Spike Milligan
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2018) |
Spike Milligan KBE | |
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Born | Terence Alan Milligan 16 April 1918 |
Died | 27 February 2002 Rye, East Sussex, England | (aged 83)
Resting place | St Thomas's Church, Winchelsea, East Sussex, England |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1951–2002 |
Spouses |
|
Children | 6 |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Lance bombardier |
Unit | Royal Artillery |
Battles/wars | Second World War |
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan
Milligan was the co-creator, main writer, and a principal cast member of the British radio comedy programme
He wrote and edited many books, including
Early life
Terence Alan Milligan was born in
After Army cuts meant his father's position was no longer required, Milligan travelled by sea, from India to England for the first time. He arrived on a winter's morning and was bemused by the climate, so different from India's, remembering the dock's "terrible noise, and everything so cold and grey."[4] The Milligan family lived in England in somewhat straitened circumstances, Leo Milligan only being able to find "a poorly paid job in the Associated Press photo library"; Milligan recalled his mother being "often tense and angry... a domestic tyrant" due to having to manage on "next to no income".[5] After moving to Brockley, south east London from the age of 12 in 1931, Milligan attended Brownhill Road School (later to be renamed Catford Boys School) and St Saviours School, Lewisham High Road.
After leaving school, he worked as a clerk in the Woolwich Arsenal, played the cornet and discovered jazz. He also joined the Young Communist League[3] to demonstrate his hatred of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, who were gaining support near his home in South London.[3]
Second World War
During most of the late 1930s and early 1940s, Milligan performed as an amateur jazz vocalist, guitarist, and trumpeter before, during and after being
During the Second World War, Milligan served as a
The unit was later re-equipped with the
After hospitalisation, Milligan drifted through a number of rear-echelon military jobs in Italy, eventually becoming a full-time entertainer. He played the guitar with a jazz and comedy group called
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. He was also trying to break into the world of radio, as a performer or script writer. His first success in radio was as writer for comedian Derek Roy's show. After a delayed start, Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine joined forces in a relatively radical comedy project, The Goon Show. 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.[16]
The first episode was broadcast on 28 May 1951 on the
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.
Although the Goons elevated Milligan to national stardom, the demands of writing and performing the series took a heavy toll. During Series 3 he had the first of several serious
A lesser-known aspect of Milligan's life in the 1950s and 1960s was his involvement in the writers' agency Associated London Scripts. Milligan married for the first time and began a family. 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.[citation needed]
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 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. 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. 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. 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. Fifteen-minute adaptations of the original scripts by Maurice Wiltshire were used instead, with Milligan, Sellers and Secombe reuniting to provide the voices; according to a contemporary press report, they received the highest fees the BBC had ever paid for 15-minute shows.[26] 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;[27] it is believed all 19 episodes are lost. In the 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.[28]
In early 1969, Milligan starred in
Director
Milligan's daughter, Laura, conceived and co-wrote an animated series called The Ratties (1987). Milligan narrated the 26 five-minute episodes. He later voiced the highly successful animated series Wolves, Witches and Giants, which aired on ITV from 1995 to 1998. The series was written by Ed Welch, who had previously appeared in the Q series, and collaborated with Spike on several audio productions produced and directed by Simon & Sara Bor. Wolves, Witches and Giants was broadcast in more than 100 territories, including Britain and the United States.[citation needed]
Poetry and other writings
Milligan also wrote verse, considered to be within the genre of
While depressed, he wrote serious poetry, much of which is compiled in Open Heart University.[34][35] He also wrote a novel Puckoon and a series of war memoirs, including Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1971), "Rommel?" "Gunner Who?": A Confrontation in the Desert (1974), Monty: His Part in My Victory (1976) and Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall (1978). 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).[36]
Milligan also wrote comedy songs, including "Purple Aeroplane",[37] which was a parody of the Beatles' song "Yellow Submarine". In addition he wrote the lyric to saxophonist/composer Duncan Lamont's "English Folk Song," heard on jazz singer Tina May's 2021 album, 52nd Street (and Other Tales).[38][39] He was the narrator for Lamont's Sherlock Holmes Suite, commissioned by the City of London to commemorate the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes in The Strand magazine.
