Birth name	Terence Alan Milligan
Born	16 April 1918 Ahmednagar, India
Died	27 February 2002, age 83 Rye, East Sussex, England

Terence Alan Milligan, KBE, CBE (16 April 1918–27 February 2002), known as Spike Milligan, was an Irish writer, artist, musician, humanitarian and comedian. He also played the piano, trumpet, and saxophone and was the creator, principal writer and performing member of The Goon Show.

Biography

Spike Milligan in his younger days.

Early life

Milligan was born in Ahmednagar, India, on 16 April 1918, to an Irish-born father who was serving in the British Army.

Though he lived most of his life in England and served in the British Army, he was refused a British passport in 1960, having been born outside Britain to an Irish father, Leo Milligan, who was born and raised in the working class area of Holborn Street, Sligo in Ireland. Milligan took Irish citizenship instead and never forgave the British Government.

Second World War

During World War II he served as a signaller in the 56th Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery, D Battery, as Gunner Milligan, 954024 with the First Army in North Africa and then in Sicily and Italy. He rose to the rank of Lance-Bombardier and was about to be promoted to Bombardier when he was wounded in action in Italy and hospitalized for shell shock; an unsympathetic commanding officer demoted Milligan back to Gunner prior to his first breakdown.

During most the late 1930s and early 1940s he performed as an amateur jazz vocalist and trumpeter, both before and after being called up for military service, but even then he wrote and performed comedy sketches as part of concerts to entertain troops.

After his hospitalization he drifted through a number of rear-echelon military jobs in Italy, eventually becoming a full-time entertainer and ending up playing guitar with a jazz/comedy group called The Bill Hall Trio in concert parties for the troops; after being demobbed he remained in Italy playing with the Trio but returned to England soon after. While he was with the Central Pool of Artists (a group, in his own words, "of bomb-happy squaddies") he began to write parodies of their mainstream plays, that displayed many of the key elements of what would become The Goon Show with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine.

Radio

Milligan returned to England in the late 1940s and made a precarious living with the Hall trio and other similar acts mixing music and comedy, while attempting to break into the world of radio, both performing and scriptwriting. His first successes in this area were with material for the Derek Roy show, but he and some of his friends soon became involved with a much more unorthodox project - Crazy People, which rapidly mutated into The Goon Show.

Milligan's memoirs cover the years from 1939 to 1950 (essentially his call-up, war service, first breakdown, time spent entertaining in Italy, and return to the UK) in seven volumes.

He was the primary author of The Goon Show scripts (though many were written jointly with Larry Stephens, Eric Sykes and others) as well as a star performer, and is considered the father of modern British comedy^{[citation needed]}, having inspired countless writers and performers, including Monty Python's Flying Circus, with his work on The Goon Show and his own Q series. Writing a show a week affected his health greatly and caused him to have a series of nervous breakdowns. On one occasion, Peter Sellers had to lock his door against a potato-peeler-wielding Milligan^{[citation needed]}; on another, Sellers and Harry Secombe broke into Milligan's dressing room, fearing he was suicidal^{[citation needed]}. Eventually lithium was found to be the most effective treatment.

Ad-libbing

He also had a number of acting parts in theatre, film and television series; one of his last screen appearances was in the BBC dramatisation of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast, and he was (almost inevitably) noted as an ad-libber. One of Milligan's most famous ad-lib incidents occurred during a visit to Australia in the late 1960s. He was interviewed live-to-air and remained in the studio for the news broadcast that followed (read by Rod McNeil) during which Milligan constantly interjected, adding his own name to news items. As a result, he was banned from making any further live appearances on the ABC. The ABC also changed its national policy so that talent had to leave the studio after interviews were complete. A tape of the bulletin survives and has been included in an ABC Radio audio compilation, also on the BBC tribute CD, Vivat Milligna.

Poetry

Milligan also wrote nonsense verse for children, the best of which is comparable with that of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, the most famous probably being "On the Ning Nang Nong". This nonsense, set to music, became a favourite Australia-wide, performed week after week by the ABC children's programme Playschool. Milligan included it on his album No One's Gonna Change Our World in 1969 to aid the World Wildlife Fund.

While depressed Milligan wrote serious poetry. He also wrote a very successful series of war memoirs, including Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall (1971) and Rommel: Gunner Who? A Confrontation in the Desert (1974). He wrote comedy songs, including "Purple Aeroplane", which was a parody of The Beatles' song, "Yellow Submarine". Glimpses of his bouts with depression which led to the nervous breakdowns, can be found in his serious poetry, which is compiled in Open Heart University.

Personal life

Australia

After their retirement, Milligan's parents and his younger brother Desmond moved to Australia. His mother lived the rest of her life in the coastal village of Woy Woy on the New South Wales Central Coast, just north of Sydney; as a result, Milligan became a regular visitor to Australia and made a number of radio and TV programmes there.

From the 1960s onwards Milligan was a regular correspondent with Robert Graves. Milligan's letters to Graves usually addressed a question to do with classical studies. The letters form part of Graves' bequest to St. John's College, Oxford.

