Cruzy People 60th Anniversary - Extra Pages, Extra Photos

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Goontents

6 Menories ofMiuigln

8 Sixry Yea^ Ago ro the Day

16 SixtycloLious Yeds

U Aword in thc Ear

19 AnniveNdyPidufes

I HuUoftomOz

4 Preservation Repoft

6 RememberingdeMilligds

32 A Duilbin ofBib

3E GolB Goiry... ftonl

Mlke Biowi, Mark Cousiis,Desmond Milligan, LauraMligan, Michael Oliphanl, Neil

Jim Spiggs

Pato. HRH Pince otwales

Edc Sykes,Jaie Milligm

ndsgoons@gmail.comww.lheqenshoworg.uk

Chairman's bitLaughs And Tears

ln the wake of The Goon Shoils big day, a couple ofpeo-ple suggested making this issue a special edition devotedentirely to the event. After all, how often do 60th anniver-saries come round? Besides which, a lot happened on theday and some of the guests and members may be laughingupstairs by the time ofthe 70th.

On the other hand, that would have meant stockpilingmore news, aticles and interviews in the already burstinggoldmine ofstuff.

Then any thoughts ofsprcials were abruptly put to slepwhen we heard the sad news ofSpike's widow Shelagh.Her unexpected passing revived memories ofGSPS groupvisits to s@ them at home in Rye md ofm equally colour-ful event when a pdty of us took them out to dinner inTunbridge Wells after Spike's performance in SnowWhite.

Family friction over Shelagh's inheritance has not, so ftr,detracted from the opinion that she did Spike a power ofgood. We have compiled a family & friends tribute to bothofthem, revealing some surprises. We have so much mate-rial that it will be continued inthe next issue. And ifyou toohave memories ofShelagh, let'shear them.

Meanwhile, with the welier ofanniversary photos being hurledin from all directions - for whichmultiplethankyous wehavedecided to re-mofrgageMoridty's teeth and splash outon some extra colour pages. Butwhere is a close-up ofSandraCaron's hat?Looknofurther! e

Someone said to m reently - on Remem-brance Sunday of all days - "Did you have agood war?"

I was appalld, scretly, allhough I made self-deprecating noises at the dme. "Howcan any-one apd frcm Mr hpp have had a good

wa?" I thought.

Yet I must conf6s that I'm thefirst one to tryto teach our four kids how to mrch in stepwhenever there's a militdy band on the box.I've given up tying to teach the wife - she wasa toolsetterin Se wn anyway. There's ajokein there somewhere, I.hink.

At Regimental Reunions I'm there wi.h lhelads, stiring up old memories. "'Ere - d'youremember old Okehampton being caught be-hind the NAAFI in Alderehot with the ATsSgt. Major, and saying he didnl mindjankersbsause he'djust redised Hslife's ambidon?"And remembedng that Okehampbn\ real

name was WoodcGk.

It is amazing what the mind can be pereuaded

to forget, especially when reminiscing ex'soldiers gettogether. Skirmishes beome tull-scale battles, reFeas turn into stntegic wiih-drawils, mole hils b4ome mountains - mdwhen theyve finished hlHng about sex they

I canl honestly say thar I loved the war. I was

in il but not of it, you might say, and yet evenat this distance I rcmemberpars ofit with astdliry clrrity and a etuin rueful affection. . .

We were about to embtrk on the Invasion ofSicily, and ourregiment stood lo attendon on a

sandy pmde ground outside Sousse in Tunisia.

Montgomery drove hs desrfcamouflagedstaffcar inlo the middle ofour pdade. "Bweakwuks and gather wound," he said, waving hisfly whisk.