Theatre
Treasure Island
Bernard Miles gave Milligan his first straight acting role, as Ben Gunn, in the Mermaid Theatre production of Treasure Island. Miles described Milligan as:
... a man of quite extraordinary talents ... a visionary who is out there alone, denied the usual contacts simply because he is so different he can't always communicate with his own species. [40]
Treasure Island played twice daily through the winter of 1961–62 and was an annual production at the Mermaid Theatre for some years. In the 1968 production, Barry Humphries played the role of Long John Silver, alongside William Rushton as Squire Trelawney and Milligan as Ben Gunn. To Humphries, Milligan's "best performance must surely have been as Ben Gunn ..., Milligan stole the show every night, in a makeup which took at least an hour to apply. 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."[41]
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. It was adapted to a longer play and staged by Miles at London's Mermaid Theatre, making its debut on 31 January 1963. 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. Richard Lester later directed a film version, released in 1969.[42][43]
Oblomov
Tiring of comedic roles, Milligan sought out more serious material. He had read Ivan Goncharov's Oblomov and felt a kinship with the title character, who declines to leave his bed to face the world. According to Scudamore's biography:
Milligan's fans and the theatrical world in general found it hard to believe that he was to appear in a straight play ... He refused to be serious when questioned about his motives. In the story, Oblomov decides to spend his life in bed. Spike decided to identify with his character, and told disbelieving reporters that he thought it would be a nice comfortable rest for him. This was of course, prevarication. Spike was actually intrigued with Oblomov and had read a translation of Ivan Goncharov's novel.[44]
The novel had been adapted for the stage by Italian writer Riccardo Aragno.[45] Aragno's script for Oblomov was bought by Milligan's production company in early 1964. Milligan had long nurtured hopes of transitioning from comedy to serious drama. To this end, Milligan rehearsed for seven weeks with director Frank Dunlop and castmates Joan Greenwood, Bill Owen, and Valentine Dyall at the Lyric Hammersmith.
The first preview was on 6 October 1964. During this performance Milligan was struck by stage fright and forgot nearly all of his lines. He quickly began making up things to say to the cast, turning the drama into an impromptu improv session. Noticing that a drama critic who'd given rave reviews to Milligan's other stage comedies was in the audience, Milligan ended the first performance by shouting "Thank God, Milton Shulman's in!"[46]
The play was savaged in the theatrical press. However, Oblomov's producers had booked the play into the Lyric for three weeks. Anxious to recoup their investment by any means, they gave Milligan carte-blanche on stage. Milligan's antics included starting the play while sitting with the audience, yelling for his castmates to entertain him. Another night he wore a false arm that fell out of his sleeve when co-star Ian Flintoff, playing Oblomov's doctor, shook Milligan's hand. When Flintoff complained to Bill Kerr, a longtime friend of Milligan, that Spike was making a mockery of their hard work Kerr replied: "We have to put up with all the shit, mate, because it pays the rent."[46]
Joan Greenwood, who played Olga, later recalled that her husband André Morell thought the first performance was so appalling that they should get Greenwood out of her contract. According to Scudamore:
Nobody seemed at all comfortable in their roles and the audience began to hoot with laughter when Milligan's slipper inadvertently went spinning across the stage into the stalls. That was the end of Spike's playing straight. The audience demanded a clown, he became a clown. When he forgot his words, or disapproved of them, he simply made up what he felt to be more appropriate ones. That night there were no riotous first night celebrations and most of the cast seemed to go home stunned. The following night Milligan began to ad lib in earnest. The text of the show began to change drastically. The cast were bedevilled and shaken but they went along with him ... Incredibly, the show began to resolve itself. The context changed completely. It was turned upside down and inside out. Cues and lines became irrelevant as Milligan verbally rewrote the play each night. By the end of the week, Oblomov had changed beyond recognition. Andre Morell came again ... and afterwards said 'the man is a genius. He must be a genius—it's the only word for him. He's impossible—but he's a genius!'.[47]
The play continued running as an improv comedy. The decision soon caused it to break all box office records at the Lyric. After five weeks it was rechristened Son of Oblomov and moved on 2 December 1964 to the Comedy Theatre in the West End. It would run there for a total of 559 performances. As the play was substantially new each night it drew record numbers of repeat traffic.[46][48]
On 22 April 1965, Queen Elizabeth and her family attended as part of her 39th birthday celebration. Just after the curtain rose, a group of four latecomers attempted to slink to their seats directly in front of the royal family. Milligan immediately shouted: "Turn up the house lights! Start everything again!" He pointed to the blushing foursome and cried: "That's cost you your knighthood!"[49]
Then, noticing that Peter Sellers was seated between Prince Charles and Princess Margaret, Milligan asked in a loud voice: "Is there a Sellers in the house?" Sellers immediately shouted, "Yes!" Milligan launched into a vaudeville routine about Prince Phillip's suspenders, with Sellers participating from his seat with the royals. This culminated in Milligan giving a high-kick, lobbing one of his bedroom slippers at Sellers, nearly missing Prince Phillip's head. Once back in bed with co-star Joan Greenwood, Milligan spent the rest of the performance poking fun at the Queen for bringing her son to such a racy play. The play ended with Milligan unsheathing a katana on stage and asking the Queen to knight him for his efforts that night. She declined. The performance ran 45 minutes over its scheduled ending. Prince Charles reportedly saw the play five times.[46][49]
In a 1988 interview with Bernard Braden, Milligan described theatre as being important to him:
First it was a means of livelihood. And I had sort of lagged behind my confederates, that I ... remained in the writing seat. And I realise that basically I was quite a good clown ... and the one and only chance I ever had to prove that was in Oblomov when I clowned my way out of what was a very bad script ... I clowned it into a West End success and uh, we kept changing it all the time. It was a tour de force of improvisation ... all that ended it was I got fed up with it, that's all."[50]
Ken Russell films
In 1959 Ken Russell made a short 35 mm film about and with Milligan entitled Portrait of a Goon. The making of the film is detailed in Paul Sutton's 2012 authorised biography Becoming Ken Russell.[51] In 1971 Milligan played a humble village priest in Russell's film The Devils. 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.[52]
Ad-libbing
As illustrated in the description of his involvement in theatre, Milligan often ad-libbed. He also did this on radio and television. 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. He was interviewed live on 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.[53] As a result, he was banned from making any further live appearances on the ABC. The ABC also changed its national policy so that guests 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, and also on the BBC tribute CD, Vivat Milligna.
