Sandy Stone (Barry Humphries character)

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Sandy Stone is a male character played by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. Described by John Betjeman as this decent man from the suburbs, Stone is one of Humphries' more enduring characters.

The inspiration for Sandy came from a neighbour, a Mr Whittle, whom Humphries knew as a boy, and was portrayed in a short story, Sandy Stone's Big Week, written by Humphries (under the pseudonym H. Grahame) in 1956 but not published until 1958 (in a Canberra student magazine Prometheus). Humphries describes Sandy, originally called Dusty, as an 'elderly, childless man' living in the suburbs of Melbourne. His vocal mannerisms came from an old codger Humphries met on Bondi Beach. ^[1].

One of Sandy's monologues was part of the recording 'A Nice Night's Entertainment', which was particularly enjoyed by Humphries' friend, Peter Cook ^[2].

Sandy's monologues were sometimes inspired by stories recounted to Humphries by friends or family, like the tale of 'Dot Swift' who was handed over to the Twilight Home ^[3] which may be the very same home, or perhaps a subsidiary of the one Dame Edna's mother resides in.

The character is featured in the track Sandy Agonistes on Humphries' comedy recording Moonee Ponds Muse, Vol. 1

The complete scripts (edited by Colin O'Brien) of all the Stone soliloquies were published in the The Life and Death of Sandy Stone in 1990.

The artist Sidney Nolan painted a portrait of the character.