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Spike Milligan (1919 - 2002)Dateline: 3rd March, 2002When an actor, playwright or novelist, or someone who is noteable for any particlar expertise, dies, then, within the genre, there is mourning and a sense of loss, but there are those who transcend genre, whose influence is felt in many different fields. Spike Milligan was such a man. As one who entered his teens in the 1950s, like many another (including the Prince of Wales), one of my abiding memories of that time (still with me, although much else - including probably the majority of my time in school! - is forgotten) is listening to The Goon Show. But not just listening to it: I remember the keen sense of anticipation as the time for this week's episode grew nearer, and the discussions - and mimicry - that went on at school the following day. The sense of humour of a whole generation was influenced by Neddie Seagoon, Bluebottle, Eccles, Major Bloodnock and the host of other characters created by this surreal comedy show and lines from the show - "He's fallen in the water!" "No more curried eggs for me!" - were repeated almost ad nauseam across the country. But it wasn't just kids who were affected. That influence stayed with them as they grew up. Would the absurdist theatre of people like N.F. Simpson ("Uncle George, you've changed your sex!" "Yes, I did it on the train. Do you like it?") have ever existed without the Goons? I doubt it. And the man behind this hugely influential piece of radio was Spike Milligan. Yes, of course Harry Seacombe, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine made their contributions - and very important they were too - but it was Milligan who was the presiding genius. He did admit later on in life, however, that in some ways the sow was a millstone around his neck. There followed a whole string of comic masterpieces in a variety of genres: radio, books such as Adolf Hitler: My Part in Hs Downfall, poetry for children, television series, theatre - I saw him in Oblomov (at least, I think that was the name - it was more than thirty years ago!) , which rejoiced in such lines as
Well, you had to be there... Spike Milligan was a comic genius, but a tortured one. He was prone to major bouts of depression - he suffered from what is popularly called manic depression - and had at least ten breakdowns in his life. Given the precarious state of his mental health, it is perhaps surprising that he lived to 83, to the joy of his many fans. He suffered from ill health in the last few years and finally died of liver failure at his home in Sussex last week, surrounded by his family and nursed by his third wife, Shelagh. He will be greatly missed. Articles Indices:
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