Film and television director Richard Lester recalls that the television series A Show Called Fred was broadcast live. "I've seen very few moments of genius in my life but I witnessed one with Spike after the first show. He had brought around a silent cartoon" and asked Lester if his P.A. took shorthand. "She said she did. 'Good, this needs a commentary.' It was a ten-minute cartoon and Spike could have seen it only once, if that. He ad-libbed the commentary for it and it was perfect. I was open-mouthed at the raw comedy creation in front of me."[54]
Cartoons and art
Milligan contributed occasional cartoons to the satirical magazine
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 BP.[57] A contemporary reporter found the TV commercials "funny and effective".[57] Milligan appeared with Peter Sellers in an advert for Benson & Hedges in 1973. Milligan requested that his fee was paid to ASH: Action on Smoking and Health. When this was refused he gave the money to charity instead. The advert was popular with the public and also won several industry awards.[58] 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, the Leyland Mini, 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. Milligan was the youngest contributor, describing his life in India when it was under British rule. In it he mentions the imperial parades there:
The most exciting sound for me was the sound of the Irregular Punjabi Regiment playing the dhol and surmai [a type of drum]—one beat was dum-da-da-dum, dum-da-da-dum, dum-da-da-dum! They wore these great long pantaloons, a gold dome to their turbans, khaki shirts with banded waistcoats, double-cross bandoliers, leather sandals, and they used to march very fast, I remember, bursting in through the dust on the heels of an English regiment. They used to come in with trailed arms and they'd throw their rifles up into the air, catch it with their left hand—always to this dum-da-da-dum, dum-da-da-dum—and then stamp their feet and fire one round, synchronising with the drums. They'd go left, right, left, right, shabash! Hai! Bang! Dum-da-da-dum—it was sensational![59]
Music composition
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.[60] Symphony Central Coast has performed it occasionally since, including a 2020 YouTube video as a COVID-19 isolation project.
Personal life
Family
Milligan married his first wife, June (Marchinie) Marlow, in 1952; Peter Sellers was best man. They had three children, Laura, Seán and Síle, and divorced in 1960.[61]
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. 1966). The marriage ended with Patricia's death from breast cancer in 1978.[61][62]
He reportedly had two children by other mothers.[63]
His last wife was Shelagh Sinclair, to whom he was married from 1983 until his death on 27 February 2002.[61] Shelagh, who was 25 years younger than Milligan, died in June 2011.[63] Upon marrying Shelagh, Milligan made a new will which left his entire estate to his wife. The children unsuccessfully attempted to overturn the will. A High Court judge ruled that Shelagh was entitled to his whole estate, and his children should receive only “what was surplus to requirements”.[63]
Four of his children collaborated with documentary makers on a multi-platform programme called I Told You I Was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan (2005).[64]
In October 2008, an array of Milligan's personal effects was sold at auction by Shelagh, who was moving into a smaller home. 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.[65] His children were distressed by the sale.[63]
Health
He had
He spoke candidly about his condition and its effect on his life:I have got so low that I have asked to be hospitalised and for deep narcosis (sleep). I cannot stand being awake. The pain is too much ... Something has happened to me, this vital spark has stopped burning—I go to a dinner table now and I don't say a word, just sit there like a dodo. Normally I am the centre of attention, keep the conversation going—so that is depressing in itself. It's like another person taking over, very strange. The most important thing I say is 'good evening' and then I go quiet.[68]
Nationality
Milligan was born in the British Empire to an English mother and felt that he was thus entitled to British citizenship, especially after having served in the British Army for six years. When British law related to Commonwealth-born residents (which had given him a secure place in the UK) changed, he applied for a British passport in 1960. The application was refused, partly because he would not swear an Oath of Allegiance. Through his Irish father, he avoided statelessness by becoming an Irish citizen in 1962 and remained so for the rest of his life; this status gave him almost the same rights as a British citizen.[1][69][70]
Religion
Milligan was
Legal issues
In 1974 Milligan was arrested for shooting a
Humour with the Prince of Wales
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).