I was pushed dong from behind, finishing upright against ihe car and direcily benea& thegreat mn himself, who now begd to addrcss

"T*e your hals ofi I want to see what you

look l*e." I stuggld b de off my bere.,hot with the howledge thaa beneafr ia layfour months' growth of wiry Welsh hair. Lhad gone reasonably unnoticed widn thefairly lax discipline ofa unit actively engagdin ba.tle, but old hawkeye above me was no.going to miss it. To add ao ahe geneml de-crepit nature of my appeamce, I was wear-ing a pair of sbel spechcles which had benrepaired at the bridge and ar both sides withel@rician\ hpe, wirh the resultthil thefmmes sat on my nose at an angle of forty-five degrees. To complets my Hammer Hor-ror kt, I was also wearing a piee ofpla$erover a nosquitobite on my chin. My hair,released ftom is bereted bondage, cascaded

over my face and ea6 in a shower ofsand.

Above me. Monty was telling us that we ofthe First Army were now joining the gloriousEigh.h Army and we had a tradition to kepup. Cautiously I raised ny head and lmkdup at him, trying to look commilbd to the

usk ahead.

"We're going to hit the Hun forsix," he sa'd.slapping his thigh with his fly whisk. I nodded fervenlly. The movement seemed tocatch his eye and he looked down at me.Whal he saw seemed lo strike him spechlessand we stood looking at each other, locked ina moment of time, the two opposite ends ofthe scale face to face - aglittering Goliathand a dishevelled David, but both on thesame side.

I cleared my throat, anxious to break the si-lence. "we're with you. sir.' I said faruously.He shook his head dishtly, as if awakenins

from a petit mal. looked away and caried onwith his pep talk. But the pep seemed to ha!€gone out ofhim. and soon, with one last unbelieving glance in my direction. he was driveDaway wearing the expression ofa

'nan with

something on his miDd. He must have b*nretninded ofWellington's remark when walching a march past ofhis men 'l don't knowwhat ctltct thcsc mcn will havc upon thc cn-

cmy but, by God. they terify me.'

Ah. but life was not all like that. There wasone little bit ofglory which carne my way.rhough prhrps not thc way I expcctcd.

Afier the frll ofTunis. x Vic(ory Parade washeld in which our Regiment took pad and,having been dismissed as too scruffy for themarch pasl, I climb€d up on€ ofthe palilhe€s Iining th€ rout€- I was quite n€ar thesaluting base. and as there were a couple ofcine cnmeras pointing my way. I fied towriggle inlo a posiltun ilhere I could be seenDuring my six nnd N hNlfyeaN in fie Army

fie only oiliercelebrities I managed o get near to werc SpikeMilligan who, like nrysell wasplaying walk on pafrs in battles

Ceneral Alexandef who wasplaying rhe lead tu the Medilerranean Theate ofWar andRandolph Churchill. whon Sgt.Ferris and mysetfcrprured outside Medjaz-elBab. He hap-pened to be ticirrg the wrongway at the time. and his para-

troop helnet did look Teutonicin the halt:light. and besides.who could believe a Germanwho claimed to be win$onChurchill's son?

like a minialure. Drechanised John Wayne. The

lownsfolk stood eilher side ofthe main roadwaving hr{ily made Unbn Jrcks rnd showeling us wfth fruit ind flowers fron thei balconies. The lads in the open lrucks were up torhel er$ in grrpes and figs, but I found il difficuh 1o calch rnything wifioilt letring go offie handlebrr- I Jowed 1o r hrh. pretendingb wnle on the trffic. Frora?' Ienqukedof a

buxonr signorina leaning fronr a fh$ floor window. Sj,' she snid. and knocked me off my

bike with a well-aimed pomegmnate.

My movemenh dislurbed a

y ofams livtug among rhe

leaves, and I was too occupiedtfying 10 $op them marchtugup my shorls ro pay nruch artention to the mnrchtug down

or to the newsreel cam

I wrot€ home to my parents innry wcckly ainDail lcttcr tbal Inright bc secn on lhc scrccn ifthcy kDkcd for a paLn rec ncardie saluting stand. Allcr aboutthree ntunlhJ solid cinenra-going my mother linally sawne - well, nol all ofnre,jost m!lell leg. She wde b say that

Therewasthetimewhenour Enlcnainjnglrcops.hlyl9445 shewassureitwasnrinebe-lwenlyjive poundergtrns clallered inlo a lilde cause the socking was arotrnd the ankle andlown in soulhern Ilaly. We were the firs Allied thats how mine always was when I was a

noops the lilrabitants had seen. and I sat boy. and did I get the balaclava helmel andas!ide nry baltered Matchless 350cc motortike the lalcum powder?

