He also wrote comical verse, with much of his poetry written for children, including Silly Verse for Kids (1959). ==Early life== Milligan was born in Ahmednagar, India, on 16 April 1918, the son of an Irish father, Captain Leo Alphonso Milligan, MSM, RA (1890–1969), who was serving in the British Indian Army. His mother, Florence Mary Winifred (née Kettleband; 1893–1990), was English.
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was a British-Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright.
He also wrote comical verse, with much of his poetry written for children, including Silly Verse for Kids (1959). ==Early life== Milligan was born in Ahmednagar, India, on 16 April 1918, the son of an Irish father, Captain Leo Alphonso Milligan, MSM, RA (1890–1969), who was serving in the British Indian Army. His mother, Florence Mary Winifred (née Kettleband; 1893–1990), was English.
After coming to the UK from India in the 1930s, he lived at 50 Riseldine Road, Brockley and attended Brownhill Boys' School (later Catford Boys' School, which was demolished in 1994).
Milligan's seven volumes of memoirs cover the years from 1939 to 1950 (his call-up, war service, first breakdown, time spent entertaining in Italy and return to the UK).
While he was with the Central Pool of Artists (a group he described as composed "of bomb-happy squaddies") he began to write parodies of their mainstream plays, which displayed many of the key elements of what would later become The Goon Show (originally called Crazy People) with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine. ==Career== ===The Goon Show=== Milligan returned to jazz in the late 1940s and made a precarious living with the Hall trio and other musical comedy acts.
Milligan later blamed the pressure of writing and performing The Goon Show, for both his breakdown and the failure of his first marriage. A lesser-known aspect of Milligan's life in the 1950s and 1960s was his involvement in the writers' agency Associated London Scripts.
This reportedly distracted him from writing so much that he accepted an invitation from Eric Sykes to share his small office, leading to the creation of the co-operative agency. ===Television=== Milligan made several forays into television as a writer-performer, in addition to his many guest appearances on interview, variety and sketch comedy series from the 1950s to the 2000s.
The initial intention was to "visualise" original recordings of 1950s Goon Show episodes but this proved difficult, because of the rapid-fire dialogue and was ultimately frustrated by the BBC's refusal to allow the original audio to be used.
Milligan's seven volumes of memoirs cover the years from 1939 to 1950 (his call-up, war service, first breakdown, time spent entertaining in Italy and return to the UK).
During its first season the BBC titled the show as Crazy People, or in full, The Junior Crazy Gang featuring those Crazy People, the Goons!, an attempt to make the programme palatable to BBC officials, by connecting it with the popular group of theatre comedians known as The Crazy Gang. The first episode was broadcast on 28 May 1951 on the BBC Home Service.
In late 1952, possibly exacerbated by suppressed tensions between the Goons' stars, Milligan apparently became irrationally convinced that he had to kill Sellers but when he attempted to gain entry to Sellers's neighbouring flat, armed with a potato knife, he accidentally walked straight through the plate-glass front door.
Symphony Central Coast has performed it occasionally since, including a 2020 recording as a COVID-19 isolation project. ==Personal life== ===Family=== Milligan married his first wife, June (Marchinie) Marlow, in 1952; Peter Sellers was best man.
The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d (1956), starring Peter Sellers, was the first attempt to translate Goons humour to TV; it was followed by A Show Called Fred and Son of Fred, both made during 1956 and directed by Richard Lester, who went on to work with the Beatles.
The series was published in book form in 1975 by André Deutsch, edited by Charles Allen. ==Television comedy shows== Don't Spare the Horses The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d A Show Called Fred Son of Fred The World of Beachcomber The Q series: Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9, and There's a Lot of It About Curry and Chips Oh In Colour ==Other notable television involvement== Six-Five Special, first aired on 31 August 1957.
During a visit to Australia in 1958, a similar special was made for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, "The Gladys Half-Hour", which also featured local actors Ray Barrett and John Bluthal, who would appear in several later Milligan projects.