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. A ridiculous verse written in the style of William McGonagall, the ode was commissioned by the Legal and General Assurance society as a "mark of esteem and affection". The verse, titled "Ode to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on the occasion of his Weeding", begins:
Campaigning
He was a strident campaigner on environmental matters, particularly arguing against unnecessary noise, such as the use of "muzak".[75]
In 1971, Milligan caused controversy by attacking an art exhibition at the Hayward Gallery with a hammer. The artwork included catfish, oysters, and shrimp which were to be electrocuted.[76] He was a staunch and outspoken opponent of the scourge of domestic violence, dedicating one of his books to Erin Pizzey.[77]
Death
Even late in life, Milligan's
Milligan died from kidney failure, at the age of 83, on 27 February 2002, at his home on Dumb Woman's Lane near Rye, Sussex.[63][80] 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.[81] He had once quipped that he wanted his headstone to bear the words "I told you I was ill." He was buried at St Thomas' churchyard but the Chichester diocese refused to allow this epitaph.[82] A compromise was reached with the Gaelic translation of "I told you I was ill", Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite and in English, "Love, light, peace". 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,[83] but was later returned.[84]
Legacy
From the 1960s, Milligan was a regular correspondent with
The film of Puckoon, starring Sean Hughes, including Milligan's daughter, actress Jane Milligan, was released after his death.[86]
Milligan lived for several years in Holden Road,
A memorial bench featuring a bronze likeness of Milligan sits in his former home of Finchley.[88] Over ten years the Finchley Society led by Barbara Warren [who?] raised funds—the Spike Milligan Statue Fund—to commission a statue of him by local sculptor John Somerville and erected on the grounds of Avenue House in East End Road. 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. 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). There is a plaque and bench located at the Wadestown Library, Wellington, New Zealand, in an area called "Spike Milligan Corner".[89]
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 BBC poll in August 1999, Milligan was voted the "funniest person of the last 1,000 years".[90]
Milligan has been portrayed twice in films. In the adaptation of his novel Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, he was played by Jim Dale, while Milligan played his father. He was portrayed by Edward Tudor-Pole in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). In a 2008 stage play, Surviving Spike, Milligan was played by Michael Barrymore.[91]
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. Wiseman said the joke contained all three elements of what makes a good gag: anxiety, a feeling of superiority and an element of surprise.[92]
Eddie Izzard described Milligan as "The Godfather of Alternative Comedy". "From his unchained mind came forth ideas that just had no boundaries. And he influenced a new generation of comedians who came to be known as 'alternative'."[93]
Members of Monty Python greatly admired him. In one interview, which was widely quoted at the time, John Cleese stated "Milligan is the Great God to all of us".[94] 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. Graham Chapman gave him a minor part in Yellowbeard.
After their retirement, Milligan's parents and his younger brother Desmond moved to Australia. His mother lived the rest of her long life in the coastal town of
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.[96] The suspension bridge on the cyclepath from Woy Woy to Gosford was renamed the Spike Milligan Bridge in his memory,[97] and a meeting room in the Woy Woy Public Library is also named after him.[98]
Radio comedy shows
- The Goon Show (1951–60)
- The Idiot Weekly (1958–62)
- The Omar Khayyam Show (1963–64)
- Milligna (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)
- 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. 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. Spike Milligan plays an inventor, Mr. Pym, and acts as a butcher in a sketch.[99]
- The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, Milligan co-wrote and performed in some sketches.[100]
- In December 1970 Milligan presented the documentary Follies of the Wise[101]
- In 1975 Milligan co-wrote (with Neil Shand) and co-starred in a BBC TV sitcom called The Melting Pot.[29] Its cast of characters included two illegal immigrants, an Irish landlord, a Chinese Cockney, a Scottish Arab and numerous other racial stereotypes; Milligan himself took the part of Mr Van Gogh, described as "an illegal Pakistani immigrant".[102] After screening the pilot, the series was deemed to be too offensive for transmission. Five episodes remain unseen. Some of the characters and situations were reused in Milligan's novel The Looney.[103]
- Tiswas – 1981 edition.[104]
- Guest appearing along with Peter Cook in Kenny Everett's Christmas Show in 1985.[105]
- Playing a moaning stranger in an episode from 1987 of In Sickness and in Health.[106]
- Narrator of The Ratties (1987), a children's cartoon series written by Mike Wallis and Laura Milligan, Spike's daughter.[107]
- The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town ran as a serial in The Two Ronnies in the 1970s.[108]
- Special guest star of edition of 18 January 1979 of The Muppet Show.[109]
- Guest star in the 3rd episode of the award-winning BBC Scotland drama series Takin' Over the Asylum (1994).[110]
- Narrated the 1995 TV show Wolves, Witches and Giants. A cartoon based on the book of the same name, it retold classic tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, but with a twist.[111][112] The programme won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for Best Children's Entertainment, and was nominated for the same award again in 1997.[113]
- Guest on Series 4, Episode 3 of Room 101 in 1999.[114]
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 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'. The show ran at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End in 1965.
