Patricia Emily Perry (28 June 1907 – 19 February 2008) was an English actress and dancer. Born in
Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...
, Devon, she was best known for her recurring role as
Madge Allsop Madge Allsop (born Marjorie Kiri McWhirter) is a fictitious character invented by satirist Barry Humphries as the long-time companion (and former bridesmaid) of his most popular and enduring character, Dame Edna Everage. First mentioned in Edna's m ...
,
Dame Edna Everage
Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, th ...
's long-suffering, silent "bridesmaid" from
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Early life and career
According to one obituary, Perry first appeared on stage at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham, at the age of four. Her father, who was an accountant, was reportedly shocked by her desire to become an actress, although he nevertheless paid her tuition fees at dance school and even permitted her to use the family home for her first audition.
Perry subsequently appeared as a singer, dancer and actress in pantomime and music halls. She played the role of Susan in ''
The Desert Song
''The Desert Song'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonia ...
'' for twelve years, and also toured in ''
The Student Prince
''The Student Prince'' is an operetta in four acts with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly. It is based on Wilhelm Meyer-Förster's play '' Old Heidelberg''. The piece has a score with some of Romberg's most enduri ...
'' and
''The Belle of New York''.
During the Second World War, she performed with
ENSA
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...
. Around 1960, she founded a children's dancing school, ''The Patricia Perry Academy of Dancing'', based in Crystal Palace in South London, which she ran for twenty-five years before deciding to return to acting in 1984. At that time, there was another actress named Patricia Perry, so she adopted her middle name, Emily, as her stage name.
Madge Allsop
Although the character of Madge Allsop was created by Barry Humphries during the 1960s, she was only mentioned in passing by Dame Edna and did not appear on stage until the late 1970s, when she was portrayed by the London-based Australian actress
Madeleine Orr. Orr died of cancer in 1979, so when the role of Madge was written into Humphries' 1987 film ''
Les Patterson Saves the World
''Les Patterson Saves the World'' is a 1987 Australian comedy film starring Barry Humphries as his stage creations Sir Les Patterson and Dame Edna Everage.
Plot
The uncouth Sir Les Patterson teams up with Dame Edna Everage (both played by Barry ...
'', she was portrayed by another Australian actress, Connie Hobbs. Later that year, when Humphries decided to cast "the definitive Madge" for his new TV series, ''The Dame Edna Experience'', he auditioned many elderly actresses for what would be a recurring role. As he recalled, "All of them tried too hard. Some were whimsical, some camp, but most were far too over the top to resemble an oppressed, inarticulate New Zealand spinster whom life had passed by."
[Humphries, Barry. ''My Life as Me'', pp. 232–33.] Perry herself later recalled: "I did nothing at the audition, and I've done nothing since."
Humphries paid tribute to Perry in the second volume of his autobiography, ascribing her with "the rare gift of being able to do nothing in the face of overwhelming provocation".
Perry's portrayal of Madge Allsop in ''The Dame Edna Experience'' was well-received, and she subsequently reprised the role in many of Humphries' other TV specials, including ''One more Audience with Dame Edna Everage'' (1988), ''A Night on Mount Edna'' (1990), ''
Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch'' (1992) and ''Dame Edna's Hollywood'' (1993). Madge became something of a cult figure – much to the apparent annoyance of Dame Edna – and appeared in a coffee commercial in the late 1980s.
In 1997, she made a memorable appearance as Madge Allsop on a
Comic Relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Definition
Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...
TV Special, in which she danced and sang "Today I Feel So Happy". She was to have been accompanied on the piano by
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
but, as he did not know the music, a member of the audience was conscripted instead, with Webber turning the pages of the sheet music. This brief performance, which represented the only time Madge Allsop spoke on camera, received a huge ovation from the studio audience. Perry's last on-screen appearance as Madge Allsop was a cameo in the TV special ''Dame Edna: Live at the Palace'' (2003), in which the then 96-year-old actress was 'caught' in bed with
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
.
Other appearances
As an actress in her own right, her filmography is limited to her appearances with Dame Edna, except for a 1995 appearance on an episode of ''
Last of the Summer Wine
''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes foll ...
'' as "Mrs. Broadbent". She appeared as herself in ''Night of a Thousand Faces'' (2001).
Later life and death
Perry retired in 2004 and took up residence in
Brinsworth House
Brinsworth House is a residential and nursing retirement home for theatre and entertainment professionals in Staines Road, Twickenham, west London, England. The house is owned and run by the Royal Variety Charity and has 36 bedrooms, six living ...
,
Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...
, where she died on 19 February 2008, aged 100.
References
External links
*
Dame Edna Everage – Official WebsiteChortle report on death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Emily (English Actress)
1907 births
2008 deaths
English centenarians
English television actresses
Actors from Torquay
People from Twickenham
Actresses from Devon
Women centenarians