edna, Sir Les and Sandy Stone around Australia in 2003.^[18]

In 2003, she had an interview punctuated with NPR Weekend Edition's host Scott Simon's table-pounding laughter.^[19]

Dame Edna featured on a billboard at the Myer department store in Melbourne

The character celebrated her 50th "birthday" in 2005. To mark the occasion, in 2006, Australia Post featured Edna on a stamp^[20] and the Lord Mayor of Melbourne presented Edna with the key to the city.^[21] She toured Australia with the stageshow "Barry Humphries Back With a Vengeance" and appeared on camera "together" with Humphries for the first time in an interview by Ray Martin for Australia's 60 Minutes.^[22] She also appeared on screen at the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2006 in Melbourne while 1000 "Commonwealth Dames" danced around the arena, in purple wigs, garish costumes and gladioli, singing along to her song, "We've Made The Most Of Melbourne" : "It's not as small as Adelaide, Compared to Canberra, it's bliss, And if you've been to Melbourne, You can give Sydney a miss."^[23]

On 20 May 2006 she appeared on ITV's coverage of The Prince's Trust annual fundraiser. She took part in a Blind Date themed skit, picking Chico Slimani over Roger Moore and Richard E Grant.

In the summer of 2006, Dame Edna appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno alongside Billy Crystal. On 23 September 2006, during an interview on Parkinson, she revealed that she would be returning to ITV in 2007 with a new chat show, The Dame Edna Treatment. The show began on Saturday 17 March 2007, with the set-up being that Edna runs a health spa where various famous guests come for treatment.

On Wednesday 17 December 2006, Dame Edna appeared as a guest panellist on the ABC TV Show Spicks and Specks where she sang with presenter Adam Hills. On 16 December 2007 she appeared as the final guest on the final episode of the Parkinson UK talk show. On 29 May 2008 she appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside Ray Mears and Alanis Morissette. On 8 August 2008 she appeared on Loose Women on their final show of the series. On 12 September 2008, Monday 15 December 2008, and Wednesday 27 May 2009, she appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Accompanied by her daughter Valmai in America and Sir Les Patterson in the UK, Dame Edna again toured with what was declared My First Last Tour. On television in early 2009, she appeared in adverts to publicise the insurance company Norwich Union's change of name to Aviva, quoting her change of name from Mrs Everage. On 9 June 2009, she appeared as a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. On 17 July 2009, she appeared as a guest on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. On an episode of The One Show in September 2009 a piece of graffiti on Sunderland's Penshaw Monument read "Edna Woz Ere 09" and a pair of Everage's signature glasses were drawn next to it. Edna performed the "Last Night of the Poms" at the Royal Albert Hall accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra on 15 September and on 21 September 2009 she appeared on the C4, Paul O'Grady Show, where she complained of a burst appendix in Australia, but said of course she was happy to be back in the UK.

2010–present[link]

Bronze statue of Dame Edna at Waterfront City, Docklands, Melbourne

In early 2010, Dame Edna collaborated with cabaret pianist and singer, Michael Feinstein for a two-person revue entitled "All About Me", based on the concept that the pair were rivals who were forced to work together for the show's sake. The show opened as the second production for the newly refurbished Henry Miller's Theatre and was planned to run from 18 March through 18 July 2010 (with previews beginning on 22 February). However, lukewarm reviews and low ticket sales led to the limited engagement being cut short and closing on 4 April 2010, after 27 previews and 20 regular performances.^[24] On 25 March 2010, she appeared on the television talk show The View as a guest host to promote the production.^[25]

On 29 April 2011, she appeared on the BBC broadcast "William and Kate: The Royal Wedding," with Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson, covering the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Buckingham Palace, along with Tracey Grimshaw and Kathy Lette at Westminster Abbey.

On 18 March 2012, Humphries announced he would "retire" the Dame Edna character because he was "beginning to feel a bit senior".^[3]

Discography[link]

• The Dame Edna Party Experience (Epic Records, 1988)^[26]

1. Bad / When Will I Be Famous / Layla (Alias Edna) / I Should Be So Lucky / The Locomotion / Bad 'Nice' (Reprise)
2. Waltzing Matilda (Instrumental Intro) / The Twist
3. Venus / Like A Virgin / Girls Just Want To Have Fun / Venus (Reprise)
4. Shout (Part 1)
5. Shout (Part II)
6. I Got You Babe (Who Needs You Babe) [with Sir Les Patterson]
7. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) / Stop! In The Name Of Love / Dancing In The Street / I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) (Reprise)
8. Neighbours
9. Leader Of The Pack / It's My Party