The Milligan-Stephens partnership was finally ended by Stephens' death from a brain haemorrhage in January 1959; Milligan later downplayed and disparaged Stephens' contributions. The Goon Show was recorded before a studio audience and during the audience warm-up session, Milligan would play the trumpet, while Peter Sellers played on the orchestra's drums.
According to Scudamore: In an interview with Bernard Braden, Milligan described theatre as important to him: ===Ken Russell films=== In 1959 Ken Russell made a short 35 mm film about and with Milligan entitled Portrait of a Goon.
Milligan later blamed the pressure of writing and performing The Goon Show, for both his breakdown and the failure of his first marriage. A lesser-known aspect of Milligan's life in the 1950s and 1960s was his involvement in the writers' agency Associated London Scripts.
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 ad-lib incidents occurred during a visit to Australia in the late 1960s.
They had three children—Laura, Seán and Síle—and divorced in 1960.
When British law related to Commonwealth-born residents, which had given him a secure place in the UK, changed, he applied, in 1960, for a British passport.
The additional epitaph "Grá mhór ort Shelagh" can be read as "Great love for you Shelagh". According to a letter published in the Rye and Battle Observer in 2011, Milligan's headstone was removed from St Thomas' churchyard in Winchelsea and moved to be alongside the grave of his wife but was later returned. ==Legacy== From the 1960s, Milligan was a regular correspondent with Robert Graves.
Milligan named the town "the largest above-ground cemetery in the world" when visiting in the 1960s. Milligan's mother became an Australian citizen in 1985, partly in protest at the circumstances which led to her son's ineligibility for British citizenship; Milligan himself was reportedly considering applying for Australian citizenship at the time as well.
In 1961, Milligan co-wrote two episodes of the popular sitcom Sykes and a..., co-starring Sykes and Hattie Jacques and the one-off "Spike Milligan Offers a Series of Unrelated Incidents at Current Market Value". The 15-minute series The Telegoons (1963), was the next attempt to transplant the Goons to television, this time using puppet versions of the familiar characters.
Miles described Milligan as: Treasure Island played twice daily through the winter of 1961–62 and was an annual production at the Mermaid Theatre for some years.
His appearance on stage always brought a roar of delight from the kids in the audience and Spike had soon left the text far behind as he went off into a riff of sublime absurdity." ====The Bedsitting Room==== In 1961–62, during the long pauses between the matinee and the evening show of Treasure Island, Milligan began talking to Miles about the idea he and John Antrobus were exploring, of a dramatised post-nuclear world.
This became the one-act play The Bedsitting Room, which Milligan co-wrote with John Antrobus and which premiered at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury on 12 February 1962.
He married Patricia Ridgeway (also known as Paddy) in June 1962, with George Martin as best man and the marriage produced one child, Jane Milligan (b.
By right of his Irish father, he secured an "escape route" from his stateless condition, becoming an Irish citizen in 1962, and remaining so; this status gave him almost the same rights as a British subject. ===Legal issues=== In 1974, Milligan was arrested for shooting a trespasser with an air rifle.
Two series were made in 1963 and 1964 and (presumably because it was shot on 35mm film rather than video) the entire series has reportedly been preserved in the BBC archives. Milligan's next major TV venture was the sketch comedy series The World of Beachcomber (1968), made in colour for BBC 2; it is believed all 19 episodes are lost.
It was adapted to a longer play and staged by Miles at London's Mermaid Theatre, making its debut on 31 January 1963.
Two series were made in 1963 and 1964 and (presumably because it was shot on 35mm film rather than video) the entire series has reportedly been preserved in the BBC archives. Milligan's next major TV venture was the sketch comedy series The World of Beachcomber (1968), made in colour for BBC 2; it is believed all 19 episodes are lost.
Richard Lester later directed a film version, released in 1969. ====Oblomov==== On 6 October 1964, Milligan appeared in Frank Dunlop's production of the play Oblomov, at the Lyric Theatre in London, based on the novel by Russian writer Ivan Goncharov.
