Magic : Miriam Margolyes & Barry Humphries

It's usually a political grab fest with a variety of politicians going head to head: ABC TVs Q&A.

Tonight it was pure cabaret with a Barry Humphries and Miriam Margolyes dominating a panel that consisted of host Tony Jones and fellow panelists, former politician John Hewson, Oscar nominee Jackie Weaver and journalist David Marr.
Miriam spoke of her lesbianism, her anti-Zionism, her Canberra born partner and her wish to take out Australian citizenship.(she knows Don Bradman's batting average in anticipation of the citizenship test).
There are still tickets available for her Dickens' Women show at the Sydney Opera House this Thursday and after watching her performance as Ruth Pinch from Dicken's Martin Chuzzlewit at the end of Q&A , it's a must see.

Q&A can be watched now on the ABC Q&A website.

## In 1991 David Marr published his best selling biography of Australia's Nobel Prize winning author Patrick White. Today is the 100th year anniversary since White was born in Knighstbridge in London in 1912. He emigrated with his parents to Australia when he was 6 months old, living in a Sydney flat with servants and a nanny while his parents lived in the next door apartment.

This Sunday ABC TV screens In The Eye Of The Storm. Fred Schepisi's adaption of White's 1973 book of the same name. The film stars Charlotte Rampling, Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush. Not to be missed.

Margaret Olley Exhibition Opens

An exhibition of the late Margaret Olley's paintings that have never been publicly displayed before opened on Thursday evening at Sothebys in Woollahra. Prices on the 27 works range from $60,000 upwards although most have already been sold. The one at the top which looks suspiciously like Margaret's living room is available for $440,000.

Amongst the guests were long time friends of Olley's including retiring NSW Art Gallery director Edmund Capon, Barry Humphries, movie director Bruce Beresford and artist Ben Quilty who became a good friend of Margaret;s after he won the Archibald Portrait prize for his painting of Olley last year.
2nd-17th March 118-122 Queen St Woollahra.

left : Margaret with Ben Quilty                                                        ********************

Best Look at The Oscars : Forget Angelina Jolie's leg, Rick Rubin pictured with Amanda Santos had the look with his famous whiskers combed to excess when he attended the Academy Awards and the Vanity Fair after party last Monday.

Rubin is the co-president of Columbia Records and possibly one of the greatest record producers in the world with a fortune estimated at $300M.
                                                     

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Madame Tussaud's has just unveiled one of it's waxworks that will appear in it's new Sydney exhibition that will open in Darling Harbour in May.

Nicely timed for today's Mardi Gras it's Felicia Jollygoodfellow from The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, in red, yellow and white feathers. Hopefully they will also include Guy Pearce who played Felicia in the film-he's much better looking.

Letteing The Side Down

The picture below of  Puberty Blues author Kathy Lette in her corgi dress giving HM The Queen a good laugh has now swept the world and cements Kathy's place as one of the best Antipodean self publicists in the UK.

Barry Humphries at Kathy's launch

Richard E.Grant

Lette was at Buckingham Palace for a reception hosted by Her Maj before her final trip Down Under. The Queen was heard to comment that she didn't realise there so many Australians in Britain which really shows she obviously doesn't get out much. Immigration records show there are close to 600,000 Aussies at present residing in the UK.

Kathy is quoted today telling a newspaper columnist about her trip to Buckingham palace : "As we’re all convict stock, I bet they spent all day hiding the silverware, don’t you? At least I made the Queen laugh. A first, I’m sure."
"The only funny thing was that the Palace had under-estimated the party potential of a bunch of wild colonials. We were practically swinging from the chandeliers. I gave the Queen a matching corgi scarf, so I do hope she’s going to wear it Down Under. I was very relieved that nothing mated with my leg, in that outfit."

The Shuttle has encountered Kathy and her husband barrister Geoffrey Robertson ( having shared a desk with Geoffrey in High School) many times on their visits to Sydney, the last being the launch of her book Mad Cow at the Boy Charlton Pool where actor Richard E.Grant did the honours.

