Died at 92
male
John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (17 February 1934 - 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, perhaps best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the Court of St. James's. He was a film producer and script writer, a star of London's West End musical theatre, an award-winning writer and an accomplished landscape painter. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin. Humphries' characters, especially Dame Edna Everage, have brought him international renown, and he had appeared in numerous films, stage productions and television shows. Originally conceived as a dowdy Moonee Ponds housewife who caricatured Australian suburban complacency and insularity, Edna had evolved over four decades to become a satire of stardom, the gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally feted Housewife Gigastar, Dame Edna Everage. Humphries' other major satirical character creation was the archetypal Australian bloke Barry McKenzie, who originated as the hero of a comic strip about Australians in London (with drawings by Nicholas Garland) which was first published in Private Eye magazine. The stories about "Bazza" (Humphries' nickname, as well as an Australian term of endearment for the name Barry) gave wide circulation to Australian slang, particularly jokes about drinking and its consequences (much of which was invented by Humphries), and the character went on to feature in two Australian films, in which he was portrayed by Barry Crocker. Humphries' other satirical characters include the "priapic and inebriated cultural attaché" Sir Les Patterson, who has "continued to bring worldwide discredit upon Australian arts and culture, while contributing as much to the Australian vernacular as he has borrowed from it", gentle, grandfatherly "returned gentleman" Sandy Stone, iconoclastic 1960s underground film-maker Martin Agrippa, Paddington socialist academic Neil Singleton, sleazy trade union official Lance Boyle, high-pressure art salesman Morrie O'Connor and failed tycoon Owen Steele. Humphries died following complications from hip surgery at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney on 22 April 2023.
A Carnotaurus ambushes and pursues an infant Parasaurolophus, triggering a stampede and forcing an Iguanodon mother to abandon her nest. The Carnotaurus kills a Pachyrhinosaurus and most of the eggs in the nest are destroyed or eaten. The one surviving egg journeys through several predicaments, including being carried off via the flight of a Geosternbergia, before ending up on a far away island populated by lemurs. Plio names the hatched baby Aladar and raises him, despite Yar's objections. Years later, Aladar and the lemurs take part in a mating ritual, where Zini does not have a mate. Moments after the ritual ends, a giant meteor strikes and destroys the island, killing the rest of the lemurs. Aladar, Plio, Zini, Yar and Suri jump into the sea, and flee to the mainland. They mourn for their losses before moving on. While crossing the deserted wastelands, they are ambushed by a group of Velociraptors. After escaping, the family comes across a remaining group of dinosaur led by Kron and Bruton, who are on a journey to reach the "Nesting Grounds", a valley said to be untouched by the meteor. While Aladar befriends Baylene, Eema and Url, Kron permits them to follow the herd. Together, they migrate across the desert to a lake they have relied on for past trips. It has seemingly dried up and Kron orders the herd to move on. However, Aladar and Baylene discover the buried water under the surface, in order to save the herd from dehydration. Impressed by Aladar's compassionate ways, Neera begins to fall in love with him. Meanwhile, two Carnotaurus follow the herd's trail and begin stalking them for food. They later ambush Bruton and an Iguanodon scout whom Kron sent ahead. While the Carnotaurus kill the scout, the injured Bruton manages to return to the herd and warns Kron that the Carnotaurus are following the herd, putting them in danger. Kron takes the lead and evacuates the area, leaving Aladar, the lemurs, the elder dinosaurs and Bruton behind. During a rainstorm, the stragglers take shelter in a cave to spend the night. When the Carnotaurus enter the cave, Bruton sacrifices himself by causing a cave-in to save the others, killing himself and one of the Carnotaurus. Aladar and his friends venture deeper into the cave. The other Carnotaurus survives the cave-in, leaves the cave and resumes searching for the herd. Aladar loses hope when they reach a dead end but the others convince him to keep going, relating how he inspired them to do the same. Together, they break through the dead end and find the Nesting Grounds on the other side. While exploring there, they find a large wall of rocks blocking the original entryway to the valley. Knowing that the herd will die attempting to climb over it, Aladar rushes off alone to find them, and he is pursued by the Carnotaurus. As Aladar catches up with the herd and suggests the safer way to the valley, the enraged Kron tries to kill him, but Neera stops Kron and saves Aladar. The herd decides to abandon Kron, taking Aladar as their new leader. As they prepare to leave, the Carnotaurus arrives and confronts them. Aladar rallies the herd to stand together, and they bellow their way past the predator. The Carnotaurus then pursues Kron to the edge of a cliff and injures him, but Aladar and Neera fight against the Carnotaurus, until it is knocked into the ravine, where it falls to its death. Kron dies from his injuries, and Neera and Aladar mourn for him. Aladar leads the herd to the cave as a route to the Nesting Grounds. A new generation of dinosaurs hatch sometime later, including Aladar and Neera's children. The lemurs find more of their kind, and soon they begin embarking on a new life together.