The programme won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for Best Children's Entertainment, and was nominated for the same award again in 1997. Guest on Series 4, Episode 3 of Room 101 in 1999 ==Theatre== Treasure Island (1961, 1973–1975) The Bedsitting Room (1963, 1967), written by Milligan and John Antrobus Oblomov opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1964.
It was a critical and commercial success and was revived in 1967 with a provincial tour before opening at London's Saville Theatre on 3 May 1967.
The reply is "That's a flying groundnut scheme, son." Milligan was a keen painter. ===Advertising=== In 1967, applying a satirical angle to a fashion for the inclusion of Superman-inspired characters in British television commercials, Milligan dressed up in a "Bat-Goons" outfit, to appear in a series of television commercials for British Petroleum.
The programme won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for Best Children's Entertainment, and was nominated for the same award again in 1997. Guest on Series 4, Episode 3 of Room 101 in 1999 ==Theatre== Treasure Island (1961, 1973–1975) The Bedsitting Room (1963, 1967), written by Milligan and John Antrobus Oblomov opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1964.
In the 1968 production, Barry Humphries played the role of Long John Silver, alongside William Rushton as Squire Trelawney and Milligan as Ben Gunn.
That same year, the three Goons reunited for a televised re-staging of a vintage Goon Show for Thames Television, with John Cleese substituting for the late Wallace Greenslade but the pilot was not successful and no further programmes were made. In early 1969, Milligan starred in blackface in the situation comedy Curry and Chips, created and written by Johnny Speight and featuring Milligan's old friend and colleague Eric Sykes.
Milligan included it on his album No One's Gonna Change Our World in 1969, to aid the World Wildlife Fund.
Richard Lester later directed a film version, released in 1969. ====Oblomov==== On 6 October 1964, Milligan appeared in Frank Dunlop's production of the play Oblomov, at the Lyric Theatre in London, based on the novel by Russian writer Ivan Goncharov.
From 1980 to 1982, he advertised for the English Tourist Board, playing a Scotsman on a visit around the different regions of England. Other advertising appearances included television commercials for Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Planters nuts. ===Other contributions=== In the 1970s, Charles Allen compiled a series of stories from British people's experiences of life in the British Raj, called Plain Tales from the Raj, and published in 1975.
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) Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel (1990) ==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.
In 1971 Milligan played a humble village priest in Russell's film The Devils.
Pym, and acts as a butcher in a sketch. The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, Milligan co-wrote and performed in some sketches. This Is Your Life, 11 April 1973.
The programme won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for Best Children's Entertainment, and was nominated for the same award again in 1997. Guest on Series 4, Episode 3 of Room 101 in 1999 ==Theatre== Treasure Island (1961, 1973–1975) The Bedsitting Room (1963, 1967), written by Milligan and John Antrobus Oblomov opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1964.
By right of his Irish father, he secured an "escape route" from his stateless condition, becoming an Irish citizen in 1962, and remaining so; this status gave him almost the same rights as a British subject. ===Legal issues=== In 1974, Milligan was arrested for shooting a trespasser with an air rifle.
There was a hiatus of several years, before the BBC commissioned Q6 in 1975.
From 1980 to 1982, he advertised for the English Tourist Board, playing a Scotsman on a visit around the different regions of England. Other advertising appearances included television commercials for Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Planters nuts. ===Other contributions=== In the 1970s, Charles Allen compiled a series of stories from British people's experiences of life in the British Raj, called Plain Tales from the Raj, and published in 1975.
The marriage ended with Patricia's death from breast cancer in 1978. In 1975, Milligan fathered a son, James (b.
The series was published in book form in 1975 by André Deutsch, edited by Charles Allen. ==Television comedy shows== Don't Spare the Horses The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d A Show Called Fred Son of Fred The World of Beachcomber The Q series: Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9, and There's a Lot of It About Curry and Chips Oh In Colour ==Other notable television involvement== Six-Five Special, first aired on 31 August 1957.
