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IMDbPro

Spike Milligan(1918-2002)

  • Actor
  • Writer
  • Music Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Spike Milligan
Watch The Ghost of Peter Sellers - Festival Trailer
Play trailer2:13
Peter Sellersin haamu (2018)
3 Videos
13 Photos
Spike was born an 'Army Brat', the son of an Irish Captain in the British Raj in India. Educated in a series of Roman Catholic schools in India and at Lewisham Polytechnic in England, he spent his formative years playing the fool and playing the trumpet in local jazz bands.

He joined the British Army himself (under protest if you believe his auto-biogs) as a conscript at the outbreak of WWII. He served in the Royal Artillery as Gunner Milligan through the North African and Italian campaigns. He got a bit too close to an exploding shell and was hospitalised with shell-shock. On his escape from army life he started his "real" work as an author and humourist.

Most famous for 'The Goon Show' with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe (and originally Michael Bentine), these radio shows are commonly regarded as re-writing the rules of comedy (even before Monty Python). However under the pressure of writing all the scripts he suffered a breakdown and became a clinical manic-depressive.

He was fondly regarded as the last of the great British eccentrics and had written a wealth of comic poetry mainly for children, a few novels and his multi-volume auto-biography. Spike was also a keen (fanatical?) environmental campaigner.
BornApril 16, 1918
DiedFebruary 27, 2002(83)
BornApril 16, 1918
DiedFebruary 27, 2002(83)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Won 1 BAFTA Award
    • 2 wins & 2 nominations total

Photos13

Spike Milligan
Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan
Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan in Let's Go Crazy (1951)
Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe in Down Among the Z Men (1952)
Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe in Down Among the Z Men (1952)
Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe in Down Among the Z Men (1952)
Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe in Down Among the Z Men (1952)
Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe in Down Among the Z Men (1952)
Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe in The Last Goon Show of All (1972)
Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe in Down Among the Z Men (1952)
Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe in Down Among the Z Men (1952)
Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe in Down Among the Z Men (1952)

Known for:

Oudot huoneet (1969)
Oudot huoneet
6.1
  • Mate
  • 1969
Charlton Heston, Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain, Faye Dunaway, Oliver Reed, and Michael York in Kolme muskettisoturia (1973)
Kolme muskettisoturia
7.1
  • M. Bonacieux
  • 1973
Mel Brooksin mieletön maailmanhistoria (1981)
Mel Brooksin mieletön maailmanhistoria
6.8
  • Monsieur Rimbaud - The French Revolution
  • 1981
John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Monty Python in Monty Python: Brianin elämä (1979)
Monty Python: Brianin elämä
8.0
  • Spike
  • 1979

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Gormenghast (2000)
    Gormenghast
    7.2
    TV Mini Series
    • De'Ath
    • 2000
  • Angus Deayton in Vuosituhannen naurut (1999)
    Vuosituhannen naurut
    7.0
    TV Movie
    • Lord Nelson
    • 1999
  • Susia, noitia ja jättiläisiä (1995)
    Susia, noitia ja jättiläisiä
    7.9
    TV Series
    • Molly
    • The Giant
    • The Giant's Wife ...
    • 1995–1998
  • The Great Bong (1993)
    The Great Bong
    TV Series
    • (voice)
    • 1993
  • Umpijäässä (1993)
    Umpijäässä
    6.1
    TV Movie
    • Der Schauspieler
    • 1993
  • Up Yer Festival (1990)
    Up Yer Festival
    TV Series
    • William McGonagall
    • 1990
  • The Ratties (1988)
    The Ratties
    7.9
    TV Series
    • Narrator (voice)
    • 1988
  • Eric Sykes in Rhubarb Rhubarb (1980)
    Mr. H Is Late
    7.1
    TV Movie
    • Roadsweeper
    • 1988
  • Myötä- ja vastamäessä (1985)
    Myötä- ja vastamäessä
    6.9
    TV Series
    • Fancy Fred
    • 1987
  • The Sooty Show (1968)
    The Sooty Show
    7.1
    TV Series
    • 1986
  • Saturday Live (1985)
    Saturday Live
    7.6
    TV Series
    • 1986
  • Kenny Everett's Christmas Carol (1985)
    Kenny Everett's Christmas Carol
    7.2
    TV Movie
    • the Ghost of Marley
    • 1985
  • Spike Milligan in Last Laugh Before TV-am (1985)
    Last Laugh Before TV-am
    TV Movie
    • Various Characters
    • 1985
  • Billy Connolly and Gudrun Ure in Teräsmummo (1985)
    Teräsmummo
    6.3
    TV Series
    • Zoo Keeper
    • 1985
  • No 73 (1982)
    No 73
    7.1
    TV Series
    • 1985

