He had also served as a Signaller in the Artillery during WW2: Even in wartime, Milligan performed comedy sketches to entertain the troops. He was a highly complex character and leaves a legacy of laughter and thought-provoking observations.
Here we celebrate some of his most famous quotes. I keep it in the fridge. Six out of ten to the chef for trying and ten out of ten to us for eating it.
What are your memories of Spike Milligan — do you have a favourite sketch? Tell us in the comments below. Do you have Irish ancesty too? You might be interested to read our blog posts about Celtic Roots including an article with useful links for people wishing to trace their Irish roots. Also, we have a wide variety of gifts relating to your Irish surname. Be sure to visit our shop for fabulous gift ideas. Spike Milligan was famous for his words of wisdom.
Milligan was born in Ahmednagar, India , on 16 April , the son of a British Army captain, and grew up in Pune and Rangoon, Burma, before relocating to south London to attend secondary school. He remained a tireless producer of comedy throughout his life, a prolific actor, cartoonist and writer of nonsense verse in the tradition of Edward Lear. Presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Comedy Awards, Milligan listened uninterested while host Jonathan Ross read out a glowing message of congratulations from the Prince of Wales.
Taken from an early Goons episode of , the gag centred around a man telephoning for help after discovering a body. It plays out as follows:. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Spike had cared for his son, buying his mother a house and putting James through school; he had just hoped the family wouldn't be embarrassed. But in the end, the story was sold, and a photographer tipped off.
Even so, the family embraced the idea of James as "another Milligan", though there was no fairytale happy ending. I had to point out to him on the phone that, no, it was not like that, and that he still had a mum, which was more than I did. That our life was not perfect and sacred. James, now 34, did come and stay with the family, and Jane is in touch regularly, although they are not especially close.
The children's ability to assimilate extra family members also came in handy when it emerged that there was a second unacknowledged child born after Paddy's death, Romany, who lives in Canada.
Her mother was a journalist and artist who tragically died in Romany's first year of life. She was brought up by grandparents. Her reunion was less dramatic and not publicised. Honestly, who wouldn't want to have a big family and lots of siblings? When Spike retired from constant work although never stopping entirely , he moved with Shelagh to Rye in East Sussex, where he found a cottage and finally installed the one luxury he had always dreamt of — an in-ground pool for his daily swims.
Heart surgery was needed in , and Spike gradually began dialysis for kidney failure during the last two years of his life. It was like a warrior was dying. Then came his funeral, a desperately painful day when the bell tolled, and Barbara Dickson, who didn't know Spike but had asked to sing at his funeral, prefaced her song by saying she had just been at the Scottish Parliament and "Scotland is in mourning".
Dickson then sang a lament for a warrior. Spike's coffin was draped in an Irish flag. Spike had not wanted to be cremated, insisting on a burial. The children, denied the epithet they wanted by the vicar, had it translated into Gaelic and then carved into their father's headstone anyway. Now Jane has lost both parents, and lives modestly after inheriting very little from Spike's will, but she says: "I wouldn't have wanted more — events make you what you are.
I have a big family, and I have five nieces and nephews. She has extended her family through performing and working with children, particularly at the Chickenshed theatre group in north London. Currently in development is a play based around Spike's witch, invented for his grieving young daughter Jane 20 years ago, called Badjelly's Bad Christmas — a Spiked Christmas Pudding for this winter.
So I was so happy to help get this production underway as a tribute to his incredible imagination and his sense of family. Jane's life clearly still has a massive Spike-shaped hole in it. When she talks about him, her eyes suddenly turn from twinkle to tears. He looked at life in such a unique and funny way — it makes it both easier and more difficult to cope without him.
Spike Milligan, my dad. Having Spike Milligan for your father wasn't all wacky. His daughter Jane says that, along with the fun, came lessons in love and humility. Jane Milligan with her father, Spike Milligan. Photograph: Private photo. Reuse this content.
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