Secombe spoke via a TV recording, as did his great friend Robert Graves. In 1975 Milligan co-wrote (with Neil Shand) and co-starred in a BBC TV sitcom called The Melting Pot.
June 1976), in an affair with Margaret Maughan.
Q7 appeared in 1977, Q8 in 1978, Q9 in 1980 and There's a Lot of It About in 1982.
Q7 appeared in 1977, Q8 in 1978, Q9 in 1980 and There's a Lot of It About in 1982.
The marriage ended with Patricia's death from breast cancer in 1978. In 1975, Milligan fathered a son, James (b.
The Pythons gave Milligan a cameo role in their 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian, when Milligan happened to be holidaying in Tunisia, near where the film was being shot; he was re-visiting where he had been stationed during wartime.
Q7 appeared in 1977, Q8 in 1978, Q9 in 1980 and There's a Lot of It About in 1982.
From 1980 to 1982, he advertised for the English Tourist Board, playing a Scotsman on a visit around the different regions of England. Other advertising appearances included television commercials for Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Planters nuts. ===Other contributions=== In the 1970s, Charles Allen compiled a series of stories from British people's experiences of life in the British Raj, called Plain Tales from the Raj, and published in 1975.
He was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2001. On 23 July 1981, the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer were presented with a poem about the forthcoming Royal Wedding, delivered to Buckingham Palace on a 3-foot-9-inch parchment scroll, written under the pen name MacGoonical.
Q7 appeared in 1977, Q8 in 1978, Q9 in 1980 and There's a Lot of It About in 1982.
From 1980 to 1982, he advertised for the English Tourist Board, playing a Scotsman on a visit around the different regions of England. Other advertising appearances included television commercials for Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Planters nuts. ===Other contributions=== In the 1970s, Charles Allen compiled a series of stories from British people's experiences of life in the British Raj, called Plain Tales from the Raj, and published in 1975.
His last wife was Shelagh Sinclair, to whom he was married from 1983 until his death on 27 February 2002.
Milligan named the town "the largest above-ground cemetery in the world" when visiting in the 1960s. Milligan's mother became an Australian citizen in 1985, partly in protest at the circumstances which led to her son's ineligibility for British citizenship; Milligan himself was reportedly considering applying for Australian citizenship at the time as well.
In 1988, whilst visiting his mother in Woy Woy (on the shores of Brisbane Water), Milligan composed and orchestrated a Grand Waltz for Brisbane Water and gave it to the symphony orchestra of nearby Gosford.
He later faxed the prince, saying: "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question?" In reality, he and the Prince were very close friends and Milligan had already been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1992 (honorary because of his Irish citizenship).
Defending himself in court, he was given a conditional discharge. ==Humour with the Prince of Wales== Charles, Prince of Wales was a fan and when Milligan received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Comedy Awards in 1994, the Prince sent a congratulatory message to be read out on live television.
After coming to the UK from India in the 1930s, he lived at 50 Riseldine Road, Brockley and attended Brownhill Boys' School (later Catford Boys' School, which was demolished in 1994).
He later voiced the highly successful animated series Wolves, Witches and Giants, which aired on ITV from 1995 to 1998.
The programme won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for Best Children's Entertainment, and was nominated for the same award again in 1997. Guest on Series 4, Episode 3 of Room 101 in 1999 ==Theatre== Treasure Island (1961, 1973–1975) The Bedsitting Room (1963, 1967), written by Milligan and John Antrobus Oblomov opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1964.
The programme won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for Best Children's Entertainment, and was nominated for the same award again in 1997. Guest on Series 4, Episode 3 of Room 101 in 1999 ==Theatre== Treasure Island (1961, 1973–1975) The Bedsitting Room (1963, 1967), written by Milligan and John Antrobus Oblomov opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1964.
He later voiced the highly successful animated series Wolves, Witches and Giants, which aired on ITV from 1995 to 1998.
His poetry has been described by comedian Stephen Fry as "absolutely immortal—greatly in the tradition of Lear." One of his poems, "On the Ning Nang Nong", was voted the UK's favourite comic poem in 1998 in a nationwide poll, ahead of other nonsense poets including Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.