I ncver got round to sccing it mysell. and Ihavc watchcd Ai Our Ycsterdays on TV inanticipation ever since- I want to point to thescreen and say to my kids - Look, ftats nyleti leg in Tunis." Theres not much chance offtat row though. they!e got up to the po*-warperiod. Pity. I had a good-looking lett leg

From GOON FOR LUNCH - Harry Secornbe(Wyndham Publicatn)ns, 1977)

MEMORIES OF MILLIGANReview by Mike Brown

By any studards Spike was a complicatedp€rson. Ths fact has ben borne out by sev-eml biographes which Mve tded, not aiwayssuccesstully. to sum up Hs penonality md hscontibuiion ao comedy. You actualy have tohow the person you wdte about to conshctihe most accumle picture. Ths approach wasacheved to great eff*t in 2003 by Norma Fd-nes, a her choice ofbook title - Spike, hIntirore Memoir attests. If you wani to howabout Spike in his post Goon Showyeds, thenNo@'s ecount of lhe last thrd of hs life isbofr accurarc and ofren very moving.

There are so many facets to the man. in fact somany ways to considerhis talents that a multi-layered approach would be required for a sub-sequent book. This is what Norma basachieved to remarkable effect in her new book.Memries ofMilligan. Her idea ofa questionand answerformat, although deceptively sim-ple, paints a conplete and satisfying picture ofSpike fron twenty{wo well chosen infor-mants, ranging fronfamily and friends to fellow writere, aciors and comedians. The ques-

tions that she asks are to the point and some-times in the form ofobseflaiions which oftenelicit remtrkably cogentanswers, as she does-n t shirk frcn asking p€ople aboilt hos lheyobsen ed md reacted to Spike s ilmliabiliqand rudeness. She even uses words like'treachelr' and 'racist' in her qilestions.

Spike's long term lady frierd Liz Co$ley re-members him as being sweet and beyond beliefand Denis Norden remembem his audaciousness on radio. Sir Ceorge Marin commentstbat ifyou were his friend he was reliable buthe could be dangercus orbrilliant. We hearfrom a Iife-long fan. down on his luck. whowas helped by Spike and says that he hatedbeing thousht ofas public propety and BarryHumphries saw him as a lyrical Irish poet with

a demon at work. Rchrd kster was the onlyAmerican &at Spke genuinely lbd and{an J. W. Beil, teling ofhis work direclingSpfte on television. says that he respectdpeople who unders.ood hm md hs humoumd mstly sN Spike s good $de. Joa@Ludey sums up the people who have fivedtuough a wa and Dick Douglas-Boyd sawthe literdy side ofSpike, as maketing diretor of hs publisheN.

Norma has wo.ked her way through a richvein ofanecdotes and insighls on Spike. butstruck gold with her int€rview with TeryWosan. His observations ofSpike are amaz-ingly accurale and always apposiie. Hislonger answers to her questions are filledwith one observation after another. all ofwhich are ofquotable quality. Add to this thethoughts of the academics ofco'nedy - Mi-chael Palin, Jonathan Miller and Stephen Fry- withMichael'sview that Spike created a

new form ofcomedy and Jonathan saying he

didn l mEt anyone at univesity $lD $as notabsolutely familiarwth he Goon ShowStephen said fratpoeb kavel the shofrestdhtance to the truth and Spike was a poeirvho didn't demand to be lked.

