Sir Les Patterson

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 attaché 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.

On stage

For more than 30 years, the character of Sir Les Patterson has been a regular feature in Barry Humphries' solo theatrical appearances in Australia and Great Britain, during which he performs a monologue and frequently bursts into song. Some of Patterson's specific monologues (as documented in the theatre programmes for Humphries' various shows) include the following:

During the Australian tour of Remember You're Out! (1999), it was stated that Patterson would not appear for fear of offending Humphries' more genteel fans; the character nevertheless made an appearance (as a scripted but seemingly unexpected gate crashing) during the show's second act.

In an effort to specifically satisfy fans of Les Patterson's earthy humour, Humphries performed two one-man shows entirely in Patterson's guise: one in London, entitled Les Patterson Rampant in Whitehall (June/July 1996) and another in New York, entitled Les Patterson Unzipped (Zipper Theater, 2 May 2005). The London performance was recorded, and has since been released both as an audio tape and a video tape, under the title Live and Rampant: Les Patterson has a Stand-Up.

Film and television

On television, the character of Sir Les Patterson hosted a documentary about the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, entitled Sir Les and the Great Chinese Takeaway (1997). He has appeared as a special guest on the following:

Barry Humphries has been interviewed in Patterson's guise on numerous TV talk shows, including Parkinson (1982), Clive James, Clive Anderson's All Talk (1995), The Panel (2003) and Rove Live (2005).

In 1987, Sir Les Patterson was the basis of an ambitious full-length feature film, Les Patterson Saves the World, which was a critical and commercial failure.

Personal appearances

In 1983, the Cambridge Union Society held a spoof ceremony in which Barry Humphries, in the guise of Les Patterson, was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters. This caused great angst amongst Cambridge dons who were worried that the public might mistakenly believe that Cambridge University had awarded the gong to Sir Les. However, the Cambridge Union is obviously not entitled to award honorary degrees.

In 1986, Humphries as Patterson was awarded the Douglas Wilkie Medal for doing the least for football in the best and fairest manner. His dislike for the game of Australian rules football was illustrated when he coated a leather football in cream cake, and fed it to a camel.

Depictions in art

In 1999, expatriate Australian photographer Polly Borland created a memorable image of Sir Les Patterson (seated on a toilet, waving an Australian flag) as part of a series entitled Australians, which was exhibited at the respective National Portrait Galleries in London (2000) and Canberra (2001).

In 2000, a portrait of Humphries as Patterson by painter Bill Leak won the Packing Room Prize at the Archibald Prize. In 2014, Tim Storrier's full-length painting, The Member, Dr Sir Leslie Colin Patterson KCB AO, also won the Packing Room Prize.

Early life and education

Sir Leslie Colin Patterson, AO, was born on 1 April 1942, in Taren Point, Southern Sydney. In later life, he claimed descent from a certain Ebenezer Patterson, who had been sent to Australia as a convict in the nineteenth century. Little is known of Patterson's present-day family beyond from the fact that he has a sister whose name is either Lois or Noreen (sources differ) and a brother named Gerard, who became a clergyman and later served as an Advisor on Religious Affairs to the Lord Howe Island Chamber of Commerce. In a brief memoir published in 2006, Father Gerard Patterson described his brother Les as "the archetypical Australian scallywag", who had been their mother's favourite. Father Patterson further recalled that his brother had a "rough and ready education". Through the influence of their uncle Leo, both brothers were sent to Melbourne to attend the prestigious Xavier College, although Les remained there for only 1½ terms. Returning to Sydney, he attended Our Lady of Dolours' Boys School and completed his Intermediate Certificate at Parramatta High School.

Patterson commenced tertiary study at the Kogarah TAFE. Prior to his appointment as Cultural Attaché, he completed what he described as a "five-day crash course in World Culture" at the University of Sydney. Only a few years later, he would receive an honorary doctorate in Australian Studies.

Personal life

Although Father Gerard Patterson noted that he and Les had "drifted apart" after he had entered the priesthood, he would later officiate at his brother's wedding to Gwenneth Lorraine Dolan, a former hand model. She was a film buff who enjoyed Disney films and, by Sir Les' own account, they had met at a matinée screening of Fantasia. They subsequently had two children, Karen and Craig. Members of the Patterson family have occasionally assisted Sir Les in his business ventures. When he founded the Thursday Island Film Commission in 1978, his wife Lady Gwenneth was appointed as director, his daughter Karen as secretary, and his sister Lois as creative liaison co-ordinator. According to Father Gerard Patterson, Karen later took a position at Our Lady of Dolours School for Ridiculously Slow Learners, in South Sydney, while her brother Craig was employed for the Australian Wheat Board, where, in 2008, his work had "recently attracted unfair publicity".

In 1976, Les Patterson received a knighthood "for services to Australian culture" as part of the New Year's Honours List. Sources differ, however, in regard to its precise designation. The sleeve notes to Patterson's 1985 LP, 12 Inches of Les, identify him a KBE (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire), while his own signature, as seen in the preface to his book The Traveller's Tool, identifies him as a KCB (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath). However, since the Order of the Bath is mostly bestowed on military and civil service personnel, a KBE is most likely to be the correct knighthood conferred as that is keeping with actual practice.

In various published sources, Les Patterson has listed his hobbies as " pocket billiards and sauna construction in Thailand" (according to a 1995 programme bio) and "wine tasting and infidelity" (according to a 2005 CV).

Professional life

Over a career of more than four decades, Sir Les Patterson has held numerous positions in the public and private sector, including the following:

Published works

Since the 1970s, Barry Humphries has released a number of books and recordings under the guise of Sir Les Patterson.

Books

Recordings

Solo albums

Solo singles

Other appearances on recordings

Filmography