Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan KBE (16 April 1918 â€" 27 February 2002)
was a British-Irish actor, comedian, writer, poet and playwright. The
son of an Irish father and an English mother, Milligan was born in
India, where he spent his childhood, relocating to live and work the
majority of his life in the United Kingdom. Disliking his first name,
he began to call himself "Spike" after hearing the band Spike Jones
and his City Slickers on Radio Luxembourg.Milligan was the co-creator,
main writer and a principal cast member of the British radio programme
The Goon Show, performing a range of roles including the Eccles and
Minnie Bannister characters. He was the earliest-born and last
surviving member of the Goons. Milligan parlayed 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.Milligan 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).
was a British-Irish actor, comedian, writer, poet and playwright. The
son of an Irish father and an English mother, Milligan was born in
India, where he spent his childhood, relocating to live and work the
majority of his life in the United Kingdom. Disliking his first name,
he began to call himself "Spike" after hearing the band Spike Jones
and his City Slickers on Radio Luxembourg.Milligan was the co-creator,
main writer and a principal cast member of the British radio programme
The Goon Show, performing a range of roles including the Eccles and
Minnie Bannister characters. He was the earliest-born and last
surviving member of the Goons. Milligan parlayed 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.Milligan 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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