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The Devon-born actress, who played Dame Edna Everage's silent bridesmaid Madge Allsop, died earlier this week at the age of 100.
She began playing the role at the age of 80 and performed with Humphries around the world between 1987-9.
Talking about her audition, Humphries said: "She hadn't the faintest idea who I was and she didn't really know what she was meant to do. She came along completely unprepared but, as soon as I saw her, I knew she was exactly right."
Perry starred in ITV show The Dame Edna Experience for two years, during which Madge was forced to endure such put-downs as: "[She's] a human maggot held together by bacteria - and I mean that in a caring sort of way."
Humphries recalled that she had pretended to be discovered in bed with Ozzy Osbourne in her last TV appearance, adding: "Later, she said to me, 'Who was that funny man? He seemed very nervous'. She didn't know who he was."
After describing Perry as a "confirmed spinster who loved young, tanned beach boys", he added: "I'm very saddened to hear of her passing. She is absolutely irreplaceable. But it is wonderful to think that, in the last 25 years of her life, she became a star.
"I think if Dame Edna was to pay tribute, she'd say, 'I wish I'd been nicer to her.' "
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