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Spike Milligan Filmography
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Spike Milligan: Biography
Spike was born
Terence Alan Milligan in Ahmed Nagar or Ahmadnagar, India to an Irish-born officer in the British Army. Though he lived most of his life in Britain and served in the British Army, he was declared stateless in 1960, and took Irish citizenship.
Spike Milligan 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. He served in the Royal Artillery in World War 2 in North Africa and also Italy, where he was hospitalized for shell shock. During most of the 30s and early 40s he performed as a jazz trumpeter but even then he did comedy sketches. After his hospitalisation he played 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.
He was the primary author of
The Goon Show scripts 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 knife-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. A tape of the bulletin survives and has been included in an ABC Radio audio compilation.
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
Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall (1971) and Rommel? Gunner Who? A Confrontation in the Desert.
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 NSW central coast, just north of Sydney; as a result, Spike became a regular visitor to Australia and made a number of radio and TV programs 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 shark from an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.
The Prince of Wales was a noted fan, and Milligan caused a stir by calling him a "little grovelling bastard" on television in 1994. He later faxed the prince, saying "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?" The knighthood (honorary because of his Irish citizenship) was finally awarded in 2000.
Even late in life Milligan's black humour had not deserted him. After the death of friend Harry Secombe 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".
The film of Puckoon was released after Spike's death and starred one of his daughters, Jane Milligan.
In accordance with his last wishes, his headstone bears the Irish language words, "Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite." Translated to English, these form the classic Milligan line, "I told you I was ill."
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.
http://www.puckoon.co.uk/
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