This mix of people represents a wide ranse ofthoughts and opinions regarding Spike, yetone sentimentcl€arly @nes through. Theyall revere him, fauls and all. This is ablysumned up by Eddie Iard's closing com-ment thai Spike was our fiNt comic philoso-pher. In a (welve page section to@mpleteherbook, Norma has given us quotes, OnSpikei On The Coons and Spike On Spike.This book h a Iong overdue reappraisal ofSpike Milligan by the people who knew himbest and deserves to be very widely read in-deed.

(hblished by Fourth Estate, 2010.)

Menr,ories of

Milligan

.ka

mN () l{Nl A I:r\ }{N trS

h the region of a mn-

up fre sound; fre funof frespians tr-

the audience am-out

couldn'tbe allowd b

75; and it wasn't go-to rdn! As for fre speech,remhd b be hetrd, so

A good place lo staf was Sealarm. Perched aboutup on fre srutun

tums wall. embamssinglyb where the plaque wasned off, AIS Total Se-

"There's another amiveMry next ye&,don't forget." Incredulous, I looked at lhegenius who had uttercd frese words. We werein The Shaton Ams, it was mid-moming onSatuday 28 May, and I was busy filing an-o.he. bucket of sweat getting the 60th anniver-sry event together: What was going where?Would ou sound-man nive in time to setup? Would we have a full cast of actors forthe Coon Show performance? Would the audiene be overwhelmingly v6t? Was itgoing tonin? Would I remenber to say what I wantedto say at Se plaque unveiling?

"Yes," he continued, like one ofthose MadyFeldman chtracteN. "Next yetr will be the40th anniverery ofthe CSPS..." But beforehe could launch into what he was going tolaunch inao, I gor him off the subjeca by tellinghim I prefered ba.ding wim one anniverstryat a time. md the next one would have to wait.We can jump off .hat bridge when we come bil.

Mercifully things stded slotting in nicely.The oh-so-apprcpriate Tim Watson, grandson

ofJimmy Crafbn, turned up in good time to

outshine ourli.de ma$erpiece. So I pointedout tha! ilnfoilunately we had all missed thealtrm box's official unveiling the week before.(We are promised that it is smn to be rans-phnted to th other side of the building.)

Then it was time to resrgitate a h€lping ofCoon history. Sixty yeam ago to the day. thev€ry fi6t Crary People was broadest. JimyCrafton, the scriptwriting landltrd of thishighly €st€emed wabring hole, had lit thetus, without which cerhin things might nothave happened. At that time, the frantic four-some included the formidable tal€nt of Michel Bentine, whose Prof€ssor Osnc Purehed was to play a radioactive rcle in gettingfre Goons off ee ground.

Over the yeas, Sp*e and Lmy's slaving inthe scibbling depdment would be shared byEric Sykes, Joh Antrcbus ild Mauie Wil.-shire (whose son Rowan was in the crowd).Ilrc Goon Sihow s smeal marchy had sone onto draw a peak listenership of7 nillion.

Unfonunately the show has dso causd of-fence. Accusations ofncism have been ac-€ped ild the offending lines edited out.

Quite righdy so. There are aho elemenb thater distinctly ageisl and r bi1 sexist, and reallythese should be cut out too, along with varioushomophobic refercnces and unsavoury h!mour at the expense ofpeople who arc intellectually challenged. With these amendmenismade, we will be able !o swieh on, sit backand enjoy: "This is the BBC Home Service,"taking us straight into the manellous RayEllingion Qua.tet aDd the wonderful Max Geldray. And then: "Thai was Tte Coon Show."Just four minules, (hough not quite so funny.

There was then a plug for BBC Radio 4 ktawhch, under he comand of Mary Kdem-krim, was dght now bliEing the nation withan andveNary ofGoonery.

Rounding it offwas a rallying cry to suppotThe Strutton Arms. Coon pictures have startedappearing on the walls. as in days ofyore. andits metamorphosis into a theme pub is undeFway. (Any thoughts on ihis or making it moreFifties-slyle, perhaps with a regularcomedyslot and/or reveiing to the name ofGmfton's.would be received wirh uns*mly relish andpicked clean. Incidentally, js the pub the old-est hndon comedy venue?)

