My TV hero: Gregor Fisher on Spike Milligan | Television & radio | The Guardian My TV hero My TV hero: Gregor Fisher on Spike Milligan The former Goon may have been unpredictable and even sometimes embarrassing beyond belief, but that was part of his inimitable comic genius Spike Milligan: a comedian with no limits. Photograph: Nils Jorgensen/Rex Features As told to Vicky Frost Monday 19 September 2011 16.00 EDT Share on Messenger Close He was always on a knife edge, Spike Milligan . Watching him could go either way: it was either going to be fabulous, or like having lemons squeezed in your eye. It was a bit like watching your ancient grandmother having breakfast – you never knew whether she was going to find her mouth that morning. And, the evil little shit that I was, I quite liked all that. I had The Goon Show on tape, and I remember feeling that I had to watch these guys. Even though the show could be uncomfortable and embarrassing beyond belief, it could also be the funniest thing you'd ever heard. I don't think the Pythons would have been in existence had it not been for Milligan and the Goons.

Milligan showed me that there are no limits. He changed the way that people thought about comedy. I was brought up going to the theatre and seeing safe jokes about a woman's knickers. I could hardly believe that the BBC had given Milligan a job. He refused to fit it, and I liked that as well, because he just didn't give a toss. When Prince Charles said that Milligan was his favourite comic, the comedian went on the Parkinson show and called the prince a "little grovelling bastard" on live TV . That's a massive part of his appeal, but even bigger than that was the fact Milligan made you laugh so much that you had to leave the room because it was getting ridiculous. I can't remember anyone else doing that at the time or since. I met Milligan when he was much, much older on the set of Gormenghast, which we were both in. I was over the moon about meeting him – I was going to push Spike Milligan around in a wheelchair. I thought it would be great. But it wasn't, it was just incredibly sad. They say you should never meet your heroes – there was nobody in; Milligan was gone.

As told to Vicky Frost • Gregor Fisher plays Rab C Nesbitt . The show returns to BBC2 this autumn. BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Honorary knighthood for Spike Saturday, 30 December, 2000, 00:21 GMT Honorary knighthood for Spike Spike Milligan: Close friend of Prince Charles Much-loved comic Spike Milligan, who once called the Prince of Wales a "grovelling little bastard", has been made an honorary knight in the New Year's Honours list. But Milligan, 82, will not be known as Sir Spike because he is an Irish citizen. The Goon Show made a star of Spike, right Along with other non-British recipients, he appears in a special Foreign Office list, issued at the same time as the main honours list. The ex-Goon heads a long list of stars of stage and screen in the showbusiness and arts world who are honoured this year. Paul Schofield, one of the greatest Shakespearian actors of his generation, is made a Companions of Honour.

Composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle,at the forefront of contemporary music for more than 20 years, is also made a Companion of Honour. Sir Tom Courtenay is one of the UK's most respected actors Actor Tom Courtenay, whose illustrious 30-year career includes such films as Dr Zhivago and Billy Liar, is made a knight, as is playwright Peter Shaffer, who won an Oscar for Amadeus and penned Equus and The Royal Hunt of the Sun. The actor who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street, William Roache, is made an MBE. The soap has just celebrated its 40th anniversary. Roache is the only remaining cast member from the first live episode in 1960. Patrick Stewart: Huge cult following Meanwhile Trevor Harrison, the voice of Eddie Grundy in BBC Radio 4's drama The Archers, is made an MBE. Actress Charlotte Rampling, star of films like Georgy Girl, The Night Porter and The Cherry Orchard, is made an OBE in the diplomatic list, as is actor Patrick Stewart, a classical actor but currently best known for his role as Captain Picard in Star Trek; The Next Generation.

Actress Zoe Wanamaker, a US citizen, is made an honorary CBE. Zoe Wanamaker: Recently seen in the UK in sitcom My Family Comedian Jim Davidson, who hosts BBC One's The Generation Game, is made an OBE for services to charity, and Jeremy Beadle, of Beadle's About and You've Been Framed, is given an MBE for the same reason. Veteran actor Joss Ackland, 71, who has starred in such films as Shadowlands and White Mischief, is made a CBE. Irish classical actress Fiona Shaw is made an honorary CBE. Jim Davidson: OBE for services to charity Jazz musician Acker Bilk, 71, who beat cancer of the throat to continue playing clarinet, is made an MBE. BBC broadcaster Sue Lawley, who presents Desert Island Discs, is made an OBE, while Annie Nightingale, Radio 1's first female DJ in 1969, is made an MBE. Theatre impresario Bill Kenwright, who has produced shows including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, A Streetcar Named Desire and Blood Brothers, is made a CBE.

Choregrapher Matthew Bourne, whose male Swan Lake won 27 awards, is made an OBE, while the man regarded as the father of modern dance, Richard Alston, is made a CBE. Floella Benjamin: Chair of Bafta Fay Weldon, one of the world's most prolific novelists, gets a CBE, and cartoonist Bill Tidy is made an MBE. Floella Benjamin, once a presenter of the BBC's Play School and now chairman of Bafta, has been made an OBE for services to broadcasting. Songwriter Roger Greenaway, who wrote I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing and a host of 60s and 70s hits, is made an OBE, as is children's author Alan Garner. BBC News | TV AND RADIO | The prince and the comic Wednesday, 27 February, 2002, 15:17 GMT The prince and the comic Milligan was given an honorary knighthood last year It may seem like a unusual friendship, but the heir to the British throne and an anarchic comic enjoyed a lasting relationship over the decades.

