The family of Barry Humphries could be offered a state funeral in his home state of Victoria, as tributes continue to trickle in for the Australian entertainer.
The Victorian government is talking to Humphries’ family about the best ways to honour the comedy legend’s legacy.
A range of options are being discussed, including a state funeral.
“The primary mover of these things is the family because it’s their gift effectively to decide in conversation with government,” Creative Industries Minister Steve Dimopoulos told reporters on Sunday.
“So, yes, it could be that (a state funeral). It could be many other things to honour his legacy.”
Humphries ‘cancelled’ late in life
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival also joined the chorus of local tributes despite its chequered history with the late star.
Humphries delighted and outraged audiences for more than half a century and was a founding patron of the MICF, leading to it naming its annual prize for most outstanding act after him in 2000.
But an outcry over a series of comments widely seen as transphobic prompted the festival to rename its top gong in 2019.
On Sunday, British-Australian TV personality Miriam Margolyes told the ABC she did not believe Humphries was treated well by MICF, who she said “cancelled him rather late in life”.
Margolyes said “how dare” they treat him that way and she was “outraged”.
“He’d had more talent in his little finger than they did in their whole bodies, all of them,” she told the ABC, saying Humphries was “very hurt and saddened by what happened after the Melbourne festival”.
“He was acerbic, and he was often quite nasty, but he was a genius, and you have to accept it,” she said.
In a statement to the ABC, MICF festival director Susan Provan said: “We can celebrate Barry’s artistic genius while not much liking some of his views.”
“Some years ago the award for most outstanding show was re-named to reinforce the equality and diversity that our Festival community has always championed,” Ms Provan said.
MICF said it was saddened to hear of comic legend’s passing and hailed his contribution to the festival during its formative years.
“Having started his career in Melbourne, Barry’s early support, along with Peter Cook, helped kick off and raise the profile of the festival nationally and internationally,” it said.
“With festival founder John Pinder, Barry was part of a creative generation who celebrated and developed a global platform for Australian comedy. He will be remembered by legions of fans around the world for his wit, inimitable characters and biting satire”
In 2016, Humphries told a small gathering in Melbourne he was a little “embarrassed” the accolade was called the Barry Award because he never liked his own name.
Sunday marks the final day of the nearly month-long festival, with 316 performances still to run.
When asked if the festival would pay special tribute on its last night, MICF director Susan Provan told reporters: “We just have a party, a big party. We don’t have any formal event tonight and it just happened last night so we’ll be looking at all of that.”
A MICF spokeswoman told AAP it doesn’t control how individual artists pay tribute to Humphries as it is an open access festival.
Despite Humphries’ name being stripped from the award, Ms Provan said nothing can ever detract from his “great contribution as an artist” and he would always be celebrated.
“Barry made an extraordinary contribution to Australian comedy,” she said.
-with AAP