• Theme From Neighbours (Epic Records, 1988) [Produced by David Mackay]

1. Theme From Neighbours (Caring And Sharing Mix) / Spooky Christmas
2. Shout (Parts One And Two)

In 1997 Naxos released a CD in the Children's Classics series, catalogue number 8.554170.^[27]

1. S. Prokofiev: "Peter and the Wolf", Op. 67, narrated by Dame Edna Everage
2. F. Poulenc: "The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant", narrated by Barry Humphries
3. B. Britten: "The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra", Op. 34, narrated by Dame Edna Everage

Controversy[link]

In 2003 Vanity Fair magazine invited Dame Edna to write a satirical advice column. She created a storm of controversy with a piece published in the February 2003 issue. Replying to a reader who asked if she should learn Spanish, she wrote:

"Forget Spanish. There's nothing in that language worth reading except Don Quixote, and a quick listen to the CD of Man of La Mancha will take care of that ... Who speaks it that you are really desperate to talk to? The help? Your leaf blower?"

Some members of the Hispanic community read this reply as a racist remark and complaints flooded in to the magazine. Actress Salma Hayek responded angrily, penning a furious letter in which she denounced Dame Edna. After Vanity Fair received death threats, the magazine published a full-page apology to the Hispanic community.

Humphries commented later: "If you have to explain satire to someone, you might as well give up." When Dame Edna was questioned about the controversy on the eve of her 2003 Australian tour, she retorted that Hayek's denunciation was due to "professional jealousy", and that Hayek was envious because the role of painter Frida Kahlo (for which Hayek received an Oscar nomination) had originally been offered to Edna:

When I was offered the part of Frida I turned it down, and she was the second choice. I said 'I'm not playing the role of a woman with a moustache and a monobrow, and I'm not having same-sex relations on the screen' ... I'm not racist. I love all races, particularly white people. You know, I even like Roman Catholics.

References in other media[link]

Dame Edna has been mentioned on The Simpsons: in "The Regina Monologues", "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", and "HOMR."

She was also mentioned in a song, "This One's Just For You", by Australian songwriter and comedian, Kevin Bloody Wilson and impersonated by Simon Amstell on Good Morning with Anne and Nick. In an episode of The Goodies, Bill remarks upon Tim's unwise choice of love interest with "Tell you something, I'd rather have Edna Everage. At least she's a real woman!".

TV credits[link]

• Parkinson Various
• An Audience with... (1980–88)
• The Dame Edna Experience (1987–1989)
• Dame Edna's Hollywood (1991–1993)
• Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch (1992)
• WITHOUT WALLS: J'Accuse: Dame Edna Everage (1993)^[28]
• Dr Dame Edna Kisses It Better (1997)
• Ally McBeal (2001–2002)
• Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
• Dame Edna Live at the Palace (2003)
• The Dame Edna Treatment (2007)

See also[link]

• Theatre of Australia

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Lahr, John (1992). Dame Edna Everage and the Rise of Western Civilization; Backstage with Barry Humphries. United States: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux. ISBN 0-374-13456-1. 
• Everage, Dame Edna (1989). My Gorgeous Life. Australia: The Macmillan Company. ISBN 0-7329-0140-5. 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dame Edna Everage

• Dame Edna Official Website
• The Dame Edna Treatment at itv.com
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• Dame Edna/Barry Humphries at the Internet Broadway Database

Craig Ferguson
Performing stand-up in New York City, 2007
Born	(1962-05-17) May 17, 1962 (age 50) Glasgow, Scotland
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, music, books
Nationality	Scotland; United States
Years active	1980–present
Genres	Observational comedy, satire/political satire/news satire
Subject(s)	Everyday life, popular culture, self-deprecation, politics
Spouse	Anne Hogarth (1983–86) (divorced) Sascha Corwin (1998–2004) (divorced) 1 child Megan Wallace-Cunningham (2008–present) 1 child
Notable works and roles	Host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Nigel Wick on The Drew Carey Show Glaswegian in One Foot in the Grave Gobber in How to Train Your Dragon
Website	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962^[1]) is a Scottish-American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS. In addition to hosting that program and performing stand-up comedy, Ferguson has written two books: Between the Bridge and the River, a novel, and American on Purpose, a memoir. He became a citizen of the United States in 2008.^[2]

Before his career as a late-night television host, Ferguson was best known in the United States for his role as the office boss, Nigel Wick, on The Drew Carey Show from 1996 to 2003. He also wrote and starred in three films, directing one of them.