Prince Charles led the tributes to Spike Milligan after the comedian's death at the age of 83 from liver failure, saying he was "deeply saddened" at the news. I shall miss his irreverent and hysterical presence Prince Charles A statement from him read: "It is hard to see Spike's parting as anything other than the end of a great era of British comedy, exemplified by Spike's extraordinary genius for the play on words and for the art of the nonsensical unexpected. "His particular form of hilarity and wit has provided countless millions with the kind of helpless mirth which adds unique value to life." The Goons first appeared in 1951 Prince Charles had been a fan of the comic since Milligan's days on The Goon Show, an irreverent radio comedy show from the 1950s. The two first met when Charles became the Prince of Wales in 1969 . They enjoyed a close friendship over the years, despite Milligan's comical outbursts against the prince.

In 1994, after Charles had written a letter congratulating Milligan on winning a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy awards, the comic labelled him a "grovelling little bastard". Sorry He later apologised to the prince, writing a fax to him saying: "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question." Soon after Milligan told an interviewer: "He (Charles) wrote back saying, 'I'm sorry, all the New Year's knighthoods are full up, but try a little light grovelling and one might come your way'." Last year Milligan, who was made a CBE in 1992, was given an honorary knighthood - he had an Irish passport so he could not be given a full knighthood. During the service the comedian joked: "Do you know there are no dry cleaners in Peru? I thought the statistic would interest you." Milligan appeared in BBC drama Gormenghast "Well, that is something," the prince replied. The prince, who was named patron of the Goon Show Preservation Society in 1998, wrote the forward to some of the Goon Show's books of radio scripts.

The society's spokeswoman at the time said that he could mimic the show's characters "brilliantly". But there were areas where the two men seriously disagreed - Milligan compared hunting and other bloodsports to murder, and Charles was unlikely to have appreciated the comedian's description of the Queen as uncharismatic, with a "cold voice". In the end their friendship endured and the prince once said of Milligan: "He has made me laugh for more years than I can remember." WATCH/LISTEN THE UNFORGETTABLE SPIKE MILLIGAN | Comic Book and Movie Reviews THE UNFORGETTABLE SPIKE MILLIGAN David Lee Andrews On February 19, 2013 - SPIKE MILLIGAN There was a song that I recall my mother once sang to me. She sang it as she tucked me in when I was aged ninety-three. It went: Ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong yiddle I po. Ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong, ying tong yiddle I poeeeeeee. Or maybe it was something else said in this 60-minute documentary produced in 2010. I thank you.

Born in India . Fought in the second world war. And is now known to be one of the most creative, and funniest, manic-depressives known to mankind. Still. Who is Spike Milligan? The archive footage seen in this retrospective can only show us so much. Plus the narrator of this piece, Martin Glyn Murray, sounds too sad to really say what's on his mind. But wait a minute! Maybe these pre-selected interviewees can tell us what it's like to have known the man who once called Prince Charles a 'Grovelling little bastard'? Desmond Milligan (brother) -- India was a bright, colourful, and spectacular world to us when we were kids. Then we moved to London. Reg Bennett (army pal) -- Spike was like a medicine to us during the war. His humor was miraculous. Eric Sykes (co-writer) -- We formed an alliance between us, and got ourselves an agent. Beryl Vertue (agent) -- Spike and the guys had a very altruistic attitude towards writing. Paul Merton (comedian) -- Spike liked humanity, but he didn't like humans. Joseph McGrath (director) -- There is no country in the world with humor like the English.

Please remember, this is coming from a Scottish man! Terry Jones (python) -- 'The Goon Show' became a fundamental ritual for me and my family whilst growing up. John Antrobus (writer) -- Spike was very happy to end a scene whenever he wanted it to end. Alan Simpson (writer) -- Pppppt! Ray Galton (another writer) -- You could be speaking to Spike, and suddenly his eyes would melt. He wasn't with us anymore. Silé Harrower (daughter) -- My Mum once told me that my Dad didn't win custody of me and my siblings. We were awarded wards of the state by the court. But she still thought it best if we lived with him. Laura Milligan (eldest daughter) -- My Dad painted one of the walls in our bedroom black, so he could use it to tell us stories with. That's how he created 'BadJelly The Witch'. Norma Farnes (manager) -- Spike had an affinity for children. They never hurt him. Jane Milligan (youngest daughter) -- One day, Dad rung me up and told me that he had a child in 1975 with another woman.

Then he quickly put the phone down and called my brother and sisters. Shelagh Milligan (the last of his three wives) -- Romany was very adult about the whole situation, and was happy to have know Spike in the way that she did. Romany (his daughter via Roberta Watt) -- I was very happy to meet him. When we first met, I went up to him and gave him a big hug. And with that, all the little pixies and the big fairies floated back to the magical garden, so Spike could live on in infamy and beyond. Love light and peace, buddy. Say no more. THE REVIEW: Believe it or not, this morning I went to a friend's funeral. Sad affair it was. A mate of mine's Dad suddenly died of heart failure. His heart stopped in one place, and he stopped somewhere else. Southgate Cemetery . The funny thing about this though, was that throughout the service, I couldn't help but wonder about Spike. Spike Milligan. Partly because I knew I was going to review this retrospective -- 'The Unforgettable Spike Milligan'. Partly because the nice man who died is someone I still hold close to my heart -- like Spike.

And partly because life and death are very strange bedfellows indeed -- forcing people to think about those people they know and love. Here, check out what I know and love about this creative genius called Spike. (1) Terrance Allen Milligan was born in Ahmednagar , they lived in an attic flat situated at number 8, Ringstead Road , Catford. Just across the street from where I live. (3) Did you know that 'The Goon Show' was originally entitled 'Crazy People' for its first year? Eventually Spike renamed it to 'Goon', because he was inspired by a character of the same name in the cartoon 'Popeye'. (4) Although Spike influenced comedians such as ' Monty Python ', ' Beyond The Fringe ', and Eddie Izzard [click on links for the reviews], he himself was influenced by Flann O'Brien, Groucho Marx, W. C. Fields, Edward Lear, and Spike Jones. In fact, one of the reasons why he was called 'Spike'; was because he was a trumpeter who played like the aforementioned musician, Mister Jones.