In a BBC poll in August 1999, Milligan was voted the "funniest person of the last 1,000 years". Milligan has been portrayed twice in films.
The programme won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for Best Children's Entertainment, and was nominated for the same award again in 1997. Guest on Series 4, Episode 3 of Room 101 in 1999 ==Theatre== Treasure Island (1961, 1973–1975) The Bedsitting Room (1963, 1967), written by Milligan and John Antrobus Oblomov opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1964.
This reportedly distracted him from writing so much that he accepted an invitation from Eric Sykes to share his small office, leading to the creation of the co-operative agency. ===Television=== Milligan made several forays into television as a writer-performer, in addition to his many guest appearances on interview, variety and sketch comedy series from the 1950s to the 2000s.
He was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2001. On 23 July 1981, the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer were presented with a poem about the forthcoming Royal Wedding, delivered to Buckingham Palace on a 3-foot-9-inch parchment scroll, written under the pen name MacGoonical.
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was a British-Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright.
His last wife was Shelagh Sinclair, to whom he was married from 1983 until his death on 27 February 2002.
After the death of 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". Milligan died from kidney failure, at the age of 83, on 27 February 2002, at his home near Rye, Sussex.
On the day of his funeral, 8 March 2002, his coffin was carried to St Thomas Church in Winchelsea, East Sussex, and was draped in the flag of Ireland.
There is a plaque and bench located at the Wadestown Library, Wellington, New Zealand, in an area called "Spike Milligan Corner". In a 2005 poll to find the "Comedians' Comedian", he was voted among the top 50 comedy acts, by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
In a 2008 stage play, Surviving Spike, Milligan was played by Michael Barrymore. On 9 June 2006, it was reported that Richard Wiseman had identified Milligan as the writer of the world's funniest joke as decided by the Laughlab project.
In December 2007 it was reported that, according to OFSTED, it is among the ten most commonly taught poems in primary schools in the UK. While depressed, he wrote serious poetry.
In October 2008, an array of Milligan's personal effects was sold at auction by his third wife, Shelagh, who was moving into a smaller home.
In a 2008 stage play, Surviving Spike, Milligan was played by Michael Barrymore. On 9 June 2006, it was reported that Richard Wiseman had identified Milligan as the writer of the world's funniest joke as decided by the Laughlab project.
These included his vast legacy of books and memorabilia, and a grand piano salvaged from a demolition and apparently played every morning by Paul McCartney, a neighbour in Rye in East Sussex. Shelagh Milligan died in June 2011. ===Health=== He suffered from severe bipolar disorder for most of his life, having several serious mental breakdowns, several lasting over a year.
The additional epitaph "Grá mhór ort Shelagh" can be read as "Great love for you Shelagh". According to a letter published in the Rye and Battle Observer in 2011, Milligan's headstone was removed from St Thomas' churchyard in Winchelsea and moved to be alongside the grave of his wife but was later returned. ==Legacy== From the 1960s, Milligan was a regular correspondent with Robert Graves.
The making of the film is detailed in Paul Sutton's 2012 authorised biography Becoming Ken Russell.
The scene was cut from the release print and is considered lost but photographs from the scene, together with Murray Melvin's memory of that day's filming, are included in Sutton's 2014 book Six English Filmmakers. ===Ad-libbing=== As illustrated in the description of his involvement in theatre, Milligan often ad-libbed.
The memorial was unveiled on 4 September 2014 at a ceremony attended by a number of local dignitaries and showbusiness celebrities including Roy Hudd, Michael Parkinson, Maureen Lipman, Terry Gilliam, Kathy Lette, Denis Norden and Lynsey de Paul. There is a campaign to erect a statue in the London Borough of Lewisham where he grew up.
Symphony Central Coast has performed it occasionally since, including a 2020 recording as a COVID-19 isolation project. ==Personal life== ===Family=== Milligan married his first wife, June (Marchinie) Marlow, in 1952; Peter Sellers was best man.
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