Barry Humphries memorial as it happened: Iconic Australian actor, comedian farewelled in Sydney memorial

You can watch a replay of the state memorial below:

Thanks for joining us today to farewell Barry Humphries and his most beloved characters, Edna and Sandy. As he did so many times in his life, the comedian received one final standing ovation from an adoring crowd at the end of the service.

Son Oscar confirmed the Opera House will be lit up from 8.30pm until midnight tonight, and that he’ll be keeping his kids up to see the tribute to their grandfather.

Meanwhile, in the toilets, we spotted these two fabulous ladies.

The scene inside the women’s bathroom at Barry Humphries’ state memorial.Credit: Helen Pitt

Dame Edna may have even approved.

MC Richard Wilkins has confirmed the sails of the Sydney Opera House will be lit in memory of Barry Humphries tonight.

Meanwhile, Humphries’ two close confidantes Andrew Ross and Karl Schmid spoke about life on the road with Barry.

The Sydney Opera House sails will be lit in honour of Barry HumphriesCredit: Helen Pitt

“In the wings he’d grab my hand and say ‘what do I say?’ … I’d say you say ‘hello possums’ and the rest takes care of himself,” Ross said.

“Being in the presence of Barry was unadulterated joy.”

Andrew Ross and Karl Schmid speak at the memorial service.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

“Never be afraid to laugh at yourself – after all, you could be missing the laugh of the century,” Schmid said.

“Restaurant dining with Barry could be a roller coaster of emotions,” he said, adding that a lot of the food ended up on his tie, not his mouth.

“We are all graduates of the Barry Humphries school of life. He once whispered, ‘Karl always live beyond your means’.”

Following a musical interlude featuring cabaret star Meow Meow, creative director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra Richard Tognetti shared details of his encounter with Humphries’ character Dame Edna backstage at the Sydney Opera House.

Tognetti quickly realised he was “a lamb to the slaughter” and Edna referred to him as: “The thinking woman’s Andre Rieu”.

Andrew Lloyd Webber appeared via video from London to speak of his friend as a great “connoisseur of the arts”. “We would listen on YouTube to very obscure opera,” the musical supremo said.

“Barry, you were one of the most remarkable people I’ve met.”

Barry Humphries as Fagin in Oliver in London’s West End.Credit: Michael Le Poer Trench

Cameron Mackintosh recalled casting Humphries as Fagin in Oliver. Humphries initially took the role “too seriously” so Mackintosh advised him to “put more Barry into the character”. The result was Oliver would run 20 minutes over time thanks to Humphries’ ad-libs.

“Not that the audience minded, they were just happy to bask in the genius of his presence”.

NSW Premier Chris Minns told the audience of the time at the 1976 Ascot races where Dame Edna wore a hat in the shape of the Sydney Opera House.

Dame Edna had many Sydney Opera House outfits, the premier said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns speaks at the memorial.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

“From bespoke spectacles to a sparkly Opera House dress… Barry loved this building and no one wore it better than him. The Sydney Opera House is a fitting place for his memorial because it was on stage that Barry was most at home.”

He then read a poem in honour of the performer.

In a video message, media giant Rupert Murdoch said of his friend: “Your intellect is still a beacon.”

“You are a role model in some ways you never intended… Sir Les Patterson is a model for every Australian abroad about how not to act, and Dame Edna shows us even hair dye has its limitations.

“Barry you will never be silenced, your friendship still resides deeply in my heart,” Murdoch said.

Prominent art dealer Philip Bacon was a lifelong friend of Humphries.

“It is Barry the artist, the collector the family has asked me to speak about,” Bacon tells the audience.

Bacon recalled a teenage Humphries who excitedly took life painting classes and relished in the nude models he’d paint. Bacon also talked about one of Humphries’ early pieces, an installation of gumboots filled with custard. “He called it puss in boots”.

Bacon said his friend was happiest sitting at an easel “painting a beautiful picture” Among Humphries’ close friends were the artists Arthur Boyd, Margaret Olley, Tim Storrier and John Olsen, with whom he would go on painting expeditions into the outback.

“He remained somewhat shy and insecure about his artistry but he could be shamelessly self-promotional too,” Bacon wryly added.

Meanwhile, restaurateur Rick Stein spoke of the time Humphries came to spend Christmas with him in Cornwall, and talked to him about literature.

“Three days before he died he asked me what I was reading. He was a great, great man,” Stein said.

Off stage, the four-times married Humphries was also a beloved father of four and grandfather of 10, though his life away from the spotlight was not always quite so content.

Barry Humphries with wife Lizzie Spender in 2009 in Sydney.Credit: Helen Nezdropa

In 1990 Humphries married for the fourth time to Lizzie Spender, the English television actress and daughter of poet Sir Stephen Spender and concert pianist Natasha Spender.

