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Spike Milligan
KBE
Milligan, c. 1990
Born
Terence Alan Milligan
(1918-04-16)16 April 1918
Ahmednagar, British India
Died
27 February 2002(2002-02-27) (aged 83)
Rye, East Sussex, England
Resting place
St Thomas's Church, Winchelsea, East Sussex, England
Occupations
Comedian
writer
musician
poet
playwright
actor
Years active
1951–2002
Spouses
June Marlow
(m. 1952; div. 1960)
Patricia Ridgeway
(m. 1962; died 1978)
Shelagh Sinclair
(m. 1983)
Children
6
Military career
Allegiance
United Kingdom
Service/branch
British Army
Years of service
1940–1945
Rank
Lance bombardier
Unit
Royal Artillery
Battles/wars
Second World War
Terence Alan "Spike" MilliganKBE (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish[a] comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his childhood before relocating in 1931 to England, where he lived and worked for the majority of his life. Disliking his first name, he began to call himself "Spike" after hearing the band Spike Jones and his City Slickers on Radio Luxembourg.[1][2]
Milligan was the co-creator, main writer, and a principal cast member of the British radio comedy programme The Goon Show, performing a range of roles including the characters Eccles and Minnie Bannister. He was the earliest-born and last surviving member of the Goons. He took his success with The Goon Show into television with Q5, a surreal sketch show credited as a major influence on the members of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
He wrote and edited many books, including Puckoon (1963) and a seven-volume autobiographical account of his time serving during the Second World War, beginning with Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1971). He also wrote comical verse, with much of his poetry written for children, including Silly Verse for Kids (1959).
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^"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.
^"Spike Milligan dies at 83". The Guardian. 27 February 2002. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan KBE (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an...
the title The Goon Show. The show's chief creator and main writer was SpikeMilligan, who performed the series alongside Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and...
various BBC radio shows. During the early 1950s, Sellers, along with SpikeMilligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine, took part in the successful radio...
Aragno. Aragno's script for Oblomov was bought by SpikeMilligan's production company in early 1964. Milligan had long nurtured hopes of transitioning from...
recording). One-off special shows Cast: Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, SpikeMilligan, Michael Bentine, The Ray Ellington Quartet, The Stargazers, Max Geldray...
a Tribute to Spike Jones", with a band that attempted to re-create the style and humor of Jones's music. Both SpikeMilligan and Spike Jonze were nick-named...
Television, where he was best known for his comedy work in the UK with SpikeMilligan, and for his role as Manny Cohen in the television series Never Mind...
directed by Peter Medak starring Peter Sellers, Anthony Franciosa and SpikeMilligan. The film suffered a difficult production due to Sellers's erratic behavior...
Dragon (1977). He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for portraying a young SpikeMilligan in Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1973). As a lyricist, Dale...
apparently absent "Ying tong iddle I po") is a novelty song written by SpikeMilligan and performed by the Goons, usually led by Harry Secombe. It is a nonsense...
from 1998 to 2001. In 2004, she had a regular role as Sergeant Dawn "Spike" Milligan in the television series Dalziel and Pascoe. In 2006, she appeared...
became a national catchphrase. According to a recent TV special about SpikeMilligan, the phrase was originated by Peter Sellers' young son. In The Last...
M.C. Escher produced a number of artworks of the Amalfi coast, and SpikeMilligan describes his time in Amalfi during a period of leave in the fourth...
comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, SpikeMilligan, Tommy Cooper, Peter Sellers, John Antrobus and Johnny Speight. Sykes...
Puckoon is a comic novel by SpikeMilligan, first published in 1963. It is his first full-length novel, and only major fictional work. Set in 1924, it...
Italy, as "The Five-Mile Snipers". While in North Africa Secombe met SpikeMilligan for the first time. In Sicily he joined a concert party and developed...
including Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, SpikeMilligan, Willie Rushton and fellow Australian expatriate comedian-actors John...
appeared on British radio from 1951 to 1960 by the cast of The Goon Show: SpikeMilligan, Peter Sellers, and Harry Secombe.: 37 The Goons' work influenced the...
Set on a factory floor of 'Lillicrap Ltd', it starred a browned up SpikeMilligan as an Irishman of Pakistani heritage named Kevin O'Grady, who also featured...
an array of British comedy-writing talent, including Graham Chapman, SpikeMilligan, Barry Cryer and Galton and Simpson. The sketches are linked by animation...
for appearing as a straight man in the sketch shows of Benny Hill and SpikeMilligan. For many years, he lived in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Todd was born in...
Global Information
British Army