Starting as a drab Melbourne housewife satirising Australian suburbia, the character adopted an increasingly outlandish wardrobe after performances in London in the 1960s, through which she grew in stature and popularity.

Humphries claimed the eyeglasses, and other aspects of Edna's personality, were inspired by Stephanie Deste, a Melbourne eccentric, beautician, radio broadcaster, actor and dancer.

The character was used to satirise the cult of celebrity, class snobbery, and prudishness and was often used by Humphries to poke fun at the political leaders and fashions of the times.

She spent her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Switzerland and Martha's Vineyard.

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, 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.

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".

[12] 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 asked why Australians are so good at sport she commented: "the cli- mate, the diet, the outdoor life, and the total lack of any intellectual distraction".

It is located by the Yarra river near Harbour Town which also includes statues of singer John Farnham, Dame Nellie Melba, and Graham Kennedy.

[21] 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.

Humphries gradually developed a falsetto impersonation of a Melbourne housewife, imitating the Country Women's Association representatives who welcomed the troupe 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.

His mother (whom the interviewer William Cook said "sounds like a frightful snob") was a major inspiration for Edna, although he denied it when she was alive to protect her feelings.

[25][dubious – discuss][vague] In a 2011 interview with CUNY TV, actor Zoe Caldwell claimed that the character had been written with her in mind, but that she turned it down as she did not believe she could make it funny.

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.

While her first appearances at the Establishment Club were a flop, the mousy Edna being too quiet to please that raucous crowd, a 2016 interviewer William Cook saw the early failure as a blessing, so that Humphries spent the sixties as a jobbing actor rather than as a pampered star.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[31] In 2002 New Zealand artist Maurice Bennett was commissioned by an Australian bread company to create a 7.35 m (24.1 ft) tall 2,989-slice toast portrait of Dame Edna.

During the telethon-style segments of the event, she took part in a game of Blind Date picking former X Factor contestant Chico Slimani over actors Roger Moore and Richard E Grant.

On 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 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.

[citation needed] In 2010, Dame Edna collaborated with cabaret pianist and singer Michael Feinstein for a two-person revue in the United States, titled All About Me, based on the premise that the pair were rivals who were forced to work together for the show's sake.

[7] On 15 March 2013, Dame Edna Everage appeared on Red Nose Day 2013 as a guest star and judge for the Comic Relief Does MasterChef competition between Jack Whitehall and Micky Flanagan.

[citation needed] Dame Edna appeared briefly in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016) in a non-speaking cameo, one of two characters played by Humphries in the film.

[46] During the show, Dame Edna attempts to dispose of Madge's ashes from the porthole of her luxury yacht, The Ocean Widow, but is prevented from doing so to protect the environment.