Dame Edna Everage, grande dame extraordinaire, is the subject of 2009’s unique and exciting exhibition in the Performing Arts Gallery, curated by Timothy Morgan Owen.
It will include her extravagant costumes, her accessories and photographs
According to Dame Edna's autobiography, she was born Edna May Beazley in the rural city of Wagga Wagga, and started her stage career on 19 December 1955 as Mrs. Norm Everage, an "average Australian housewife" from Moonee Ponds, a Melbourne suburb. Dame Edna was born with a sibling, who gave birth to Barry McKenzie.
She is easily recognisable for her lilac-coloured hair (which she claims is natural) and cat eye glasses.
A friend and confidante of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, she spends much of her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Switzerland and Martha's Vineyard.
Like her companion, Barry Humphries, Dame Edna has four adult children: two daughters, Valmai (who assisted Dame Edna on her most recent programme for ITV1, The Dame Edna Treatment) and Lois.
Her two sons are Bruce, who is married to Joylene, and her youngest child Kenneth (or Kenny) who, when described by Dame Edna, comes across as a caricature of a gay man.
Dame Edna shows no awareness of his homosexuality, despite often referring to his 'partner', Clifford Smale.
Kenny was shown 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) to be seen. Her husband, Sir Norman Everage, died in 1988 after many years in hospital suffering from prostate problems and a "testicular murmur".
Besides these family members, her elderly and silent bridesmaid Madge Allsop (played by Emily Perry), a New Zealander from Palmerston North, was often present during Dame Edna's 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.
Dame Edna’s books include Dame Edna’s Coffee Table Book, Dame Edna’s Bedside Companion and her seminal autobiography, My Gorgeous Life, which is currently being adapted for stage and screen.
She is the Founder and Governor of Friends of the Prostate and the creator of The World Prostate Olympics.
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."
Watch this space for more details, or visit
www.dame-edna.com