Spike Milligan

Terence Alan Milligan otherwise known as Spike Milligan was an Irish-English actor, playwright, poet, musician, and writer, best known for the series of comical autobiographical works documenting his experiences as a soldier in the WWII British Army, children’s poetry and the highly popular TV strip, The Goon Show. Born of an English mother and an Irish father, he spent most of childhood in India the country of his birth, before immigrating to the UK later in life. He adopted the nickname of Spike after hearing the Spike Jones and his City Slickers band playing on Radio Luxembourg. He was most famous for being the lead character in The Goon Show, while also being the chief writer and co-creator. His seven-volume war memoir that is an autobiographical account of his experiences in WWII is one of his most popular works. The first work in the series is Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall. A man of many talents Spike Milligan wrote a lot of comical verse most of which was written for children. After attaining much success with The Goon Show, Spike was involved in writing and performing a surreal sketch show known as Q5, which largely influenced the Monty Python Flying Circus. In 1960 and 1961, he applied for British citizenship, but was rejected after refusing to swear allegiance to the United Kingdom, instead opting to take up Irish citizenship.