Kathy's book launch in Sydney

Chatting to Robertson about Kathy's books he told us: "they don't sell that well in the UK  but she is a massive seller in Germany" . Asked to elaborate as to why this may be Geoffrey said "Kathy writes books that send up the British and the Germans lap them up. They have a more base sense of humour than the Brits as well so she seems in tune with them !".
The last time the Shuttle encountered the Queen in London at an official function was a reception at Australia House in the Strand many years ago. One aging journalist from Melbourne was there and was known to be not only a drunk but incontinent as well , sometimes forgetting to wear his protective pads. A group of us watched from the sidelines in horror as the man chatted to Prince Phillip, a puddle of piss gathering around their feet. When Phillip walked away we could hear his shoes squelching.

Dame Edna Attacked

There has been much chatter around the coffee bars of Double Bay about Dame Edna Everage's appearance at the Black &  White Charity lunch last Tuesday.

One tabloid journalist has ripped into the Dame over the reputed $35,000 fee charged by manager Barry Humphreys. Odd given the same hack is noted for their free-loading at charity events.

Although she received loud laughter throughout the room and was the draw card for the $295 ticket price, at a time when the charity dollar is hard to get, she has come in for criticism over her digs at  the Double Bay set, senior citizens and one lady in a wheel chair.

One prominent couple told the Shuttle today they were still fuming about Edna wishing she could "speak Hungarian" and other comments in reference to that large Eastern Suburbs ethnic community which they perceived as anti-Semitic remarks.

However the lady in the wheel chair who was the butt of many of Edna's digs was former B & W president Marno Parsons ( in our pic greeting Dame Edna in the Green Room after the show) who also sponsored the event. Marno and Dame Edna warmly embraced and chatted like old pals.

And we thought we recognised Dame Edna's stunning red feathered creation she wore on the day. Here she is wearing it at an Andre Riel concert where she sang the Peter Allen song 'I Still Call Australia Home'. The song was huge hit for the late Allen who gave the rights to Qantas for their advertising campaigns and in return received first class travel on their flights throughout the world.

Dame Edna Everage is Pregnant !

B & W president Susan Diver with Dame Edna

That's the stunning disclosure Dame Edna Everage revealed yesterday at the Black & White Charity's Women of Achievement lunch at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney.

Mrs Barry Humphries-Lizzie Spender

The Dame was in top form as she gave the audience some unique insights into her life and made some other stunning revelations.

We heard about her daughter who has shacked up with another female, her son who is a fashion designer and has a very close male 'friend' and for the first time Dame Edna told us of the daughter she had named Lois whom she has never spoken of before.

a big favourite-Governor Marie Bashir (left) arrives

Before she was famous Edna and her husband Norm went on a holiday by the sea. They left Lois in a cot on the veranda of their holiday home and forgot about her. In the morning they discovered that Lois had disappeared and the awful truth soon became clear. Lois had been stolen by a rogue giant Koala and was never seen again.
 And on and on it went with an audience of 600 in stitches.

One poor elderly lady came in for the Edna treatment when she was  asked where she was from and replied that she had come for a day out from a retirement home just to see Dame Edna. Edna asked if her security guards were close by.

B & W regulars : Baron & Baroness Boyd

Sadly copyright restrictions prevent us from posting the film we made of Dame Edna's talk today-the show was filmed for a Qantas in flight film. So you need to take an international flight to see her and that may be difficult at present as flights have been cancelled yet again due to ash cloud from the Chilean volcano.

 And the Dame saved the Shuttle from mistakenly purchasing a very expensive rug when we waved to a friend during an auction and it was accepted as a $2800 bid for a floor rug. She bid $2850 and saved the day !. One bidder also paid $6000 for the chance to dine with Edna at the restaurant of their choice.

An amusing moment: as Dame Edna posed on the grand staircase of the Four Seasons to record an introduction for the Qantas film surrounded by helpers and a film crew, an American tourist asked the Shuttle "is that Julia Gillard ?".