(5) It is believed that Spike helped famed film-director, Stanley Kubrick, define the ending to his war-time satire, ' Dr. Strangelove ', when Stanley's original ending never turned out in the way that he planned. (6) Spike wasn't too keen on 'forced humor; and he once defined an American based sitcom as being 'As funny as a baby with cancer'. (7) When he heard the tragic news that his good friend on the 'Goon Show', Peter Sellers , had died, Spike spent over a week in bed with depression. Well, I think that's what she was called! (8) I kid you not, Spike wanted to die by being crushed to death by a falling Elephant. Better luck next life, pal. Sigh! Sad, isn't it? Thinking about someone that has passed a way. It makes you ponder on such topics as mortality, health, life, and death, whilst continually speculating what people might say about you once you've pissed off to the unknown. Well, let's face facts, does 'The Unforgettable Spike Milligan', define who Spike really was? No. Not really. But then again, how could it? He was a creator. A womanizer.

A comedian. A colleague. A performer. A friend. A humanitarian. A crazy-man. A father. A brother. A husband. And a funny-sod I wished that I met at least once in my life. But no. He's gone now. To the big Goon Show in the sky, singing the 'Ning Nang Nong' with Peter and Harry. Still, I can take some solace in the praise his children have bestowed upon him in this retrospective. All of them -- plus the noted writers and comedians -- really do paint a very clear and conceptual picture of who Spike was as a person. Granted, nothing too in-depth as a 'complete piece' in its own right! Oh no. Rather, an abridged version of his life in prose. Yeah. That sounds about right. What do you think, Spike? Ha! Enough said. theage.com.au - The Age - The last Goon of all dies at 83 Paul Majendie February 28 2002 Spike Milligan in Sydney, 1995, on one of many visits to his family in Australia.

Spike Milligan, one of the founding fathers of 20th century British comedy and zany genius behind BBC Radio's The Goon Show, has died at the age of 83. Milligan died of liver failure at his home at Rye, Sussex, surrounded by family. Along with fellow Goons Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe, Milligan influenced with his surreal antics a whole generation of comedians from Beyond the Fringe to Monty Python's Flying Circus. He was the last of the comic trio to die. His greatest fan was Prince Charles, once famously labelled "a grovelling little bastard" on live television by Milligan. Milligan made it up with Charles after his "bastard" remark by sending him a telegram saying, "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?" But it wasn't - Milligan was given an honorary knighthood two years ago. advertisement <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.1" SRC= </SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT> <A HREF= <IMG SRC= HEIGHT=250 WIDTH=300 BORDER="0"> </A> </NOSCRIPT> advertisement Charles was among the first to react after Milligan's death.

"The Prince of Wales is deeply saddened to hear the news. He knew Spike Milligan over many years and had a great affection for him," a spokesman said. Secombe once admitted that he and Sellers "rode on the thermal currents of (Spike's) imagination" and it was Milligan who wrote all the scripts for The Goon Show - 26 a year from 1951 to 1960. The gruelling task sparked one of a dozen nervous breakdowns, ending up with Milligan being Britain's most celebrated manic-depressive. Milligan's surreal 1970s TV show Q was the precursor of Monty Python as Python star John Cleese has admitted. Milligan was scathing about modern comedy. "I watch American comedies and they are as funny as a baby with cancer." Milligan, married three times and father of six, liked to regard himself as a misanthrope and once said most people bored him to death. In Sydney, Milligan's younger brother, Desmond, said the family had been expecting the news.

"He had been sick for quite some time and on a kidney dialysis machine for six months so he was deteriorating," Mr Milligan, 76, said. Desmond moved to Woy Woy on the NSW Central Coast in the 1950s with his parents. Although Spike stayed in England, he travelled often to Australia. -Reuters, PA, AAP Spike Milligan - ARRSEpedia The British Military Open Encyclopedia - ARRSE-Pedia. Back to British Army Rumour Service Home Spike Milligan Ying Tong Tiddle I Po Legendary but dead poet who wrote The Goon Show with fellow writer Michael Bentine. Born in India , had an Irish father and an English mother. Would not take the oath allegiance in the company of 'real foreigners', so took an Irish passport instead. Served in the Royal Artillery during the second world war, and once called Prince Charles a 'little grovelling bastard' on live tv in 1994 however still received a knighthood in 2001. His humour was extremely dark.

After the death of friend Harry Secombe from cancer, he said, "I'm glad he died before me, because I didn't want him to sing at my funeral." On his grave stone is the inscription "Duirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite", Irish for "I told you I was ill.". Tributes to Spike Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, February 28, 2002; Page B06 Spike Milligan, 83, the last surviving member and chief writer of the pioneering and abundantly absurdist British sketch comedy program "The Goon Show," whose cast included Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine, died of kidney failure Feb. 27 at his home in Rye, England. Mr. Milligan, the force behind most of the "Goon" radio and television scripts in the 1950s, was often described as a comic genius whose work served as the prime model for later generations of comedy giants on both sides of the Atlantic. Robin Williams and members of the wacky Firesign Theatre and Monty Python troupes cited Mr. Milligan as a key influence.

John Cleese of "Monty Python" said "The Goon Show" provided "the first flicker of rebelliousness that turned into the satire movement. He nudged us forward to be even crazier than we were intending to be." Though Sellers attained world fame in the "Pink Panther" film series and other comedies, there was no doubt Mr. Milligan was deeply responsible for the team's creative flair. Secombe once told a reporter than he and Sellers "rode on the thermal currents of [Mr. Milligan's] imagination." Mr. Milligan brought to the group a broad and bawdy music-hall sensibility mixed with a literate twisting of language and a skill for plumbing the surreal. He was a master at depicting the discrepancy between what is seen and heard. "We all had this sort of lunatic sense of humor," he told an interviewer. "We turned everything into imbecility . . . doing things like climbing Mount Everest from the inside." "The Goon Show," which first aired in 1951 on BBC radio as "Crazy People," was a high-pressure atmosphere where Mr. Milligan did not always thrive.