It was then high time for the Prince of wales'smessage. and who beter to read it than LauraCamuti? She had paddled herpiano across theAtlantic especially to attend the celebntion,and brought her best New York accent with

Clarence House

"Needless to say, I am incredibly so(y to bemissing the 60th anniverarycelebrations offte Goon Show, but what has alamed me is

to realize thaa I am acrually older than theShow.

Last year. for my birthday. some kind person

save me a collection of several Goon Showrordings. and I have been happjly convulsedby laughterby listening to them in the morn-ings wher I get up - a welcome antidot€, frcm

time to time, to the depressing news rnd cur-renl dlhirs. That, ofcouNe, was rhe wholejoyof the Goons' humour: itwasn'tcompl'catedorunkind. nor did ir rclyon a surfeirofsmut.In*ead. ii rel'ed on bdlliandy witty plays onwords and a sloilously scentric form ofimagina.ionthat, with rhe aid ofines'*iblesound effets, helped crea@ hysbrical visualitnages in tbe minds oflisteners. The end result ofall this was invar;ably to.aise the spirits and make people feel betler.

Hence. I suppose the Goons provided a hndof psychosomdc seilice all ofthet own -something from which some ofus have beenbenefiting ever since, largely thuks to thecontinuing effots ofrhe Goon Show Preser'vation Society and its equnlly wellpreseiledChairman, John Repsch- We owe him a great

debtofgmdtude forhis dedication and enthu-

siasm, not to mnlion his rema*able capncityto remem@ra grcat many more rmportantdetdls from Se old Coon Shos thnn his Pa-

This brings you all my most special wishesand congratulations on the occasion ofthe60th anniversary, and may there be much mm-pant hysterics in memory ofthe late, lamentedoriginaton ofthatgreat Brilish invendon -

fte Goon Show."

HRH The Prince ofWal6The speech eam€d a sianding ovadon, thoughfrat my hve been because everyon€ wasilready shding. In grovelingly hudle ac-ceptance of fre Pdnce's generous sendmenb.may I add frat although I how a lot moreabout fre Goon Show Sil a loi of people, a

lot ofpeople how alot more about ii han I'll

Next it was Spike's brcther Desmond's turnto take cen!€ stage this time in the shape ofTina Hammond- (It's that word again: metamorphosis.) Desmond lives in woywoy,Australia because that is where his home is.

0..! Frtetrd! of the CSPS,

[t fltetrd t!n. hr! ..k.d e to ,rtte .. oppnina .ddre.. for th. forlh.o!ilnlDl.tund Jubll.. cel.b!.!toa 60 y..!! .lnc€ rhe be!lnDtna. of tne Coon'

The.rlBtnatoi of tne Goon.,.. !q brothertsp!ke'.He e.r born ln adu.ty lndt.n ros c.ll.d AhMdn.Brr,ln c.n!r!l lndl..r.!her Mt tlt8.n,rr r.rvtna tn tn. llttll€ry rn tit. toh.On tne l5th aprll 1918,4u6 xllllartr u€nL into llbor and oent by Bulloc*rraaon ro the llrtle.my ho.pltrl,The Docror h.d ro be c.ll.d,whenh..r!rv.d Muo e.t in flll l.b.!. ne {lLed lnro rhe roonerrh d hrppy'!fitFlorrle!" ay ihrs trE uh

- - - - h.natna onr. rh. lop

!tc.r a,ry frtu er!! sh. .c!.!ild, t mv.r srnt to !e. .nothe! 4{ in

D!.hd.!!on.r.pp.d b.ck !n rt.a!'Donr bl.e d llollte,l dtd,nr do trr!"So ..8 forth one...1.rtnc. At.n Ulllt8ar, l.r.r to be nlcknimd byhtr .ry buddl.r 'Spllc Utlla.n'.

