Character Origins
By Humphries' own account, the character of Patterson first appeared in a one-man show that he performed at the St George Leagues Club in Sydney in January 1974. Appearing in the guise of the boorish, loud-mouthed and uncultured Patterson, Humphries claimed to be that club's own entertainments officer as he introduced the next act, Dame Edna Everage. As Humphries recalled, “I understood later that many members of the audience thought Les was genuinely a club official, which says a lot for his charm and sincerity”. Later that same year, the character (by now identified as Australia's cultural attache to the Far East) was revived in a two-week cabaret appearance that Humphries performed at the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong. In Humphries' words, “The English merchant bankers and commodity brokers and Australian accountants there all recognised Les as someone they knew in the Australian diplomatic corps, and took him to their hearts”. Patterson went on to play an even larger role in Humphries' next one-man show in London, Housewife Superstar! (1976), delivering a lengthy monologue that was included on the original cast album.
Read more about this topic: Sir Les Patterson
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