He said deadline work was the root of more than 10 manic-depressive breakdowns, which physically debilitated him. He was a prolific artist, appearing in dozens of films (among them Monty Python's "Life of Brian" and Mel Brooks's "History of the World: Part I"); writing more than 50 books (including the autobiographical "Adolph Hitler -- My Part in His Downfall"); and publishing countless poems about his illness. He counted among his proudest achievements a rewritten version of the Old Testament, as if it had been drafted by trade unionists: "And God said, Let there be light; and there was light, but the Eastern Electricity Board said He would have to wait until Thursday to be connected." Terence Alan Milligan was born in India to an Irish father in the British Army and an English mother. By age 15, he was out of school in England, and he soon found work in music halls. A shy lad, he said he discovered that his talent for crooning led to a newfound popularity with adoring women. He also was an accomplished jazz trumpeter and began practicing comedy routines onstage.

He once wrote that he was heavily influenced by the Marx Brothers and their emphasis on extemporaneous comedy. "Sanity was out . . . creative lunacy was in," he wrote. During World War II, as an Army gunner in Italy and North Africa, he was exposed to heavy fire and had to seek his first extended psychiatric treatment. In the Army, he also met Secombe, a budding comedian and friend of entertainers Sellers and Bentine. After the war, the four performed in clubs and were hired by the BBC. Some of their material was not to management's liking, notably scenes of the House of Commons napping. Often their material was axed. After the group disbanded, Mr. Milligan hosted several comedy shows and over time became a grand old man of British humor. "My comedy is not talking, it's ideas," he once told the Irish Times. "Like there's an empty stage and two men come on wheeling a door, wearing suits and collars. There's a knock.

'We're Jehovah's burglars,' they say, 'and we're being persecuted by police for our beliefs.' 'And what are your beliefs?' 'We believe you've got a lot of money.' " In 1994, while appearing on a live comedy awards show, Mr. Milligan called Prince Charles a "little groveling bastard." He followed it by a fax to the prince saying, "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?" It wasn't. The prince, a lifelong fan, bestowed an honorary knighthood upon Mr. Milligan last year -- honorary because Mr. Milligan was an Irish citizen. He had taken his father's Irish nationality in 1960, when new regulations forced the comedian to reapply for British citizenship. He cursed the British authorities and never forgot the bureaucratic sleight. His first marriage, to Ann Howe, ended in divorce. His second wife, Patricia Ridgeway, died in 1978. Survivors include his wife, Shelagh Sinclair, whom he married in 1983; three children from his first marriage; a daughter from his second marriage; and a son and daughter from previous relationships.

The Australian By Jonathan Este March 01, 2002 SPIKE Milligan would have laughed. On a tree outside the library the residents of Woy Woy voted not to name after him is a notice which reads: "Tree Consent". The last Goon standing would no doubt have proposed marriage on the spot. Inside Woy Woy's public library, which is to have a Spike Milligan annexe, Ed Watkins has mixed feelings. He is sad that one of his favourite comic writers will pen no more nonsense verse. But at least he won't keep being mistaken for the man who put Woy Woy on the international tourist map as "the only above-ground cemetery in the world". "It's been suggested, quite a lot actually, that I resemble Spike," said Mr Watkins, 85. "I guess we've got the same origins  I'm from Pommyland too.

We came over here in 1928, 16-pound poms, we were." Milligan, who died this week, is fondly remembered in the NSW seaside town his parents called home from the early 1950s, and where his brother Desmond is still a regular visitor to the family's fibro house on Orange Grove Road. Pat Swancott, who has lived across the road since the 50s, remembers the Milligan who would come to Australia to escape the pressures of a life in comedy. When he was in Woy Woy, says Mrs Swancott, Spike was there to relax, to play the old upright piano that had belonged to his mother Millie and to take long birdwatching hikes on nearby Blackwall Mountain "I had an old bird book: What Bird is That? and Spike used to take it with him all the time," Mrs Swancott recalls. "In fact he covered it with brown paper because he used it so much he wore the cover out. So he wrote on the cover, 'Birds of Australia . . . and their telephone numbers'."He used to make my children laugh.

This was when they were seven or eight  they're in their 50s now." she says. "But there were lots of boys in the crescent, and he'd have them rolling around the floor, laughing and singing." The very name Woy Woy appealed to Milligan's sense of the ridiculous. He once said the name meant Deep Water: "But which Woy means 'deep', and which Woy means 'water'? It makes you think." The Beeb Beeb Ceeb Prince Charles has joined showbusiness celebrities in paying tributes to actor and comic Spike Milligan, who has died at his home in Sussex, at the age of 83. Prince Charles, one of his ardent fans, said he was "deeply saddened" by his death. Milligan was one of Britain's most respected performers and was known to millions as one of the founding members of The Goons. "He was a great man - a crazy, wonderful genius": Comedian Eddie Izzard Together with Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine and Harry Secombe, the quartet helped redefine comedy programmes for a generation. Milligan had been the last surviving member of the quartet.

Prince Charles said: "It was an immense sadness to learn of Spike Milligan's death and my heart goes out to all his family. "Personally, but along with so many others, I shall miss his irreverent and hysterical presence and can only say that the world really will be the poorer for his departure." Prince Charles met the Goons in 1974 Milligan's agent said he died surrounded by his family. He is believed to have died from liver failure and had suffered ill-health for some time. In recent months had been nursed by his third wife Shelagh. Comedian Stephen Fry paid tribute to his talent: "Spike was entirely his own mad Irish self. He came out of nowhere. "If there is a definition of genius it is that whatever province you are in, you leave it different. He left comedy different and it was never the same after him." "He took comedy into the world of fantasy; it was surreal and different and amazing": Nicholas Parsons Blessed with a sharp wit and sly comic tongue his later career encompassed television, films and novel writing, poetry and children's books. Fry described his writings as "absolutely immortal".