S.n F.th.r illltAu flnllh.d hlr.nt lerlc. s. found ourr.lv.. bicl!n *tnd.uept .old ,er Londonl ! lut rc ..ttl.d tn lnd 11fe ploale!led.Splk. !rrlt.d ro ptry truqet ln J!zr Brnd!, rnd from th.1! rr.!t.dto do coedy roullnes, !hl. Led ro belns..Led co ulce ! co*dy.hos,,htclrtn tuh t.d to htr wltlna ..d p.rfodn! In th. rC@N SHO!!.

And l.t th.t b. 6 k3.on for lll or US!!

Sorry th.r I c.ntro. b. ulth you rll an thl..u.ptcloq. occs.lon. 8utI 16 elth you .11 tn Sptrit (Scolch .nd !!y!)

tron Splte. broiter

D€loond lst!tcl Dlyan rllllg.n

Then it was plaque time. Of detr old EricSykes there was no sign, so that other legendin hh own lifetime. Chtrles Chilton, stood upild stood in. puling the cord with the wordsi"I nane this ship 'The Goon', and God bles allwho drink in her." That was the cue for a loudsomd effect frcm Fred the OysEr. but it didnlhappen. Fred clamed up, so we had to do a re-ron wi& a flaiulent donkey in$ead I

Hunt Emerson. cdoonht extraordinaire, wasat l6t able to peer up at his ma$erly ctrica-tures of the four actoN, and dsmed dre plaque

"very nice". It was an opinion prcbably shmdby most of those present. but the Imufac-turefs failure to truke the ctricatues stand outin relief, as per the order. deseryesa visit ftom Major Bloodnok with

said,'I'11 do it, I'[ do itl'He'd wiuen thescript. so I thought he nust be able to do theshow. And he did. And that's the fiNt showhe everdid: fre BoweryBar."

When BuriKwouk was asked whai iiwaslike io do a rehedsal wifr Seilers in the PinkPanther sedes, he replid, "ReheaNd - what'sSai? We never takd about whai we weredoins. we just did it. Peter would say, 'Youstud there, I'[ go over there ild when Iome out you jump on me, all right?"' Headded. "I was rather sad when PeEr died. fora rat many re6ons. one of then was thepay cheques stopped codng!"

Joe McGah recalled a ielevisionconedy he had direcbd, and iworeasons why it is never shown: "Idid a series with Milligan - iffreBBC is listening - cdled O InColour. And a yetr or so ago Iwrote to them asking why theynever repeat it. I got a leuer brcksaying, 'It's racially intolerant andwe can'tpossibly show this stufi'They also quoted one ofMiligan's lines in it. which isabsolute Goon. Ut's set inl this

Incidentdly, he idea of installinga colmenonove pnque wasprompted by a noment of des-peration la$ yetr at The SmtunArms. I had just been told that tobook ou day at the pub for a com-plimentily private pilty meantguilanEeing a mininum of fiftypsple. Impossible, I thought.Vr'e'd have to bring the boys backto life. Then I noticed one of those

'thinks'bubbles floating above nyhead, and it had a plaque in it.

Meanwhile. vdous people had been linedupagainst the wal awaiting intemgation. Theywere the VIPS who were seaEd there on thepavement in frcnt of the pub. ild now it wdtime to extact a few sound-biEs. Chdes Chil-ton reminded us of how Spike's radio debut inlte Bowery Bar happened by accident: "FiveminuEs before we were on the aif, I said.

'Right. everybody set? Where's the sttr?'Thesttr isn't there. Len Yowg had got stage ftightild had locked hinsen in the lavatory. So wewent to ty to get him out but we couldn't. So Isaid. 'What are we going to do?' And Spite

D..^,' Br""a-"h plrce tul of Brithh soldieNwho'd bsn ilre$ed hiding ftomfre enemy. ild we're at fre castle

there - 'The Ca*le hvier of, as they say inFm€, Chateau Lovief - 'YouN sincerely,

the BBC'.'

A young girl's eye-view was provided byJimy Grafton's daughter Sally. who hadwaehed the Goons tying out their etrlyshowsr "ReheaNals were in what w6 ourdining room. with a stage under the windowlooking out onto the flat roof at the back.They were quiE funny. We had an audienceof other show business people, and I thinkthey were very glad when my father got offfre grcund."

