Son of Captain L.A. Milligan MSM RA (retd).
Was recently awarded a British Comedy award for
Lifetime Achievement, where he famously called Prince Charles a
"little grovelling bastard" live on TV.
Spike and June had three children,
Laura Milligan,
Sean and Sile (born in 1956).
Spike and Paddy had a daughter (Jane
Milligan) in 1964.
Spike had a daughter (Romany) by a Canadian
journalist in 1975.
Spike had a son (James
Maughan-Milligan) after an affair with Margaret Maughan in 1975.
Spike has a younger brother,
Desmond Milligan.
His family came back to England in 1933 when his
father was retired from the British Army in India.
Spike's parents and brother Desmond moved out to
Woy-Woy, New South Wales, Australia. Spike often visited them out
there.
His long suffering agent, Norma Farnes, has
published a book of Spike's correspondence called "The Spike
Milligan Letters".
Spike has at last been officially recognised by
the establishment. He was awarded a knighthood in the 2000 New Years
honours list. But because he's an Irish citizen (he refused to take
the oath of loyalty when he became stateless in 1960, despite
spending 7 years on active service in the British Army) he can only
be awarded an honorary knighthood.
Once anonymously placed an advert in the 'lonely
hearts' section of England's Private Eye magazine which said 'Wanted
- rich elderly widow - object, murder', and got several replies.
Wrote a non-fiction book, "Depression and How to
Survive It", drawing upon his own experiences with manic depression.
Wrote a series of books detailing his experiences
in World War Two and afterwards: "Adolf Hitler: My Part In His
Downfall", "Rommel? Gunner Who?", "Mussolini: My Part In His
Downfall", "Goodbye Soldier", "Monty: My Part In His Victory",
"Peace Work", "Where Have All the Bullets Gone?".
In October 1964, he appeared in Oblomov, a play
based on a book of the same name by Ivan Goncharov. The play was not
a comedy, and he had intended to play his role seriouisly. However,
the play was unsucessful, until Spike began to ab lib. After five
weeks of sucess with the now transformed play, it was renamed Son of
Oblomov, changed theatres, and continued to be a hit for several
months.
Was a skilled musician, and played the trumpet and
guitar professionaly during the second world war.
His poetry is strongly influenced by Lewis Caroll
and Edward Lear.
George Martin, the producer of the Beatles, was the best man at
his second wedding.
Was a member of the Bill Hall Trio, a very
successful jazz band near and after the end of WWII. While the band
was touring in Yugoslavia, Spike found himself completely without
money, and joined the local Communist party in order to recieve a
free meal.
The inscription on his tombstone reads "I told you
I was ill" in Gaelic
When Peter Sellers and Stanley Kubrick were stuck
for a ending on Dr. Strangelove - it was Milligan who suggested the
use of the Vera Lynn song "We'll Meet Again".