- Badjelly's Bad Christmas was a play created and performed by the Chickenshed Theatre Company using the works of Spike Milligan and his characters.[115]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1951 | Penny Points to Paradise | Spike Donnelly | |
Let's Go Crazy | Eccles / Waiter | Short Uncredited | |
1952 | Down Among the Z Men | Eccles | |
1954 | Calling All Cars | Narrator | Short, with Cardew Robinson |
1955 | A Kid for Two Farthings | Indian with Grey Beard | Uncredited |
1956 | The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn | Sgt. Brown / Eccles / Catchpole Burkington / Minnie Bannister (voices) | Short |
1960 | Watch Your Stern | Ranjid | |
Suspect | Arthur | ||
The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film | Himself | Short | |
1961 | Invasion Quartet | Godfrey Pringle | |
What a Whopper | Tramp | ||
1962 | Postman's Knock | Harold Petts | |
1969 | The Bed Sitting Room | Mate | |
The Magic Christian | Traffic Warden 27 | ||
1971 | The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins | Tramp | (segment "Sloth") |
1972 | Rentadick | Customs Officer | |
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie | Landlord | ||
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Gryphon | ||
1973 | Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall | Leo Milligan | |
Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World | Dr. Harz | ||
The Three Musketeers | M. Bonacieux | ||
Ghost in the Noonday Sun | Bill Bombay | ||
1974 | The Cherry Picker | Mr. Lal | |
Man About the House | Himself | ||
1975 | The Great McGonagall | William McGonagall | |
1976 | Barney | Hawker | Also known as Lost in the Wild |
1977 | Fantastic Animation Festival | Narrator: "Moonshadow" | |
The Last Remake of Beau Geste | Crumble | ||
Dot and the Kangaroo | Mr. Platypus (voice) | ||
1978 | The Hound of the Baskervilles | Policeman | |
1979 | Monty Python's Life of Brian | Spike | |
1981 | History of the World, Part I | Monsieur Rimbaud | (The French Revolution) |
1983 | Yellowbeard | Flunkie | |
1985 | No 73 | Episode: "Non Returnable" | |
Super Gran | Zoo Keeper | Episode: "Supergran and the Missing Hissing" | |
Kenny Everett's Christmas Carol | Ghost of Marley | Television film | |
1986 | The Sooty Show | Episode: "Sootograms" | |
1987 | In Sickness and in Health | Fancy Fred | 1 episode |
1988 | Mr. H Is Late
|
Roadsweeper | Television short |
The Ratties | Narrator (voice) | ||
1989 | The Mini Is 30[116] | Himself | Television documentary |
1993 | The Big Freeze | Der Schauspieler | Television film |
The Great Bong | Unknown role (voice) | ||
1995–1998 | Wolves, Witches and Giants | Narrator, Molly, The Giant, The Giant's Wife | 10 episodes |
1999 | The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything | Lord Nelson | Television film |
2000 | Gormenghast | De'Ath | TV Mini-series |
Badjelly the Witch | Self, various characters | Television film |
Books
Goon Show
- The Goon Show Scripts (1972)
- More Goon Show Scripts (1973)
- The Book of the Goons (1974)
- The Goon Cartoons (1982) (illustrated by Peter Clarke)
- More Goon Cartoons (1983) (illustrated by Peter Clarke)
- The Lost Goon Shows (1987)
Novels
- Puckoon (1963)
- The Looney: An Irish Fantasy (1987)
- The Murphy (2000)
William McGonagall
- The Great McGonagall Scrapbook (1975) (with Jack Hobbs)
- William McGonagall: The Truth at Last (1976) (with Jack Hobbs)
- William McGonagall Meets George Gershwin: A Scottish Fantasy (1988) (with Jack Hobbs)
- William McGonagall: Freefall (1992) (with Jack Hobbs)
"According to" books
According to Spike Milligan is a series of literary pastiche novels. Each part of the series was a rewriting of an original novel, with surreal comic elements added.
- The Bible—the Old Testament According to Spike Milligan(1993)
- Lady Chatterley's Lover According to Spike Milligan(1994)
- Wuthering Heights According to Spike Milligan(1994)
- D. H. Lawrence's John Thomas and Lady Jane: According to Spike Milligan—Part II of "Lady Chatterley's Lover"(1995)
- Black Beauty According to Spike Milligan(1996)
- Frankenstein According to Spike Milligan(1997)
- Robin Hood According to Spike Milligan(1998)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles According to Spike Milligan(1998)
- Treasure Island According to Spike Milligan(2000)
- Classic Adventures: According to Spike Milligan (2002)
Scripts
- The Bed-Sitting Room(1970) (with John Antrobus)
- The Q Annual (1979)
- Get in the Q Annual (1980)
- There's a Lot of it About! (1983)
- The Melting Pot (1983)
Children's books
- Bald Twit Lion (1968)
- Badjelly the Witch (1973)
- Dip the Puppy (1974)
- Sir Nobonk and the Terrible Dreadful Awful Naughty Nasty Dragon (1982)
- A Children's Treasury of Milligan: Classic Stories and Poems (1999)
- The Magical World of Milligan (2009)
- Spike's Bike Book for Parents of Little Kids (Published by Traffic Authority NSW, 1985)
- Spike Milligan SPIKE'S BIKE BOOK FOR MEDIUM KIDS (Published by Traffic Authority NSW, 1985)
- Spike's Bike Book For Big Kids (Published by Traffic Authority NSW, 1985)
Memoirs
The War (and Peace) Memoirs. (The seven memoirs were also recorded as talking books with Milligan reciting them.)
- 1 Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1971)
- 2 "Rommel?" "Gunner Who?" (1974)
- 3 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.
- 4 Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall (1978). This was announced as the fourth part of his "increasingly misnamed" trilogy.