Health

He suffered from bipolar disorder for most of his life, having at least ten mental breakdowns.

Controversy

The Prince of Wales was a noted fan, and Milligan caused a stir by calling him a "grovelling little bastard" on television in 1994 [1]. He later faxed the prince, saying "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question?" He was finally made a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) (honorary because of his Irish citizenship) in 2000. He had been made an Honorary Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1992.

Campaigning

He was a strident campaigner on environmental matters, particularly arguing against unnecessary noise, such as the use of Muzak.

In 1971, Milligan caused controversy by attacking an art exhibition at the Hayward Gallery with a hammer [2]. The exhibit consisted of catfish, oysters and shrimp that were to be electrocuted as part of the exhibition.

In 1996, he successfully campaigned for the restoration of London's Elfin Oak.

He was also a public opponent of domestic violence, dedicating one of his books to Erin Pizzey.

Family

Milligan had three children with his first wife June Marlow: Laura, Seán and Síle. He had one daughter with his second wife Patricia Milligan: the actress Jane Milligan. He had no children with his third (and last) wife Shelagh Sinclair. The four children have recently collaborated with documentary makers on a new multi-platform program called I Told You I Was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan (2005) and web site, (see [3]).

Death

Even late in life, Milligan's black humour had not deserted him. After the death of friend Harry Secombe from cancer, he said, "I'm glad he died before me, because I didn't want him to sing at my funeral". A recording of Secombe singing was played at Milligan's memorial service. He also wrote his own obituary, in which he stated repeatedly that he "wrote the Goon show and died". In a BBC poll in August 1999, Spike Milligan was voted the "funniest person of the last 1000 years".

He died from liver disease, at the age of 83, on 27 February 2002, at his home in Rye, East Sussex.

Posthumously

The film of Puckoon, starring his daughter, the actress Jane Milligan, was released after his death.

The Holden Road plaque.

Milligan lived for several years in Holden Road, Woodside Park and at The Crescent, Barnet, and was a strong supporter of the Finchley Society. His old house in Woodside Park is now demolished, but there is a blue plaque in his memory on the new house on the site. The Finchley Society is trying to get a statue of him erected in Finchley. There is also a campaign to erect a statue in the London Borough of Lewisham, where he grew up (see Honor Oak) after coming to the UK from India in the 1930s.

In accordance with his last wishes, his headstone bears the words "I told you I was ill." As his local church refused to allow these words on a headstone in its cemetery, a compromise was reached with the Irish language translation, "Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite."

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

On 9 June 2006 it was reported that Professor Richard Wiseman had identified Milligan as the writer of the world's funniest joke as decided by the Laughlab project. Professor Wiseman said the joke contained all three elements of what makes a good gag - anxiety, a feeling of superiority, and an element of surprise. [4].

Trivia

• Reportedly, Spike Milligan suggested to the makers of Dr. Strangelove that the movie should end with a montage of A-bombs exploding as opposed to the intended pie-fight sequence.^{[citation needed]}
• As the members of Monty Python greatly admired him, they gave Milligan a cameo role in their 1979 film, Monty Python's Life of Brian. His presence was actually a coincidence--Milligan happened to be holidaying near where the Pythons were filming.
• According to the first volume of his war memoirs, Milligan was almost press ganged into the Royal Air Force Regiment. This had the same relation to the Royal Air Force as the Marines did to the Royal Navy, and was correspondingly tough. During its early years it was short of men and often resorted to arresting soldiers from other regiments. They would be held and transferred into the RAF Regiment by bureaucratic sleight-of-hand. Milligan found himself arrested on the street by a senior NCO from the RAF Regiment, accused of "idle marching". He was taken to the barracks for processing. Realizing what was likely to happen, he slipped away at the first opportunity and walked out the front gate. Had he stayed, the history of British comedy might have been very different.
• While singing "It's A Small World After All" on an episode of The Muppet Show, he is wearing a t-shirt with Arabic writing. Rumours abound that the t-shirt says "hashish", but this is untrue. Spike Milligan's shirt actually says "Kuwait", a reference to his own television series "Q8".
• According to friends and associates, Milligan often joked that he wanted to be buried in a washing machine "just to confuse the archeologists".
• Roald Dahl wanted Milligan to play the lead role in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. Paramount pictures rejected the idea, instead recruiting Gene Wilder for the role.
• Appearing on Desert Island Discs, he chose a credit card as his luxury item.

Radio comedy shows

• The Goon Show (1951 - 1960)
• The Idiot Weekly (1958 - 1962)
• The Omar Khayyam Show (1963 - 1964)
• Milligna (or Your Favourite Spike) (1972) The title is based on Milligan's introduction in The Last Goon Show of All as "Spike Milligna, the well-known typing error".
• The Milligan Papers (1987)

Other radio shows

Milligan contributed his recollections of his childhood in India for the acclaimed 1970s BBC audio history series Plain Tales From The Raj. The series was published in book form in 1975 by Andre Deutsch, edited by Charles Allen.