Dame Edna stars in The Hobbit

Maybe not Dame Edna Everage but her manager (and many say  the two have never been seen in the same room at the same time) Barry Humphries is to join the cast of The Hobbit.

The Peter Jackson $500M movie starts filming next March in New Zealand and Humphries will play the Goblin King.

It's not Barry's first acting role. He appeared as Rupert Murdoch in the 1980's TV series 'Selling Hitler' about the scandal involving the Sunday Times newspaper and the fake Hitler diaries, the Kath & Kim movie and Barry McKenzie Holds His Own based on the Private Eye magazine comic script.

Humphries contributed some immortal lines to the 2 McKenzie films such as when McKenzie is collared at a London party by a pompous  Hooray Henry who asks him : "tell me Mr McKenzie, is it true Australia is full of homosexuals?" to which McKenzie replies:
"No that's just the publicity we put out to attract the Pommy migrants"

Tomorrow at mid-day Dame Edna Everage will give a twenty minute talk at the Black & White charity committee's Woman of Achievement lunch. The Shuttle bring carry a full report.

In the meantime-here is a slice of Aussie culture from a Barry McKenzie fillum with the wonderful John le Mesurier.
And if you think that's an exaggeration  : In 2007 newly elected PM Kevin Rudd dumped former PM John Howard's 'migrant test' that required prospective migrants to know amongst other things who Don Bradman and Mervyn Richardson were!.( Richardson invented a lawn mower).

Hopefully in 3D-Murdoch The Movie

A film script on the life of Rupert Murdoch is being hawked around Hollywood.

This news comes courtesy of Franklin Leonard's annual Black List. Leonard is regarded as 'Hollywood's most important soothsayer" according to the LA Times with his list each year of unmade film projects. 

He compiles the list by talking to LA's most influential agents and studio bosses and any script that gets 5 mentions is included  with the added bonus it generates so much industry chat that the inclusion is regarded as a lifeline for ailing screenplays.

'Murdoch' was commissioned by the UK's Channel 4 and written by respected TV script writer Jesse Armstrong but 4 decided against making it. It's now being handled by a top agency Creative Artist's Agency who are looking for a producer and backer.

The script blurb reads : "As his family gathers for his birthday party, Rupert Murdoch tries to convince his elder children to alter the family trust so that his two youngest children by his newest wife will have voting rights in the company."

Ouch ! A little close to home. 

When Rupert divorced his second wife Anna Murdoch Mann , the mother of children Lachlan, James and Elisabeth, Anna went in tough with heavy New York lawyers and  secured a very profitable trust which she controls that holds huge swathes of News Corp shares in her children's names although  she was forced off the News board in the process. 

And she had rather unkind words to say about Rupert in a 2001 interview where she described him as "hard, ruthless and determined".

No-one quite knows what size of inheritance Wendi Murdoch's 2 daughters Chloe and Grace may be in for. With  News Corp  headquartered in Delaware with it's secretive corporate laws, the outside world doesn't really know quite what the media empire or Murdoch is worth although it will be in the billions of dollars.

 Long before Wendi appeared on the scene Murdoch also made a famous faux pas in 1997 when he referred to "my 3 children " while talking about succession in a press conference that drew the ire of his daughter Prudence Murdoch MacLeod, his first child from marriage to Patricia Booker. Never shy, Prudence got a public apology out of her father.

So it's all there-plenty of meat for Murdoch the film !

Rupert ?

Who would play the roles in this gripping drama where the clan get-together to discuss high finance?.

As the media baron Rupert Murdoch  step forward Barry Humphries who played Rupert in the 1983 film Selling Hitler: The Story of the Hitler Diaries. Humphries has aged nicely with the same crumpled look as Rupert.

Matt Damon is a cinch for the role of the American accented Lachlan Murdoch and surely  Sarah Murdoch with thespian ambitions could play herself. New actor Leighton Meester could do a good Elisabeth Murdoch. Hayden Christensen with specs could play James Murdoch.

