Spike Milligan

Spike Milligan, born 16 April 1918 in Ahmadnagar, British India, and died 27 February 2002 near Rye in East Sussex, was a British-Irish actor, writer, poet, actor and jazz musician (trumpet and guitar). Spike Milligan, born Terence Alan Milligan in British India, was the son of an Irish officer in the British Indian Army. Following a change in the rules of residence for Commonwealth-born citizens and the rejection of his application for British citizenship, he was declared stateless in 1960. In 1962 he acquired Irish citizenship by paternal filiation, which he retained until the end of his life. In the 1930s he performed as a jazz trumpeter and occasionally as a comedian.

During the Second World War (mobilized in 1940, he served until the end of the conflict), he attained the rank of master corporal in the Royal Artillery and participated in campaigns in North Africa and Italy. While still in Italy, he was hospitalized for post-traumatic stress disorder. After being demobilized with honours, he formed the jazz-comedy group The Bill Hall Trio with Bill Hall (violin) and Johnny Mulgrew (bass). Initially, the group performed mainly for the troops, then also on public stages.

At the beginning of 1948, Milligan joined the Central Pool of Artists and began writing parodies that would later become a major feature of the Goon Show. From 1951 to 1960, he was both the main author and the star of this humorous radio program. He is widely regarded as the father of modern British humour, having influenced many other humorists, including members of the Monty Python. However, he was overwhelmed by the requirements of preparing and representing a program each week. He suffers from several nervous depressions; it is said that on one occasion he pursued Peter Sellers with a knife.

Milligan lived on a country road called Dumb Women's Lane in Sussex, near musician Paul McCartney, also of Irish origin and close friend. McCartney ("Tomorrow's Man") wrote the poem "The Poet of Dumbwoman's Lane" for Spike Milligan ("Spike, Man").

In a BBC poll in August 1999, Milligan was elected "the funniest person in the last thousand years". He was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the British Crown in 1992 and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2000. As an Irish citizen, this latter distinction was honorary and did not give him the title of Sir.

Milligan has appeared in more than 70 films, including the comedy Magic Christian with Peter Sellers, and in numerous television series. His 1963 novel, Puckoon, became a bestseller and was adapted for cinema by Terence Ryan in 2002.

Throughout his life, he suffered from bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disease). In 1994, Milligan appeared in his own role in the successful Scottish BBC mini-series Takin 'Over the Asylum. The main character, Campbell Bain (David Tennant), also suffering from bipolar disorder, manages to convince the celebrity to participate in a major fundraising campaign for the hospital's new radio station.