Before we could have at he nexi victim, a

sdd, 'Dear Dick, as you wifesays I'm a basttrd, I think ir'stime to bre* he pdnersHp.'And I got a lefter back fromSpfte saying, 'As senior mem-ber of Associated hndonScrips, I under$and you trecomplaining because Dick'swife has called you a basidd.In show business fre tem'ba\ttrd'I a termofendetr- -nenr Gohome.youordbs- firrrd!"

From one funny "old bastdd"to Mtrcel Stellman. It was the

voie from fre crowd inboduced is owner as

Bnd Ashton. Back in fre Sixiies, Bmd hadben in pmership with Dick Vosbugh andhad shiled the otrice above Spite's at Associ-ated hndon Scripts. He said that after sixyeils he had had enough of Dick. and decidedto bke a break in Anerica: "While I was there,Dick wrote a pilot show for the BBC - dreDickie Valentine show called How AboutYou? And drey said. 'Risht, we're soins to doa series.' Dick's wife Mote to me and said,

'While you're enjoying youNelf in America.my husbild is doing all the work. ild you'rebenefiting, you bastard.' I wrcte back and I

cord: "Peterwas in Japan b m*e a mvie;Harry was in Wales mahng a concetr; andSpike was the only one I had. And I wasasked to make one last record. Spike said.

'I've got an idea - ftuit. 'The RaspberySong'." So Petercare back ftomJapil.Hary came back fton Wales to nuke therecording and So back the next day. My claimto fame was to get those thre genii togetherin one rcom at one ime. To rsord them hthe only thing that I did in my life that I'mredly proud ot"We could almosi have finished ii all off onfrat high noie, but there was anofrer one to

ome. Sixty short yeils hadgaloped by since that fiNtCrary People brcadcast and itwas time to resurect thescript. If,s Drew had benmasterminding the operation.tweaking the odd line, castingthe cast and foraging fornoises. That morning the Sus-sex Goons Phil Ladd and

'DesperaE' Dave Withalalong wih Peter Stanford,had been suffering fromChronic Lack of RehedsalsSyndrom, but hey found

fremselves in good company when Se fa-mous Goon Again actors Jon Glover and Jef-frey Holland climbed abotrd. Jon md Jeffteyhad noieven seen the scdpi! Ahuddled read-tuough or two in one of the pub's nooks

should, it was hoped. save everyone's bacon.

I had ben on sandby in c6e of any actoNsuddenly pullins out and any bmls nedingscraping. Sory to confess. having studied thescript, I had found it dated and pun-heavy.and I had expected the audience to lapse intoembmassed silence. So I sutrered a verypleasant seizue when the ilcient mumnifiedtext suddenly came alive, inciiing laughterand applause. right frcm the off:

ft+.vV'-":

lTt --x\ii It

rocketing popultrity of fre Goon Show hathad sparked Marcel inb getting fre thre ontodisc. But there was a problem: "I phoned

Johnny Franz lHarry's producer at Philips] andI said,'Can Ihave Mr Seombe?'He sdd,'What for?' I said, 'I'd like to have him recordwifr the Goons.'He said,'He cant sing. Hesings for me, and fratk ii.' - 'Well, cm I havehim?' - 'You can, on one condition. He canshout, he can blow nspbenies, he cm saymyhing you want but he cannot sing a note.' -

'I'll have him because without Hm I don'i havethe Goons."' Oh, what wonders came io pass

when Htrry w6nt singingl

Twenty yetrs and a $ack of Deea frckslater, Mtrcel did ii agdn with freir final re-

ANNOUNCERT What is thc zanicst comcdyshow on the air today?

SPIKE: Er ye$efdry in Prilirnent?

ANNOUNCER: No, il s rhose Crazy People.the Goons.