TV comedy shows

• The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d
• A Show Called Fred
• Son of Fred
• The World of Beachcomber
• Q5, Q6, Q7, Kuwait (Q8) Q9 and There's A Lot of It About

Other notable TV involvement

• Narrator of The Ratties (1987), a children's cartoon series written by Mike Wallis and Laura Milligan, Spike's daughter.
• The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town ran as a serial in The Two Ronnies in the 1970s.
• Special guest star of the January 18, 1979 edition of The Muppet Show

Theatre

• Treasure Island (1961, 1973 - 1975)
• The Bed-Sitting Room (1963, 1967) written by Milligan and John Antrobus
• Oblomov Opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1964. It was based on the Russian classic by Ivan Goncharov, and gave Milligan the opportunity to play most of the title role in bed. Unsure of his material, on the opening night he improvised a great deal, treating the audience as part of the plot almost, and he continued in this manner for the rest of the run, and on tour as 'Son Of Oblomov'.

Films

• The Bed-Sitting Room (1969), post-apocalyptic comedy with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and also Arthur Lowe; written by John Antrobus based on the Milligan/Antrobus play. Milligan had a small role as a postman named "Mate", which was also the name of a Goon Show character.
• The Great McGonagall, untalented Scottish poet (based on William Topaz McGonagall) angles to become laureate, with Peter Sellers as Queen Victoria.
• Down Among the Z Men (1952), played Eccles in a detective/military black and white film with all The Goons including early member Michael Bentine and original announcer Andrew Timothy.
• The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn, a Goon-like 2-reel comedy ("Mukkinese" = "mucky knees").
• The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film, a silent comedy, Richard Lester's debut film.
• The decrepit manager of a seedy London hotel in Bruce Beresford's The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972).
• Monsieur Bonacieux, husband of Madame Bonacieux (Raquel Welch) in Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers (1973).
• The prophet abandoned by his flock in Life of Brian.
• The traffic warden who eats the ticket in The Magic Christian.
• The Last Remake of Beau Geste, with Marty Feldman.
• Monsieur Rimbaud in History of the World, Part I.
• Country postman Harold Petts in Postman's Knock (1962).
• A royal herald who accidentally blows a spy's cover in Yellowbeard.
• A policeman who briefly talks to Dr. Watson and Stapleton when they first arrive on the moors in The Hound of the Baskervilles IMDb Link.

Books

• Silly Verse for Kids (1959); the 1968 paperback edition omits one poem and adds some from the next two books
• A Dustbin of Milligan (1961)
• Goblins
• The Little Pot Boiler (1963)
• Puckoon (1963)
• A Book of Bits, or A Bit of a Book (1965)
• A Book of Milliganimals (1968)
• The Looney: An Irish Fantasy (1987)
• The Bedside Milligan
• "The War (and Peace) Memoirs"
  • The seven memoirs were also recorded as talking books with Spike reciting them in his own inimitable style.
  • Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall (1971)
    • In the film version of this book, Jim Dale played Milligan, and Milligan played his own father.
  • Rommel? Gunner Who? A Confrontation in the Desert (1974)
  • Monty: His Part in My Victory (1976)
    • This and the previous two books were released and publicised as the first, second, and third part respectively of a trilogy.
  • Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall (1978)
    • This was announced as the fourth part of his trilogy.
  • Where Have All the Bullets Gone? (1985)
  • Goodbye Soldier (1986)
  • Peace Work (1992)
• Small Dreams of a Scorpion
• Hidden Words: Collected Poems
• Open Heart University
• Startling Verse for All the Family
• A Mad Medley of Milligan
• Transports of Delight
• More Transports of Delight
• Depression and How to Survive It (with Professor Anthony Clare), medical biography.
• It Ends with Magic
• The Murphy
• Milligan's Ark
• The "According to" Books
  • The Bible—the Old Testament According to Spike Milligan
  • Black Beauty According to Spike Milligan
  • D.H.Lawrence's John Thomas and Lady Jane: According to Spike Milligan—Part II of "Lady Chatterley's Lover"
  • Frankenstein According to Spike Milligan
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles According to Spike Milligan
  • Lady Chatterley's Lover According to Spike Milligan
  • Robin Hood According to Spike Milligan
  • Treasure Island According to Spike Milligan
  • Wuthering Heights According to Spike Milligan

Quotations

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Spike Milligan

• "When I look back, the fondest memory I have is not really of the Goons. It is of a girl called Julia with enormous breasts."
• Of his honorary CBE—"I can't see the sense in it really. It makes me a Commander of the British Empire. They might as well make me a Commander of Milton Keynes—at least that exists."
• On his bouts of clinical depression— "It's the nature of who you are. You will see sunsets in a special way, you will see life in a special way. The Milligans are like Arab racehorses. We'll kick the stable to pieces, but we'll always win the race."
• Of heaven— "I'd like to go there. But if Jeffrey Archer is there, I want to go to Lewisham."