- 5 Where Have All the Bullets Gone? (1985)
- 6 Goodbye Soldier (1986)
- 7 Peace Work (1991)
- Milligan's War (1988) Compilation of the first six volumes of Milligan's war memoirs.
- It Ends with Magic: A Milligan Family History (1990)
- Spike Milligan: The Family Album: An Illustrated Autobiography (1999)
- Milligan's Meaning of Life: An Autobiography of Sorts (2011)
Non-fiction
- The Spike Milligan Letters (1977)
- More Spike Milligan Letters (1984)
- Dear Robert, Dear Spike: The Graves–Milligan Correspondence (1991) (with Robert Graves)
- Depression and How to Survive It (1993) (with Anthony Clare)
Collections of literature
- A Dustbin of Milligan (1961)
- The Little Pot Boiler: A Book Based Freely On His Seasonal Overdraft (1963)
- Book of Bits or a Bit of a Book (1965)
- Bedside Milligan (1969)
- Indefinite Articles and Scunthorpe (1981)
- A Potboiling Dustbin Full of Bits (1984)
- Scunthorpe Revisited: With Added Milligan Articles and Instant Relatives (1989)
- A Mad Medley of Milligan (1999)
- The Essential Spike Milligan (2002)
- The Compulsive Spike Milligan (2004)
- Box 18: The Unpublished Spike Milligan (2006)
Collections (mostly poetry)
- Silly Verse for Kids (1959)
- A Book of Milliganimals (1968)
- Values (poems) (1969)
- Milligan's Ark (1971)
- Small Dreams of a Scorpion (poems) (1972)
- Transports of Delight (1974)
- Milligan Book of Records (1975)
- Poems (1977)
- Goblins (poems) (1978)
- Open Heart University (poems) (1979)
- Twelve Poems That Made December Colder (1979)
- Unspun Socks from a Chicken's Laundry (poems) (1981)
- Chill Air (poems) (1981)
- One Hundred and One Best and Only Limericks of Spike Milligan (1982)
- Silly Verse for Kids and Animals (1984)
- Floored Masterpieces with Worse Verse (1985) (with Tracey Boyd)
- Further Transports of Delight (1985)
- The Mirror Running (poems) (1987)
- Startling Verse for All the Family (1987)
- That's Amazing (1988)
- Condensed Animals (1991)
- Hidden Words: Collected Poems (1993)
- Fleas, Knees and Hidden Elephants (poems) (1994)
Recordings
Does not include Goon Show-related recordings
- Milligan Preserved (1961)[117]
- Bridge on the River Wye (1962)
- Best of Milligan's Wake (1964)
- How to Win an Election (Or Not Lose By Much) (1964)
- Muses With Spike Milligan (1965)
- The World of Beachcomber (1968)
- A Record Load of Rubbish (1971)
- Badjelly The Witch (A Musical Tale) and Other Goodies (1974)
- He's Innocent of Watergate (or Dick's Last Stand) (1974)
- Spike Milligan with Jeremy Taylor: An Adult Entertainment Live at Cambridge University (1974)
- Spike Milligan and Ed Welch Sing Songs From Q8 (1978)
- Puckoon (1980)
- Adolf Hitler – My Part in His Downfall (1981)
- Spike Milligan: Wolves, Witches & Giants (1982)
- Unspun Socks From a Chicken's Laundry (1982)
- Where Have All the Bullets Gone? (1989)
- Peace Work (1995)
- Rommel? Gunner Who? (1997)
- Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall (1997)
- Spike Milligan: The Parkinson Interviews (2002)
Notes
- ^ Milligan was half English and half Irish, and felt that he was entitled to British citizenship, especially after having served in the British Army for six years. When British law related to Commonwealth-born residents (which had given him a secure place in the UK) changed, he applied for a British passport in 1960. The application was refused, partly because he would not swear an Oath of Allegiance. He avoided statelessness by becoming an Irish citizen in 1962 and remained so for the rest of his life.
References
- ^ a b "Spike becomes an Irish Citizen". The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan (website). Hatchling Production Pty Ltd (Australia). Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Spike Milligan dies at 83". The Guardian. 27 February 2002. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Spike Milligan (obituary)". Scotsman.com. Edinburgh. 28 February 2002. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-340-82612-6.
- ^ Encyclopedia of British Humorists vol. I- Geoffrey Chaucer to John Cleese, ed. Steven H. Gale, Garland Publishing Inc., 1996, p. 764
- ^ "Patrick Milligan, also played a part in Hitler's downfall". 19 May 2017.
- ISBN 978-0246122759.
- ^ The Independent, 30 December 1993.
- ^ Scudamore (1985) pp. 52–53.
- ISBN 9780241966204– via Google Books.
- ^ "Centenary tribute to Spike Milligan | Bexhill Museum". 10 September 2018.
- ISBN 9780718108663.
- )
- OCLC 833768136.
- ISBN 0-340-89809-7. p. 186.
- ^ Carpenter, 2003, p. 112.
- ^ Carpenter, 2003, p. 119.
- ^ Carpenter, 2003, p. 182.
