Born:
April 16, 1918
in
India
Best Known For:
His comedy writing and performing.
Early-life:
Terence Alan Patrick Sean Milligan was born in India on April 16, 1918, the son of an Irish father who was serving in the British Indian Army. His mother was English. Spike performed as an amateur jazz vocalist and trumpeter before being called up by the British Army in the Second World War. He served in the Royal Artillery through the North African and Italian campaigns.
Career:
After the war, Milligan returned to jazz and made ends meet performing in the Bill Hall Trio and other musical comedy acts. His big break came in the 1950s as a writer-performer on The Goon Show, a hugely popular BBC radio show that ran for nearly 10 years and also made stars of Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine and Harry Secombe. Milligan went on to make a number of TV shows as a writer-performer, including The Telegoons, The World of Beachcomber, Curry & Chips, The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, and the Q comedy sketch show (Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9 and There's a Lot of It About). Away from radio and TV, he wrote poetry, novels and a series of war memoirs, including Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall. He died from kidney failure on February 27, 2002 at the age of 83.
Quote:
On Harry Secombe's death: "I'm glad he died before me, because I didn't want him to sing at my funeral."
Trivia:
He suffered from severe bipolar disorder and had a number of major mental breakdowns. He was refused a British passport because he would not swear an Oath of Allegiance. Consequently, he became an Irish citizen and received an honorary knighthood in 2000.