Writer

  • Derek Jacobi, Bernard Cribbins, Paul Merton, and Catherine Tate in The Bed-Sitting Room (2016)
    The Bed-Sitting Room
    8.2
    • writer
    • 2016
  • The Two Ronnies Sketchbook (2005)
    The Two Ronnies Sketchbook
    8.2
    TV Series
    • sketch series "The Phantom Raspberry Blower"
    • 2005
  • Spike Milligan: I Told You I Was Ill... - A Live Tribute (2002)
    Spike Milligan: I Told You I Was Ill... - A Live Tribute
    7.5
    TV Movie
    • Writer
    • 2002
  • Puckoon - Halki ja poikki (2002)
    Puckoon - Halki ja poikki
    5.7
    • novel
    • 2002
  • The Two Ronnies at the Movies
    TV Movie
    • Writer
    • 1999
  • Australia
    TV Mini Series
    • writer
    • 1987
  • Spike Milligan in Last Laugh Before TV-am (1985)
    Last Laugh Before TV-am
    TV Movie
    • Writer
    • 1985
  • There's a Lot of It About (1982)
    There's a Lot of It About
    7.7
    TV Series
    • writer
    • 1982
  • Spike Milligan in Q5 (1969)
    Q5
    8.0
    TV Series
    • written by
    • writer
    • 1969–1980
  • The Punch Review
    TV Series
    • material
    • 1977
  • Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in The Two Ronnies (1971)
    The Two Ronnies
    7.8
    TV Series
    • written by
    • 1976
  • The Melting Pot (1975)
    The Melting Pot
    5.1
    TV Series
    • Writer
    • 1975
  • Comedy Playhouse (1961)
    Comedy Playhouse
    7.5
    TV Series
    • Writer
    • 1975
  • The Great McGonagall (1975)
    The Great McGonagall
    4.9
    • Writer
    • 1975
  • Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1974)
    Ghost in the Noonday Sun
    4.6
    • additional dialogue
    • 1974

Music Department

  • Between Two Women (2003)
    Between Two Women
    6.3
    • performer: The Goon Show "The Great Bank Robbery"
    • 2003
  • Spike Milligan in Q5 (1969)
    Q5
    8.0
    TV Series
    • composer: theme music
    • 1975
  • Spike Milligan in Milligan in... (1972)
    Milligan in...
    TV Series
    • music and lyrics by
    • 1972–1973

Videos3

Trailer
Trailer 0:31
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:03
Official Trailer
The Ghost of Peter Sellers - Festival Trailer
Trailer 2:13
The Ghost of Peter Sellers - Festival Trailer

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Spike Milligan CBE
  • Height
    • 1.80 m
  • Born
    • April 16, 1918
    • Ahmednagar, Bombay Presidency, British India
  • Died
    • February 27, 2002
    • Rye, East Sussex, England, UK(kidney failure)
  • Spouses
      Shelagh Milligan1983 - February 27, 2002 (his death)
  • Other works
    Puckoon: a novel, 1963, ISBN 0140023747
  • Publicity listings
    • 7 Biographical Movies
    • 4 Print Biographies
    • 2 Portrayals
    • 6 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    The inscription on his tombstone reads "Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite", which is Irish for "I told you I was ill".
  • Quotes
    Money couldn't buy friends but you got a better class of enemy. - Puckoon 1963

FAQ12

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