- ^ Carpenter, 2003, p. 190.
- ISBN 1-86105-530-7.
- ^ a b Carpenter, 2003, p. 120.
- ^ "Sound Alchemy: The BBC radiophonic workshop". April 2008.
- ^ Carpenter, 2003, pp. 136–139.
- ISBN 0-7221-6077-1), p. 13.
- ^ Roxburgh, Alastair. "A Short History of The Telegoons: Voice Actors, Puppeteers & Producers". The Telegoons. Archived from the original on 1 May 2006.
- ^ "BBC Programme Index". 22 January 1968.
- ISBN 9780722191828.
- ^ a b "Broadcast - BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 11 June 1975.
- vulture.com.
- ^ Fry, Stephen (27 February 2002). "Fry's Milligan memories". BBC News. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
- ^ "Top poetry is complete nonsense". BBC News. 10 October 1998. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
- ^ "Laureate attacks poetry teaching". BBC. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
- ISBN 0718117573.
- ^ Compassionate, perceptive, outraged and tender - Evening News quoted at the entry for Open_Heart_University at goodreads.com Retrieved 20 February 2017
- ^ Adam, Nicola (17 May 2022). "As it announced Spike! is coming to Blackpool's Grand Theatre we share 10 facts about the late Spike Milligan". www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ "Spike Milligan ::: Purple Aeroplane ::: Yellow Submarine". Archived from the original on 11 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ Croft, Paul (21 January 2021). "First degree Lockett's four is well worth streaming". Lincolnshire Echo. p. 4. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
- ^ Spillett, Simon. [ "Tina May: 52nd Street (and Other Tales): Sings the Songs of Duncan Lamont"]. Jazzwise. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
- ^ Scudamore (1985), p. 198.
- ^ Barry Humphries, in Ventham (2002), pp. 92–97.
- ^ Scudamore (1985) pp. 200, 203–204, 242–243.
- ^ McCann (2006) pp. 157–159.
- ^ Scudamore (1985) pp. 214–215.
- ^ "Spike Milligan"OBLOMOV" Joan Greenwood/Bill Owen 1964 Pre-West End Playbill at Amazon's Entertainment Collectibles Store". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Ad lib – ad infinitum". The Oldie. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Scudamore (1985) pp. 215–216.
- ^ "Spike Milligan"OBLOMOV" Joan Greenwood/Bill Owen 1964 Pre-West End Playbill at Amazon's Entertainment Collectibles Store". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ a b "Queen's birthday party turns into hilarious act" (PDF). The Manchester Evening Herald. 22 April 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Spike Milligan interviewed by Bernard Braden". YouTube. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
- OCLC 840887170.
- ISBN 978-0-9572462-5-6.
- ^ "Spike Milligan interrupts ABC News". Youtube.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ Richard Lester, in Ventham (2002), pp.73–74.
- ISBN 0-246-12275-7. pp.109–110, 258. (Published in 2003 as paperback under Spike, or Spike Milligan, depending on listing)
- ISBN 0-246-12275-7. pp. 17, 24.
- ^ a b "Camera spread: Taking a rise out of the serious supermen in TV commercials, Spike Milligan in Bat-Goons outfit leads BP's sales campaign ...". Autocar. 126 (3714): 22. 22 April 1967.
- ^ "Close but no cigarette: When Milligan & Sellers met Benson & Hedges - Comedy Chronicles". British Comedy Guide. 18 April 2021.
- ISBN 0860074552.
- ^ "Issue 230 of COAST Community News". Issuu. 20 February 2020.
- ^ a b c Bernstein, Adam (28 February 2002). "'Goon Show' Comedian Spike Milligan Dies". The Washington Post.
- ^ Alun Parker. "Profile: Spike Milligan – My dad the mad hatter; Spike Milligan's Daughter Jane on life with the Goon". Retrieved 23 May 2014 – via Free Online Library.
- ^ a b c d e Eden, Richard (19 June 2011). "Comedian Spike Milligan's children await details of legacy after death of his widow Shelagh". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ De Souza, Poppy. "I Told You I Was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan". australianscreen. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
- ^ Taylor, Jerome (18 November 2008). "Auction reveals the secret life of Spike Milligan's". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "Prince Harry and 11 other famous faces who have changed the conversation about mental health". The Telegraph. 18 April 2017. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ Clarke, Neil (24 December 2013). "Tears of the clowns: Comedians who battle with serious mental health problems". The Express. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ a b Depression and How to Survive It, Spike Milligan and Anthony Clare, Random House, 2008, page 15
- ^ Louvish, Simon (20 September 2003). "Nailing Spike". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- ^ "Spike Milligan Biography". Fox Classics Television (Australia). FOXTEL Management Pty Limited. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
- ^ "Everyman: Famous Last Words - Spike Milligan". YouTube. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ Harding, David (5 April 2012). "The sharp side of Spike". Metro. Retrieved 3 November 2003.
- ^ "Honorary knighthood for Spike". BBC News. 30 December 2000.