He was a major influence on British comedy, taking music hall ideas and weaving into them his own sketches. His fascination with language and the surreal qualities of everyday life broke new ground in humour and was reflected in both his sketches and popular children's books. Fantasy Friend and broadcaster Nicholas Parsons told BBC News 24: "There will never be another Spike. He broke the mould of comedy. "He took comedy into the world of fantasy; it was surreal and different and amazing. He created a whole new attitude to humour." Milligan appeared in the BBC drama Gormenghast BBC director general Greg Dyke said: "Spike Milligan was a comic genius. As the writing brains behind the Goon Show he was the founder of modern comedy." Comedian Eddie Izzard described him as the "godfather of alternative comedy". He said: "He was a great man. He was a crazy, wonderful genius." Broadcaster Michael Parkinson said Milligan was "indisputably the most important in British comedy over the last 50 years". The BBC's head of comedy, Jon Plowman, added: "It is very sad.

He was one of the true greats whose influence can be seen in a huge amount of comedy that we do today." The Goon Show was first broadcast on 28 May 1951. Milligan is said to have picked the word goon out of a Popeye comic and started using it as derogatory term for people he saw as idiots. The Goons redefined British comedy Milligan was credited with writing the majority of the Goon scripts but during series three he suffered a breakdown and had to miss 12 episodes. He received an honorary knighthood from Prince Charles last year - Milligan held an Irish passport - despite making fun of him during a live television show in 1994 by calling him "grovelling". He later sent a fax to the prince saying: "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?" Plagued with mental illness and manic depression during his life, he suffered no fewer than ten breakdowns, linked to shell shock he endured during the war. He went on to star in the Q series of television shows and also wrote several books, including Adolf Hitler, My Part In His Downfall.

A tribute programme will be shown on BBC One on Wednesday at 2235GMT 2002. Prince Charles Wednesday, 27 February, 2002, 15:17 GMT The prince and the comic Milligan was given an honorary knighthood last year It may seem like a unusual friendship, but the heir to the British throne and an anarchic comic enjoyed a lasting relationship over the decades. Prince Charles led the tributes to Spike Milligan after the comedian's death at the age of 83 from liver failure, saying he was "deeply saddened" at the news. I shall miss his irreverent and hysterical presence: Prince Charles A statement from him read: "It is hard to see Spike's parting as anything other than the end of a great era of British comedy, exemplified by Spike's extraordinary genius for the play on words and for the art of the nonsensical unexpected. "His particular form of hilarity and wit has provided countless millions with the kind of helpless mirth which adds unique value to life." The Goons first appeared in 1951.

Prince Charles had been a fan of the comic since Milligan's days on The Goon Show, an irreverent radio comedy show from the 1950s. The two first met when Charles became the Prince of Wales in 1969 . They enjoyed a close friendship over the years, despite Milligan's comical outbursts against the prince. In 1994, after Charles had written a letter congratulating Milligan on winning a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy awards, the comic labelled him a "grovelling little bastard".

He later apologised to the prince, writing a fax to him saying: "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question." Soon after Milligan told an interviewer: "He (Charles) wrote back saying, 'I'm sorry, all the New Year's knighthoods are full up, but try a little light grovelling and one might come your way'." Last year Milligan, who was made a CBE in 1992, was given an honorary knighthood - he had an Irish passport so he could not be given a full knighthood.During the service the comedian joked: "Do you know there are no dry cleaners in Peru? I thought the statistic would interest you." "Well, that is something," the prince replied. The prince, who was named patron of the Goon Show Preservation Society in 1998, wrote the forward [sic] to some of the Goon Show's books of radio scripts. The society's spokeswoman at the time said that he could mimic the show's characters "brilliantly".

But there were areas where the two men seriously disagreed - Milligan compared hunting and other bloodsports to murder, and Charles was unlikely to have appreciated the comedian's description of the Queen as uncharismatic, with a "cold voice". In the end their friendship endured and the prince once said of Milligan: "He has made me laugh for more years than I can remember." Stephen Fry Comedian Stephen Fry shared his memories of Spike Milligan, who has died aged 83, with the BBC. It's very sad - not entirely unexpected - he hadn't been well for some time and of course he does leave a legacy that will last. I think the tapes of the Goon Show will always be listened to. I think some of his books, Puckoon, particularly and also his wonderful autobiographies, Rommel, My Part in his Downfall and his army reminiscences in the desert and some of his children's poetry and nonsense verse is absolutely immortal - greatly in the tradition of Lear. It is about the only thing of his that was in any tradition.

I was saying to someone earlier - you could say of Les Dawson, if you like, who was a great comedian, that he was unique, yes, but you could also see in Les Dawson the tradition of Rob Wilton and great northern comedians. In Spike you saw no tradition at all. He was entirely his own mad, Irish self - he came out of nowhere and if there is a definition of genius - one of the best ones is that it is whatever province you're in you leave it different. He left comedy different and it was never the same after him Very often of course the Irish are more English than the English - you know it's only in Dublin that you really see people with monocles and felt tweed suites and extraordinary diamond-topped walking canes - you very rarely see it in London. You often do in Dublin for some reason. And of course he was born in India, I believe, and I think he was of a generation that just began to start questioning and to make fun of the really grand imperial ideas. We often think that that's something that was done in the 1960s. We associate it with Peter Cook and Private Eye and everything - the first rumblings against the Establishment.

