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

Biography

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 in Holborn Street Sligo. Milligan took Irish citizenship instead and never forgave the British Government.

He suffered from bipolar disorder for most of his life, having at least ten mental breakdowns. He was a strident campaigner on environmental matters, particularly arguing against unnecessary noise, such as the use of Muzak. During World War II he served as a signaller in the 56th Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery, D Battery, as Gunner Milligan, 954024. He saw action in North Africa and also Italy, where he was wounded and hospitalized for shell shock.

During most of the 1930s and early 1940s he performed as an amateur jazz vocalist and trumpeter both before and after being called-up, 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, eventually ending up playing guitar with a jazz/comedy group called The Bill Hall Trio, at first in concert parties for the troops and, after the war, for a short time on stage. 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 and Michael Bentine.

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, having inspired countless writers and performers with his work on The Goon Show and his own Q series, including Monty Python's Flying Circus. 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; on another, Sellers and Harry Secombe broke into Milligan's dressing room, fearing he was suicidal. Eventually lithium was found to be the most effective treatment.

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 Spike'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.

Milligan also wrote nonsense verse for children, the best of which is comparable with that of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, and (while depressed) serious poetry. He also wrote a very successful series of war memoirs, including My Part in his Downfall (1971) and Rommel? Gunner Who? A Confrontation in the Desert (1974). He also wrote comedy songs, including Purple Aeroplane, which was a parody of The Beatles' song, Yellow Submarine. Glimpses of his bouts with depression which lead to the nervous breakdowns, can be found in his serious poetry, which is compiled in Open Heart University.

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, Spike 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.

In 1972, Milligan caused controversy by "liberating" a live shark from an art exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. In 1996, he successfully campaigned for the restoration of London's Elfin Oak.

The Prince of Wales was a noted fan, and Milligan caused a stir by calling him a "grovelling little bastard" on television in 1994. He later faxed the prince, saying "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question?" He was finally made an Honorary 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.

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*).

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. 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 February 27, 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.

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 the 9th June, 2006 it was reported that Professor Richard Wiseman has identified Milligan as the writer of the world's funniest joke as decided by the Laughlab project. *

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.
  • As the members of Monty Python greatly idolized him, they gave Milligan a small cameo in their 1979 film, Monty Python's Life of Brian.
  • 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 with a little 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. Rumors 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, Spike often joked that he wanted to be buried in a washing machine "just to confuse the archeologists".
  • The video game Echoes contains a possible reference to Spike Milligan. One of the Galactic Federation troopers was referred to as S. Milligan. His datapac said, "Brouda lost the bet, so he switched watch duty with me. I figure this section is nice and safe and boring, which suits me just fine. Let those other pugs guard the hot zone. I...hold on...hey! Halt! ...No! Hel--(transmission ends)
  • Roald Dahl wanted Milligan to play the lead role in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. Paramount pictures rejected his idea, instead recuring Gene Wilder for the role.

Radio comedy shows

Other radio shows

Milligan contributed his vivid 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

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 diverting manner for the rest of the run, and on tour as Son Of Oblomov.

Films

Books

Quotations

  • 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.

External links

1918 births | 2002 deaths | Roman Catholic entertainers | People of Irish descent in Great Britain | Irish actors | British actors | British comedy writers | British radio writers | Film actors | Formerly stateless people | People with bipolar disorder | Television actors | Irish film actors | Irish television actors | Irish comedians | Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire | Radio actors | British Army soldiers | Vegetarians | British Book Awards | People with absolute pitch

Spike Milligan | Spike Milligan | Spike Milligan

 

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