- ^ "MacGoonical steals march on Betjeman". Daily Telegraph. 24 July 1981. p. 15. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Martin Chilton (15 April 2015). "Spike Milligan: Man of Letters, review". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ "A Harlot's Progress". Channel 4. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
- ISBN 9780241966181. Retrieved 21 December 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ Bowcott, Owen (5 June 2020). "Church of England disowns ruling on Irish epitaph on gravestone". The Guardian.
- ^ Milligan, Spike (27 February 2002). "My Obituary, by Spike Milligan". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
- Sussex Express. Archivedfrom the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- ^ Sapsted, David (9 March 2002). "Piper's farewell for Spike Milligan". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ "Milligan gets last laugh on grave". BBC News. 24 May 2004.
- ^ Milligan, Spike (4 November 2011). "Where's Spike gone?". Rye and Battle Observer. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- ^ Singh, Anita (12 November 2012). "Spike Milligan's gravestone returned after family feud". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ "Personal papers". St John's College. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Puckoon". IMDb. 4 April 2003.
- ^ "Spike Milligan – home". London Remembers. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ^ "London's Famous Bench Dedications". Londonist.com. 21 October 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ Salter, Caitlin (24 February 2016). "Goon but not forgotten". Stuff. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ "BBC News – Millennium: Spike Milligan". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ BBC. "Review: Surviving Spike". Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Spike 'wrote world's best joke'". BBC News. 9 June 2006.
- ISBN 0-00-717103-X.
- ^ Scudamore (1985), p. 170.
- ^ Chipperfield, Mark (13 April 2001). "Australia: A town called Woy Woy". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ "The Glasgow Herald – Google News Archive Search". 11 April 2013. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Spike Milligan Bridge, Woy Woy" (PDF). Rms.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
- ^ "Spike Milligan Room". Gosford City Council. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ "Six-five Special[31/08/57] (1957)". BFI. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021.
- ^ "The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine[14/01/72] (1972)". BFI. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021.
- ^ "Follies of the wise". BBC Programme Index. 31 December 1970.
- ISBN 0-86051-195-2.
- ^ "You ask the questions: Spike Milligan". The Independent. 22 October 2011. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: TISWAS (1974-82)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ "Kenny Everett's Christmas Carol (1985)". BFI. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021.
- ^ "BBC One - In Sickness and in Health, Series 3, Episode 5". BBC.
- ^ "The Ratties[09/11/88] (1988)". BFI. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021.
- ^ "BBC One - The Two Ronnies, Series 5, Episode 1, The Phantom Raspberry Blower". BBC. 28 October 2010.
- ^ Stacey, Pat (23 February 2021). "Disney+ were right to caution and not censor The Muppet Show episodes". independent.ie.
- ^ "Takin' Over the Asylum Review | The Digital Fix". www.thedigitalfix.com. 27 July 2023.
- ^ "Little Red Riding Hood (1995)". BFI. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021.
- ^ "Cinderella Part 2 (1996)". BFI. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021.
- ^ "Toonhound - Wolves Witches and Giants (1995-1999)". www.toonhound.com.
- ^ "BBC Two - Room 101, Series 4, Spike Milligan". BBC.
- ^ "Badjelly's Bad Christmas". Chickenshed Website. Chickenshed Theatre Trust. Archived from the original on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ "BBC Two - The Friday Documentary, The Mini Is 30". BBC. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
- ^ "Vinyl Album – Spike Milligan – Milligan Preserved – Parlophone – UK". 45worlds.com. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
Further reading
Articles
- "Who was your choice for funniest person of the last 1000 years?". BBC News. August 1999.
- Dixon, Stephen (28 February 2002). "Obituary: Spike Milligan". The Guardian.
- Barnes, Peter (August 2002). Barker, Clive; Trussler, Simon (eds.). "'An Uncooked Army Boot': Spike Milligan, 1918–2002". ISSN 0266-464X.
- "Biography of Spike Milligan". The Telegoons. Archived from the original on 27 November 2010.
- "Spike Milligan exclusive: Previously unheard audio of one of Spike Milligan's last one-man shows". Extrageographic Magazine. 25 December 2006. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
- Korn, Eric (21 February 2007). "Spike Milligan's People". Times Online. Archived from the originalon 22 October 2009.
Books
- Carpenter, Humphrey (2003). Spike Milligan: The Biography. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-82611-9.
- Farnes, Norma (2003). Spike: An Intimate Memoir. London: Fourth Estate. OCLC 52738571.
- Farnes, Norma (2004). The Compulsive Spike Milligan. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 0-00-719543-5.
- Games, Alexander (2003). The Essential Spike Milligan. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 0-00-717103-X.
- McCann, Graham (2006). Spike & Co. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-89809-7.
- Scudamore, Pauline (2003) [1st pub. Granada: 1985]. Spike. London: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7509-3254-7.
- Ventham, Maxine (2002). Spike Milligan: His Part in Our Lives. London: Robson. ISBN 1-86105-530-7.
External links
- Spike Milligan at IMDb
- Plomley, Roy (7 February 1978). "Spike Milligan". Desert Island Discs. BBC Radio 4.
- 'Grand Waltz for Brisbane Water' composed by Spike Milligan.