But I think it was that generation of people who came out of the army. The Attlee landslide generation if you like, who kind of thought this world was not going to be the same again thank you very much. It was as if they said, we remember the 30s, we've done our bit and now we're going to play according to our rules, and officers are not gods that we follow - they're often silly asses that we make fun of. That's principally what the Goon Show did - is that it was so brilliant at portraying the officer type. That was quite a breakthrough - it doesn't seem it to us because we're so used to making fun of the officer types - I've done it myself and it is pretty easy - but it wasn't then. He showed extraordinary freedom, surreality and anarchy, his style will live on, mind you it was individual to him so the things that were absolutely Milliganesque will never be replaced by anyone else. His influence is unquestionable and eternal. He had a famous battle against very bad clinical depression and mental illness, it was very difficult for him for a very long time in his life.

He didn't relate easily, he related much more easily inside a silly character or indeed playing a trumpet or doing a mad dance. There was a very great shyness, he was a surprisingly wise and gentle man too. He thought very hard about things and always from another direction, he was always able to cast light on things in the oddest ways. His views on everything from politics to the treatment of animals were unique to himself and utterly real and utterly felt. He was an entirely authentic person and never did anything for any reason other than that it came from himself. Goon Memories Go On British comedian Spike Milligan, last of The Goons, dead at age 83 By Audrey Woods Associated Press February 28, 2002 LONDON -- Spike Milligan, the "Goon Show" star who kept Britain laughing even as he struggled with persistent depression, died yesterday, mourned by a generation of comedians he inspired. He was 83. "He had a very strong sense of the absurdity of the world. And sometimes it produced wonderful comedy and marvelous invention and great insight, and other times just reduced him to misery and depression," said "Monty Python" star Michael Palin.

Among the millions who had laughed until they wept was Prince Charles, a lifelong fan and a friend of the erratic and irreverent Mr. Milligan, who died of kidney failure at his home in Rye on the southeast coast. "It is hard to see Spike's parting as anything other than the end of a great era of British comedy, exemplified by Spike's extraordinary genius for the play on words and for the art of the nonsensical unexpected," the prince said. Along with millions of others, he had listened to Mr. Milligan and his three comic colleagues on BBC radio's "The Goon Show" -- and said that he wrote hundreds of fan letters to the comedy team in his youth. Charles is official patron of the Goon Show Preservation Society. Peter Sellers became the most internationally famous of the Goons. But Mr. Milligan, with his sly, dry one-liners, was recognized in Britain as the backbone of the show. "Spike Milligan was a comic genius. As the writing brains behind 'The Goon Show,' he was the founder of modern comedy," said Greg Dyke, director-general of the BBC. Admired as he was for his talent, Mr.

Milligan was almost as famous for his struggles with manic depression and his rages against human folly, the British variety in particular. A tall, thin, white-haired man with rather wistful blue eyes, Mr. Milligan was a vegetarian nonsmoker and an avid environmentalist. "I support all the causes that are trying to increase the sensitivity of the human race to the odious things that they do," he once told an interviewer. "We're a pretty horrendous crowd." Mr. Milligan, Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine launched the Goons on May 28, 1951. The program set a comic style, ran for 243 programs and became a classic. "We all had this sort of lunatic sense of humor. ... We turned everything into imbecility ... doing things like climbing Mount Everest from the inside," Mr. Milligan once said. Sellers died in 1980, Bentine in 1996 and Secombe in 2001. Secombe, who had a fine tenor voice, in later years sang on religious TV programs. He said he once got a fax from Mr. Milligan on the subject.

"It said: 'I hope you go before me because I don't want you singing at my funeral."' Mr. Milligan played his own father in a 1972 adaptation of his war memoir "Adolf Hitler, My Part in His Downfall," and had numerous bit parts in films including "The Life of Brian," "The Three Musketeers" and "The Magic Christian." "You could make the argument that modern British comedy started with Spike Milligan. He was the godfather of it all," said TV talk show host Michael Parkinson, who called him "the presiding genius behind the Goons." As a guest, "he could veer from being absolutely obnoxious to being wonderful." "Once when I was live on a radio show, I received a call from someone who said: 'Spike is here to see you.' "He just came into the studio, in his dressing gown, was brilliant for an hour, and then went back to his clinic. An extraordinary man," Parkinson said. Mr. Milligan was born Terence Alan Milligan on April 16, 1918, in Bombay, India, where his Irish father was a sergeant-major in the British army. His mother was English. Mr.

Milligan was an army gunner in World War II and had his first psychiatric treatment in 1944. After the war, he was in and out of hospitals due to mental illness. His first marriage, to Ann Howe, fell apart under the strain, and she left him and their three children. Mr. Milligan raised them and a daughter from his second marriage, in 1962, to Patricia Ridgeway. She died of cancer in 1978. He married Shelagh Sinclair in 1983. Mr. Milligan discovered in 1960 that because his father was not born in Britain, he would have to reapply for citizenship and take an oath of allegiance to the queen, despite his years of army service. Outraged, he became an Irish citizen instead. Prince Charles once explained that even he had to swear the oath of allegiance. "Yes, but it's your mother, isn't it?" Mr. Milligan replied. "You don't get board and lodging at Buckingham Palace if you don't swear an oath." Britain made amends in 2000 by making Mr. Milligan an honorary knight. Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.

He is survived by his wife and his children. Yahoo The wit and wisdom of Spike Milligan LONDON (Reuters) - Peering into the mind of Spike Milligan was like looking through the window of a lunatic asylum to watch the inmates having a ball. The wit and wisdom of the anarchic comedian, who died on Wednesday at the age of 83, abounded in one-liners: "It was a perfect marriage: She didn't want to and he couldn't." "I thought I'd begin by reading a poem by Shakespeare but then I thought -- Why should I? He never reads any of mine." "My father had a profound influence on me. He was a lunatic." "I speak Esperanto like a native." "A man loses his dog, so he puts an ad in the paper.