That leaves roles for the two who are bound to play  a leading part in the carve-up of Murdoch's billions-Wendi Murdoch and Mathew Freud. Answers on a postcard please.

# you can download Leonard's Black List here and see other scripts 'Murdoch' is competing with. The Shuttle's favourite : Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter. The future president's mother is killed by a vampire and Abe spends the rest of his life hunting down the killers !

a Tom of Finland invasion

Tom on the Golden Mile

        The excitement on Oxford Street-the Golden Mile is palpable. Just 10 days to go to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. The dog collar wearing Lord Mayor Clover Moore has bedecked the streets of the city with huge pink flags bearing a heavy leather dude.

Clover

        The Mardi Gras has come some way since that fateful day in 1978 when a few hundred gays marched up Oxford Street to Kings Cross and ended up in an all out brawl with the same number of coppers. Now the boys in blue march in the parade. Along with Federal police, customs and immigration officers. Politicians from all parties send their best wishes.

        One of the original Living National Treasures of gaydom, Ken (Kandy) Johnson has launched his autobiography-Kandy what a drag !

       Ken opened one of the first gay pubs in Sydney and went on to run the legendary Purple Onion, a cavernous drag cabaret bar in suburban Kensington that was packed to the rafters and with every visiting celebrity putting in a appearance. Sir Robert Helpmann, Judy Garland. Rudolf Nureyev and Sammy Davis Jr were all spotted there taking in the extravagant drag spectaculars.

          Kandy sold the Onion and opened the first gay sauna-Kens Karate Klub and then launched his travelling drag troupe-Femmes and Feathers. He hired a girl to masquerade as a man masquerading as a woman masquerading as a man ( I think that's right !). They fell in love, married and had a son (an heir to the Kandy $$millions). It's a rollicking read and no holds barred look at the life of a gay icon including a stint in jail where he became the most popular jailbird for his nightly performances for the inmates.

      Ken's retired now and divides his time between a Sydney mansion and houses in Noosa and Turkey. Get his book here.

Andrew Neil, Peter Costello, Oscar Humphries in Sydney (c)

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Meanwhile another drag star has a son who is going from success to success. Barry Humpries' son Oscar is now editing the British arts magazine Apollo.

Oscar Humphries already edits the Australian Spectator from London.
Regular Shuttlers will recall Oscar arrived in Sydney from the UK where he was brought up, about 5 years ago and seemed set to take the town by storm as a 'new face' on the scene. Then the social media got stuck into him. We can't remember the reason why-probably none at all. He fled after 2 years.

   One however recalls his father Barry's words over dinner about 10 years ago when he was discussing the amazing success he had in the UK which has been finally repeated in the USA.

Barry said every time he was about to leave Melbourne in the old days to travel to the UK the Oz media would say words to the effect-"what's the problem Mr Humphries, aren't we good enough for you ?"

   When he arrived back after a successful season in the West End he would be greeted with the words-"so what's the problem Mr Humphries. couldn't make it overseas then ?" .
You can see why the reptile bitches thrive so well on the British tabloids when they travel there to further their experience.

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 How timely for cricketer Shane Warne to launch his range of men's underwear in a venue not too far from the Golden Mile.      

The only other time the Social Shuttle encountered Warne was at the Commonwealth Day lunch in 1996 when Princess Diana attended her very last charity function before retiring.

tSS was the only media permitted inside the venue for the lunch much to the chagrin of a few hundred Fleet Street hacks who stood outside the building.

   We sat with Warne at the table next to Diana-not knowing who he was. Upon enquiry Shane informed us he was a cricketer of some note.

 "Oh does Diana follow cricket then ?" we asked.
"Don't know" said Warne,"but I think she likes rough trade !". Diana smiled sweetly in his direction.

Meanwhile, noses pressed to the windows outside, the assembled reptiles glowered towards us.

a night to remember

tSS has scored 2 tickets courtesy of Barry Humphries to the gala premiere of Dame Edna Everage's new stage spectacular this Monday night at the Sydney Opera House.

