
Actress and famous divorcee Zsa Zsa Gabor shows her ability to laugh at herself in this interview with Dame Edna Everage.
Gabor comes across as very much owning her public profile. However, when Everage tells Gabor about her husband Norm, and his prostate condition and registered charity status, Gabor is either displaying her fine qualities as an actor, or she thinks that Everage is serious.
It isn't apparent whether Gabor is aware that Everage is in fact a man (Barry Humphries) masquerading as a woman.
The conceit of the show as a satire of talk shows is reminiscent of the celebrity interviews done by Garry McDonald's Norman Gunston character in the 1970s. In both cases it's not always obvious if the stars are in on the joke.
Everage has an interesting relationship with celebrity, having basically deemed herself a superstar. She likes to rub shoulders with celebrities and enjoys keeping them in their place (below her) and treating them like 'ordinary folk'.
Clip taken from season one, episode four of The Dame Edna Experience. Other guests on this episode are singer Nana Mouskouri and Germaine Greer - who, like Everage and Humphries, is another famous Australian export to the UK.
Notes by Beth Taylor
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.