Early life[link]

Ferguson was born in the Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, Scotland to Robert and Janet Ferguson, and raised in nearby Cumbernauld, growing up "chubby and bullied".^[3][4] When he was six months old, he and his family moved from their Springburn apartment to a council house in Cumbernauld. They lived there as Glasgow was re-housing many people following damage to the city from World War II.^[4] Ferguson attended Muirfield Primary School and Cumbernauld High School.^[5] At age sixteen, Ferguson dropped out of Cumbernauld High School and began an apprenticeship to be an electronics technician at a local factory of American company Burroughs Corporation.^[6]

His first visit to the United States was as a teenager to visit an uncle who lived on Long Island, near New York City.^[7] When he moved to New York City in 1983, he worked in construction in Harlem.^[8][9] Ferguson later became a bouncer at a nightclub, Save the Robots.^[10]

Career[link]

British career[link]

Ferguson's experience in entertainment began as a drummer in a rock band called Exposure. He then joined a punk band called The Bastards from Hell.^[11] The band, later renamed "Dreamboys", and fronted by vocalist Peter Capaldi, performed regularly in Glasgow from 1980 to 1982.^[12] Ferguson credits Capaldi for inspiring him to try comedy.^[3]

After a nerve-wrecking, knee-knocking first appearance, he decided to create a character that was a "parody of all the über-patriotic native folk singers who seemed to infect every public performance in Scotland."^[3] The character, "Bing Hitler" (actually coined by Capaldi as Ferguson started with the monogram of "Nico Fulton" but admittedly later stole the name for his "own nefarious ends"),^[12] premiered in Glasgow, and subsequently became a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A recording of his stage act as Bing Hitler was made at Glasgow's Tron Theatre and released in the 1980s;^[13] a Bing Hitler monologue ("A Lecture for Burns Night") appears on the compilation cassette Honey at the Core.

Ferguson's first television appearance was as Confidence on BBC sitcom Red Dwarf during the episode "Confidence and Paranoia".

Ferguson made his starring television debut in The Craig Ferguson Show, a one-off comedy pilot for Granada Television, which co-starred Paul Whitehouse and Helen Atkinson-Wood.^[14] This was broadcast throughout the UK on 4 March 1990, but was not made into a full series.

He has also found success in musical theatre. Beginning in 1991, he appeared on stage as Brad Majors in the London production of The Rocky Horror Show, alongside Anthony Head, who was playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter at the time.^{[citation needed]} In 1994, Ferguson played Father MacLean in the highly controversial production of Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom at the Union Chapel in London. The same year, he appeared again at the Edinburgh Fringe, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple, opposite Gerard Kelly as Felix and Kate Anthony as Gwendolin Pidgeon, who is now much better known as Aunty Pam in Coronation Street; the play, which was relocated to 1990s Glasgow, later toured Scotland.^[15]

After enjoying success at the Edinburgh Festival, Ferguson appeared on Red Dwarf, STV's Hogmanay Show,^[16] his own show 2000 Not Out, and the 1993 One Foot in the Grave Christmas special One Foot in the Algarve.

In 1993, Ferguson presented his own series on Scottish archaeology for Scottish Television entitled Dirt Detective.^[17] He travelled throughout the country examining archaeological history, including Skara Brae and Paisley Abbey.

U.S. career[link]

After cancellation of his show The Ferguson Theory, Ferguson moved to Los Angeles in 1994. His first U.S. role was as baker Logan McDonough on the short-lived 1995 ABC comedy Maybe This Time, which starred Betty White and Marie Osmond.

His breakthrough in the U.S. came when he was cast on The Drew Carey Show as the title character's boss, Mr. Wick, a role that he played from 1996 to 2003. He played the role with an over-the-top posh English accent "to make up for generations of English actors doing crap Scottish accents." In his comedy special "A Wee Bit O' Revolution", he specifically called out James Doohan's portrayal of Montgomery Scott on Star Trek as the foundation of his "revenge". (At the end of one episode, though, Ferguson broke the fourth wall and began talking to the audience at home in his regular Scottish accent.) His character was memorable for his unique methods of laying employees off, almost always "firing Johnson", the most common last name of the to-be-fired workers.^[18] Even after leaving the show in 2003, he remained a recurring character on the series for the last two seasons, and was part of the 2-part series finale in 2004.