               This show should be something else-brilliant violinist Richard Tognetti and the highly acclaimed  Australian Chamber Orchestra will be performing along with Humphries, Dame Edna and Sir Les Patterson, Cultural Attache and Minister for The Yartz.
                One proviso, Barry has recommended we don't let the Dame know we are his guests The seats are in the front row and we could come in for a verbal bashing from Edna.

                 Sir Les will be singing some of his favourite songs from Slim Dusty country tunes to Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy". Humphries says Sir Les may even be joined by Dame Edna in a duet-  " if only to upstage the respected senior politician" whilst Humphries will conduct the orchestra. This we have to see. All 3 on stage at once.

                 Humphries has also advised Tognetti to take out extra insurance on the amazing gift he received 2 years ago from a mystery benefactor-a $10M valued violin known as a Carrodus-one of only four in existence. 
 "Sir Les has a particularly virulent strain of spittle that has been known to eat holes through the toughest timber" says Humphries. 
            Barry will also be performing Façade, Edith Sitwell’s eccentric nonsense poems recited over William Walton’s cheeky, jazzy, hummable instrumental backgrounds. Humphries says "expect anything in this show-anything is likely to happen"
             As to Sir Les Patterson who will be appearing in off-white tails, Humphries says " I've been quite surprised. There hasn't been one single objection to Sir Les taking the stage at such a cultural evening. Although there could be quite a body of objection afterwards".
         
  There are only 2 performances in Sydney and 2 in Melbourne with limited seats-so book early HERE.
        
As Humphries says :"this is a once in a lifetime event. And many may say after 'thank God for that' "
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## If a night with the Dame isn't your bag, how about former Australian Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib's one man show Waiting For Mamdouh which will be premiered next February as part of NIDA's  Short+Sweet theatrical festival.

   Habib spent nearly 4 years at GITMO before being released without charge and flown back to Australia by private jet. He says he was tortured in Pakistan with Australian and CIA agents watching on before being blindfolded and flown to Cuba.. He also says he has had 3 offers from the US to make films of his life but cannot travel abroad because the Australian government refuses to issue a passport despite him never having been convicted of a crime.
   Mamdou's play is a ten minute soliloquy performed in a cell onstage where he "tells the truth to the Australian people and the world." of his time in Cuba.

Handling Edna

Barry Humphries speaks on the ABC 's 7-30 Report about his forthcoming unauthorised biography of Dame Edna Everage titled "Handling Edna" (she's threatened to sue) :

"Well, of course, she didn't try very hard to stay in touch with her suburban roots. She used to say quite early on her career, "The secret of my success is that I've put my family last." And she would recommend that to everybody. If you put your family first, they'll never thank you. Which is probably why Edna's family is rather spectacularly dysfunctional.

KERRY O'BRIEN: How do you compare 1955 Edna with the Dame Edna of today?

BARRY HUMPHRIES: There's a total difference. In those days, Edna was, well, a frump. She looked - she stood at her kitchen sink, like so many other women in 1955, wrist deep in grey water, peas and mutton fat floating thereon. She looked out through cracked venetian blinds at a dismal backyard littered with broken plastic toys. "Is this all there is?" she might have said to herself. So, because she was appearing in a passion play in Moonee Ponds, playing the role of Mary Magdalene, she wrote to me, according to this book and the postcard. I wish I could show you the postcard, but it's disappeared. She wanted my advice. Now, I was a very inexperienced actor. I'd barely done more than Edna in the theatrical field, but I'd had a bit of publicity. So she wrote to me and this partnership began.

the Fairfax family do a little house-clearing

James Fairfax with NSW Art Gallery director Edmund Capon (c the Shuttle)

 The Fairfax family have long dominated the Australian media world with their chain of venerable newspapers-The Age in Melbourne being regarded as one of the great broadsheets of the world. In fact the Fairfaxs had been the longest continuous newspaper owners on the planet.

