RIP Madge Allsop

[JAS]

Emily Perry, who played Dame Edna's sidekick has died at the grand old age of 100.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7254308.stm


Edna's sidekick Emily Perry dies

Actress Emily Perry, who played Dame Edna Everage's sidekick Madge Allsop, has died at the age of 100.

The performer, who played the megastar's taciturn and long-suffering bridesmaid for many years, was 80 when she first took on the role in 1987.

Perry appeared on Dame Edna's ITV star-studded shows and travelled the world as part of comic Barry Humphries' stage spectaculars.

She lived at Brinsworth House, a London retirement home for entertainers.

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The actress appeared in the Dame Edna Experience from 1987-9, a comedy chat show which attracted a whole host of UK and Hollywood names.

As New Zealander Madge Allsop she never uttered a word, and her main function was to affix badges to star guests - and bear the brunt of Dame Edna's savage comments.

Humphries told the BBC: "Naturally it's very sad. It is a great loss to me, she was a very close friend."

Allsop appeared in two other Dame Edna shows in the early 1990s, eventually retiring in 2004 and moving to Brinsworth House, in Twickenham.

The actress also made a one-off appearance in long-running BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine in 1995.

Devon-born Perry - who was known as Pat - ran a children's dancing school for 25 years before finding fame late in life.

Speaking to the BBC News website last year ahead of her 100th birthday, Perry said: "You know, my memory's gone. I've been all around the world with Barry, and I can't remember a thing."

Regards
JAS