And the ad says: 'Here boy'." "I have a three-legged dog, his name is Rover, but he keeps falling over." Asked to finish the sentence "If I ruled the world..." he replied: "...I'd surrender." When pressed to pick the best limerick he had written, he chose: "There was a young girl from Bombay, Who was trapped in a tiller one day, She was trapped in a tiller, By a sex-crazed gorilla, Bombay is a bloody long way." But perhaps the most poignant of all his quips was: "I don't mind dying. I just don't want to be there when it happens." The Guardian His part in the nation's laughter Tributes galore for the eccentric genius who gave birth to a new brand of comedy John Ezard Thursday February 28, 2002 The Guardian Eccles, otherwise known as Spike Milligan, fell in the water for the last time yesterday; and the voice of Little Jim, whose jubilant cry "He's fallen in the water!" used to delight the schoolchildren and supper tables of a nation, was silenced.

So - with Milligan's death early yesterday from kidney failure at 83 - was the voice of Minnie Bannister - "a crazy sinful old woman" - and a multitude of other comic spirits created and perpetuated by the prime postwar genius of English comedy. He was also acknowledged as a creative writer close in stature to Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear in his command of the profound art of nonsense in radio and television scripts, prose and verse. Milligan - the driving eccentric force behind the 40-year-old radio Goon Show whose anarchy first became a school playground craze in 1953 and continues to influence generations of young comedians - died at his home in Rye, east Sussex, surrounded by his family. He was the last of the Goons and his death marks the end of one of the most inventive periods in popular entertainment for 100 years. Asked what epitaph he wanted on his tomb, Milligan once said: "I told you I was ill." Bedevilled, but also given insight and focus in his art, by mental illness and manic depression, he had suffered 10 nervous breakdowns.

Yesterday genius was a word almost universally on the lips of his fellow comics, broadcasting peers and others in their tributes. Unique value Though Milligan once called him "a grovelling little bastard", Prince Charles, a friend and fan since his schooldays, said: "It is hard to see Spike's parting as anything other than the end of a great era of British comedy, exemplified by Spike's extraordinary genius for the play on words and for the art of the nonsensical unexpected. "His particular form of hilarity and wit, apart from helping to sustain the British spirit through the unmentionable horrors of war, has provided countless millions with the kind of helpless mirth which adds unique value to life. To have a gift of that sort is truly life-enhancing. " In a tribute to him to be screened by Channel 4 on Saturday, the comedian John Cleese says: "It's hard for people now to recall just how stuffy, correct and deferential English society was in the '50s. But with The Goon Show there was the first flicker of rebelliousness that progressed into the satire movement.

He moved us forward to be even crazier than we were intending to be." Michael Palin describes Milligan's Q sketch show as a "great inspiration". The screen star Robin Williams calls The Goon Show "pure madness." Alan Yentob, BBC director of drama and entertainment, said: "Spike Milligan was a comic genius. His imagination knew no boundaries. He was the soul of The Goons and the inspiration for generations of writers and performers, from Monty Python to The League of Gentlemen. To the very end he maintained his capacity to charm and fascinate and infuriate." Jenny Abramsky, BBC director of radio, said: "He was a genius one of the critical people who put radio comedy on the map. He was unmatched anywhere." The BBC's head of comedy, Jon Plowman, said: "It is very sad. He was one of the true greats whose influence can be seen in a huge amount of comedy that we do today." Greg Dyke, director general of the BBC, added: "Spike Milligan was a comic genius.

As the writing brains behind The Goon Show, he was the founder of modern comedy." The actor and novelist Stephen Fry called him "the great grand-daddy of post-war British comedy. He allowed the British to be silly. Everything he touched he made Milliganesque" The veteran chat show host Michael Parkinson, who interviewed Milligan more than 10 times, said:"You could make the argument that modern British comedy started with Spike Milligan. He was the godfather of it all." Parkinson called Milligan a "gentle and nice man" whose melancholy sometimes made him awkward to deal with. "If he took against, watch out". But the comedian had once walked into one of Parkinson's radio shows while receiving psychiatric treatment in a clinic. "I received a call from someone who said 'Spike is here to see you'," Parkinson said: "He just came into the studio, in his dressing gown, was brilliant for an hour, and then went back to his clinic. An extraordinary man." The comedian and novelist Ben Elton said: "Spike Milligan was one of the last century's true originals.

He was a comic genius, whose heart was as big as the laughter he provoked and the influence he has had." The comedian Victoria Wood said: "He was an original." Milligan himself once said: "I love breaking cliches. People hang on to cliches. The cliche is the handrail of the crippled mind." In a BBC poll, he was chosen as the funniest person of the last 1,000 years ahead of Cleese, Billy Connolly and Charlie Chaplin The Independent "Goon" star Spike Milligan dies at 83 By Paul Majendie LONDON (Reuters) - Spike Milligan, a founding father of 20th century comedy and zany genius behind the ground-breaking "Goon Show", has died aged 83. Milligan, pioneer of the meandering joke without a punchline, turned surreal comedy into an art form, influencing a whole generation of comedians from the "Beyond the Fringe" team to "Monty Python's Flying Circus". "He died this morning. I believe it was from kidney failure," his agent, Norma Farnes, told Reuters on Wednesday.

Fellow comedian Eddie Izzard hailed Milligan as "the godfather of alternative comedy." Heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, one of the Goons' greatest fans, said he had "a great affection" for Milligan. Broadcaster Michael Parkinson said: "You could make the argument that modern British comedy started with Spike Milligan. He was the godfather of it all." Along with Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers, Milligan's inconsequential nonsense and silly voices reigned supreme. He took zany humour to new heights of absurdity -- but at a cost. Secombe admitted that he and Sellers "rode on the thermal currents of (Spike's) imagination" and it was Milligan who wrote all the scripts for The Goon Show - 26 a year from 1951 to 1960. Michael Bentine was also one of the early members of the Goons but he left in 1952 to pursue a solo career. For Milligan, the gruelling task of writing the show sparked one of a dozen nervous breakdowns, making him the nation's most celebrated manic-depressive, a comic always on the edge of rage.