That came to an end in 1987 when Warwick Fairfax, the youngest child of the late Sir Warwick and Lady Mary Fairfax-fresh from Harvard, launched a bid to completely privatize the publicly listed company. It was however a bonus to leading Fairfax family members who were major shareholders with brother James and mother Lady Mary picking up an estimated  $200-$300M each although they lost control of their newspapers for all time. Cousin John B.Fairfax picked up a sizable fortune as well. 2 years after Warwick's bid the newspaper chain was in receivership but the Fairfaxs were cashed-up.

One old Master inspects another-Barry Humphries at the James Fairfax art launch (c) the Shuttle

In hindsight and with the advent of the internet young Warwick's scheme, roundly criticized at the time as being overly ambitious looks to have been a smart move. Perhaps he knew more than he let on..  
James Fairfax has become a leading philanthropist as well as an art collector who continually donates works to the Art Gallery of NSW. To date the gallery has received works by such masters as van Ruisdael, Rubens, Canaletto, Claude, Boucher, Amigoni, Domenico, Tiepolo, van Mieris and drawings by Ingres, Watteau, Fragonard and Greuze.

Now he has announced he will donate his historic Southern Highlands property Redford House-once the home of the Horden department store family,to the National Trust. Warwick will divide his time between a Sydney apartment and houses in London's Mayfair and Devon.

Lady Mary Fairfax is doing likewise with the family seat-the harbourside mansion Fairwater with it's many acres of splendid gardens which also serves as the Monaco Consulate-Lady Mary being the Honorary Consul. Lady Mary also used part of her good fortune to purchase the then most expensive apartment in the world-forking out $34M in 1992 for the top 2 floors of New York's Pierre Hotel which boasts a grand ballroom over looking Central Park. Recently a Saudi prince paid over $120M for the New York digs.

As for cousin John B. Fairfax, things aren't looking rosy. He decided to buy back into the publishing world around 15 years ago with the then successful Rural Printing Press followed by the real estate advertising heavy chain of Courier Newspapers plus a 10% stake in the old family Fairfax Newspapers group.

Things are looking grim as Fairfax Newspapers stumble from woe to woe. Those "rivers of gold" as Kerry Packer once described classified advertising are drying up. Fairfax newspapers are still hugely profitable but board room battles are never-ending, share prices have fallen and John B is reputedly down about $60M and it's rumoured, has recently negotiated a mortgage ( the Fairfaxs never have mortgages) on the magnificent 120 year family home Elaine. right next door to Fairwater and regarded as far grander as it has it's own ballroom.

While Fairwater will end up with the National Trust when Mary leaves this  mortal coil-Mary has stipulated each of her faithful retainers live there for the rest of their lives rent free and have the run of the place. She's good to her staff. 

Lady Mary, like all the Fairfax family is good to charity and like the family she married into prefers be a low key helper but many a charity fallen on hard times in this difficult financial climate has praise for the dear lady.

Lady Mary, born Jewish, converted to Catholic faith when she married Sir Warwick. Never one to do things lightly, she had herself confirmed by the Pope.

 Once in New York Lady Mary contracted an eye ailment and was told on doctor's orders she must not fly for 5 days. Anxious to return to Sydney Mary had her loyal chauffeur and his wife who accompany her everywhere, purchase a new Rolls Royce to drive from NY to LA. "we'll ship it home from there" said Mary. When the driver pointed out that a left hand drive Roller wasn't the best for Oz roads she replied"well we'll just find a nice charity to give it to".

As for young Warwick Fairfax who brought all this about just over 20 years ago?. He lives quietly with his wife and kids in the USA.

## update Monday 28th ; Fairfax chairman Ron Walker-who brought us Melbourne's Grand Prix in partnership with Bernie Ecclestone has agreed to step down today. This is a major triumph for John B.Fairfax who has been demanding his abdication. 

Now John B, and son Nicholas Fairfax look set to take leading roles in running Australia's-and the world's-oldest and best chain of newspapers. These chaps have newsprint in their blood. Hopefully they will lead Fairfax Newspapers back to the glory days. They have an advantage-Fairfax media was one of the first to enter the digital age.