Sir Leslie Colin "Les" Patterson (born 1 April 1942) is a fictional character created and portrayed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. Obese, lecherous and offensive, Patterson is Dame Edna Everage's exact opposite: she is female, refined, Protestant and from Melbourne; he is male, uncouth, Roman Catholic and from Sydney. 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. Humphries (who gave up alcohol in the 1970s) said in 2016 that "in Les I can release my alcoholism". He found that of all his characters Sir Les caused the most offence Down Under, as Australians are "deeply conventional" and "like being bossed around". Stage, film and TV appearances 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 the United Kingdom, 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: "The Yartz", from Isn't it Pathetic at His Age? (Australian tour, 1978–79) and A Night with Dame Edna; (UK tour, 1978–79) "Peter and the Shark", from The Last Night of the Poms (London, 1981) and Song of Australia (Melbourne and Sydney, 1983) "Les looking good", from An Evening's Intercourse with Barry Humphries (Australian tour, 1981; UK tour, 1982) "Les