"I laugh that I may not weep," was his most likely motto, said Pauline Scudamore, his biographer and a close friend. Milligan was renowned for his sharp tongue, once calling Prince Charles "a grovelling little bastard" on live television. Milligan made it up with Charles after that remark by sending him a telegram saying, "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?" But it wasn't -- Milligan was given an honorary knighthood two years ago. ANIMALS AND HUMANS He campaigned for animal rights and conservationist issues -- but he was far less patient with humans. In 1974 Milligan shot a boy of 15 with an airgun for being in his garden, and he was said to have once threatened to kill Sellers with a potato peeler during a Goons rehearsal. Terence Alan (Spike) Milligan was born in India on April 16, 1918, to an over-possessive mother and a sergeant-major. As a soldier, Milligan ended World War Two in a psychiatric hospital after being shelled in Tunisia. His experiences were a rich vein of inspiration later for hugely popular war memoirs.

His first marriage to June Marlowe collapsed under the strain of writing Goon scripts. The couple had three children. Second wife Paddy Ridgeway died of cancer in 1978, he married Shelagh Sinclair in 1983 and he also had an illegitimate son. An Irishman, he was angered by the attitude of the British authorities to his citizenship. He once said: "I never see myself as Irish, but I am. My father and mother were both Irish and had Irish passports. I had a British passport but when I went to get it renewed and said my father was born in Ireland before 1900, they said I couldn't have a British passport - some bloody law. "So I said 'Fuck You'. I went to the Irish Embassy and I said: 'My name's Spike Milligan, can I have a passport?' And they said, 'Oh yes! We're short of people.'" Asked what words of advice he could offer to the younger generation, he once replied: "Run for it!" R.I.P. Spike. A big 'needle nardle noo' from all at alt.fan.goons . Nurse! For the last time, please draw the screens.

Eccles has left the building. Spike Milligan - News 17 January 2017 8:34 AM, PST NEWS 28 February 2002 | WENN | See recent WENN news » British comedy legend Sir Spike Milligan , one of the founding fathers of 20th century comedy, has died at the age of 83. Along with fellow Goon stars Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe , Milligan influenced a whole generation of comedians, including the likes of the Monty Python team, with his surreal antics. He was the last of the comic trio, who delighted millions with their cult fifties radio show, to die. Milligan's agent, Norma Farnes, says, "He died this morning (February 27th). I believe it was from kidney failure." In addition to his television and radio projects, Milligan starred in several movies, including one based on the first volume of his autobiography, Adolf Hitler - My Part In His Downfall, in which he played his own father. His greatest fan was heir-to-the-British-throne Prince Charles , once famously labelled "a grovelling little bastard" on live television by Milligan.

Milligan made it up with Charles after his remark by sending him a telegram saying, "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?" But it wasn't - Milligan was given an honorary knighthood two years ago. Charles was among the first to react after Milligan's death. A spokesman says, "The Prince of Wales is deeply saddened to hear the news. He knew Spike Milligan over many years and had a great affection for him." » 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2008 | 2002 | 2001 1 item from 2002 IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.

Spike Milligan - Fun Fun Fun (One Day Music) [Full Album] - YouTube Spike Milligan - Fun Fun Fun (One Day Music) [Full Album] Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jan 7, 2016 Category When autoplay is enabled, a suggested video will automatically play next. Up next Spike Milligan - The Fresh Fruit Song - Duration: 3:16. gr00ved 443,079 views 3:16 Q5 Piano Tune by Spike Milligan - Duration: 2:29. p0rtaccio 102,443 views 2:29 Earl Van Dyke and The Soul Brothers - That Motown Sound (Side One) - Duration: 18:09.

Marty Spitfly 7,192 views 18:09 Spike: Prince Charles leads tributes | London Evening Standard Spike: Prince Charles leads tributes Wednesday 27 February 2002 00:00 BST The Prince of Wales, once famously described by the comic as a "little grovelling bastard", was "deeply saddened to hear the news". The Prince, who was a fan of the Goon Show in his youth, was once described as the royal goon. In a statement, the Prince said: "It was an immense sadness to learn of Spike Milligan's death and my heart goes out to all his family. "It is hard to see Spike's parting as anything other than the end of a great era of British comedy, exemplified by Spike's extraordinary genius for the play on words and for the art of the nonsensical unexpected. "His particular form of hilarity and wit, apart from helping to sustain the British spirit through the unmentionable horrors of war, has provided countless millions with the kind of helpless mirth which adds unique value to life. "To have a gift of that sort is truly life-enhancing.

Personally, but along with so many others, I shall miss his irreverent and hysterical presence and can only say that the world really will be the poorer for his departure." Ms Farnes, Milligan's agent and manager, said: "For 35-years he has been the dynamo in my life and he was my dearest friend and I will miss him terribly." Milligan's madcap and absurd sense of humour dominated the Goons, whose other members, Sir Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine, have all passed away. When Sir Harry died last April, Milligan, paid tribute to his friend in his usual wry style saying: "I grieve for an unbelievable friend." The comedian received an honorary knighthood from the Prince of Wales last year despite making fun of him during a live television show. He later sent a fax to the Prince saying: "I suppose a Knighthood is out of the question now?" In March last year the pair met at St James's Palace to receive the knighthood, which could only be honorary because he had adopted his father's Irish nationality. Tributes were also paid by the BBC, which produced the Goon Show.

Jenny Abramsky, Director of Radio, said: "He was a genius, one of the critical people who put radio comedy on the map. He was unmatched anywhere." The BBC's Head of Comedy, Jon Plowman, said: "It is very sad. He was one of the true greats whose influence can be seen in a huge amount of comedy that we do today." More about:

Question: Which comic once called Prince Charles a ‘grovelling little bastard’ on live TV?
Answer: Spike Milligan