Last year, Humphries spoke glowingly of his wife, telling Reader’s Digest: “We’ve been married for over 30 years now. I have to thank Wife No. 2 for two daughters and Wife No. 3 for two sons. Between them, they’ve produced 10 grandchildren on whom I dote. But then I’ve become a lot smarter which is why this marriage has endured.”

Humphries’ first marriage in 1955 was to Sydney woman Brenda Wright, when he was 21 and she 19. It lasted less than two years. Humphries later reflected that the marriage was partly inspired by his desire to rebel against his Melbourne parents and stuffy upbringing.

His daughters, artist Emily and former actor Tessa, are the product of his marriage to his second wife, dancer-turned-art historian Dr Rosalind Hollinrake, whom he divorced in 1970 after 12 years.

Barry Humphries with wife Diane and his third child, King Oscar Valentine. Credit: John Patrick O’Gready/Fairfax Media

His third wife, Diane Millstead is the mother of Humphries’ two sons: former tabloid star turned art curator and father of two Oscar and video game creator Rupert. Humphries and Millstead parted company in 1989 amid a blaze of headlines.

Humphries had previously admitted, somewhat ruefully, that he was a far more present figure in his grandchildren’s lives than he was for his own children.

He blamed many of the issues that plagued his relationships on alcohol. Last year he said: “For over 10 years of my life, I had a serious alcoholic illness. I finally put the cork back in the bottle in my late 30s and haven’t touched a drop from that day to this.“

His sons Oscar and Rupert spoke on behalf of the Humphries family. They honoured their stepmother Lizzy Spender.

“Dad was never happier than eating cold or burnt toast with you Lizzy,” Rupert said.

Rupert and Oscar Humphries speak at the memorial.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

“Most nights my brother and I sat in the back row of a theatre praying he wouldn’t say something he shouldn’t…

“Every time I got into a car with him, I got out feeling lucky to be alive.

“He taught me the importance of being yourself,” Rupert said.

His brother Oscar said, “Nothing is more likely to summon Barry’s spirit than a full house.

“His was a life in two acts, the chaos of addiction and then sobriety. He was touring until last year, appreciating the joy and laughter of his audiences and his grandchildren’s laughter…there will be much less laughter with his passing.”

Humphries formed a somewhat unlikely friendship with country music star Slim Dusty. As Dusty’s song A Pub with No Beer was played, a montage played of photos showcasing Humphries’ many trips to outback Australia. Wilkins called this character “bush Barry”.

In a video message, Sir Elton John called Humphries “one of the kindest and most generous people I know”.

“He was a raconteur of incredible genius,” he said. “I will miss him so much.”

Elton John delivered a video message to the state memorial.Credit: Getty

Humphries’ daughter Tessa read a poem written by her father in the 1970s.

“Basically it is an advertisement for Melbourne,” she said. “From genteel Melbourne to salubrious Sydney,” the words read, finishing with “Rest in peace Dad.”

Tessa Humphries reads one of her father’s poems at the memorial.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Arts Minister Tony Burke has read out a message from King Charles at the memorial.

The monarch mentioned experiencing the “fear and fun” of Humphries’ characters, adding “no one was safe” – not even royalty.

Arts Minister Tony Burke speaks at the state memorial service.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Charles described Humphries as a “cultured and erudite man” who could “not have been more different from his various incarnations”. He ended by adding, “may our gladioli bloom in celebration”.

Film director Bruce Beresford described meeting Humphries when both were young men in swinging London of 1963.

Humphries’ career was yet to take off in England, largely because of his drinking.

Beresford described Humphries’ heavy drinking, recalling one incident when he left the bar and raced to the stage door, only to discover he was in the wrong theatre. Humphries conquered drinking in 1972, became a lifelong Alcoholics Anonymous regular, and his career blossomed.

Beresford told the backstory of the films, starting as a comic strip for Private Eye magazine. “With Barry’s support my childhood dream of directing a film became a reality,” Beresford said

It is appropriate the service is taking part in the grand Opera House Concert Hall. Here Humphries is captured with his fellow Meburnian newspaper columnist Keith Dunstan, in 1972, the year before the building opened.

The two bonded over their mutual dislike of AFL, and Dunstan wrote the 2006 study of his friend Moonee Ponds to Broadway.

Keith Dunstan and Barry Humphries outside Opera House in 1972Credit: Keith Edward Byron/Fairfax Media

Some of Dame Edna’s most eye-catching attire was inspired by the Opera House design – from glasses in the shape of the white sails to a hat (pictured below) created especially for the 1976 Ascot races.

Barry Humphries as Dame Edna wearing an Opera House hat in 1976.Credit: Gerry