And a few tasters for those who missed it:

HARRY: At thal time I was living in direpoverty - have you ever lived in dirc poverly,friendt

PETtrR: No. I havc a lil1lc flal llFinchley.

HARRY: What a meny place to be sure -

conliDuirg my stofy - I wa! very. vefy poor.worry tumed me grey. This gave me a p€culiarappearance as I was completeiy bald ar the

One ofthc shows skctches tells thc story ofhow British motor racing slafied:

MICmEL: Splutmuscle. here s five ihou-sand pounds. I want you to go to ltaly andbing back fre flnest motodng brains that

PETER: Righty hol

MICHAEL: Three weeks later he anivedback with a glassjar. In it were the linest mo-toring brxins thlt moncy could buy.

Ifyou arc dciem enough to rcnember DickBanonl Spechl Agem! ths my sound unfi

GroMS: Devils Gallop'

HARRY: ln our last episode you willrcmenber we lefi Dick, Jock and Snoweytrapped in a gas filled sewer (which youllrcmenber was befleath a haddock stetchingfactory in Park LaDe). You will fenemberthey were susFnded by thch feet. (You willrcmcmbcr thcy had fict.) Jock wofks himsclftk€ and cuts Dick and Snowey down.

PETER: Cood work, J@k.

HARRY: Ohhhhhhhl

PETER: Good heavensl Snowey s

fhinred. Quick, Jock, you take his legs.

SPIKE: I can't, they?ejoined 10 his

Whilc our actor werc conjuing up xcacophon) ofchrmctcrs, sound cflbcts macstro Lcswas rt his wil's end in squcczing so much as rsquerk out ofhis stcrm-driven tape nrrchine.Nalumlly, the more toubles Les hrd. thelouder the laughter. Aftefr1l, il wrs fre Goon

Show, so what did we expect?

The performnce was foUowed by an 'onihe'house'bufiel. preparcd coufresy ofthe resi-dent cordon bleu. Lyndsey Lynch. and raven-ously devoured courtesy ofall presenl. Alsothown into lhe rdx was r blthdry cake.baked and cl€verly covered wih Goon Showingredients by Mrs Steed, wife ofMr Steed.

Rounding thhgs off were more quick fireinterviews, including oDe with dre crptivatingSandra CNor, always in drnger ofbeing upstrged bl her har (Did Nnyone get i pholo ofit?). and followed by a nffle in aid ofdiestrrving plaque. And really puting die old tinlid on it was a 29 second clip ofour day'sdepravities paraded on BBC'S bndon Newsjust betbre closing time.

Now, when did he say the next anniversaryis?

. _e-.)a ''/

Th€ Bit at the End wher€ th€ Credis Roll

We render our deepest gratitude to a[ the VIPSforenteilaining us. And hedry handshakes bMike Brown forcaptudng Brad Ashton, and bchauffeur de luxe Terry Frednan for drivingBuil Kwouk and Charles & Penny Chilton todistrction (via We$ HampsEad).

Great also to see Ann 'Telegoons'Peffin. withEccles and movie cane.a unledhed, and GinaMilks, a distant cousin ofPeter Selle.s. sadlythe nem$ to a Goon lmily nembe. that we

Well done de bavelling playeN ks, Phil,'Desperate' Dave, Peter and especially Jeffreyild Jon, fresh frcn their recent gig lron Enyeds ago in Goon Again.

Many franks to Tin'grandson ofde grandfa-ther' Watson for nahng things audible; bBBC cane.a-operator Angie Walker for filn-ing fie show; and to Mdk Adans for digican-ing fie outside bit- A nulritude of tha* yous

to Dave & Lyndsey Lynch, Ian md the.est ofthe Strutton tuns saff for shting their *uflmd pulling the pints and sbings b help n*e

Tunultuous thanks to those who donated tofie plaque appeal - anofierf,750 b go- Andto the illusrious illusFator Hunt Ene.sonwhose Goon faces are on it.

And a poignant thank you to David 'Mare'Sdth, on naNhalling duty outside, for nak-ing sue that any people being run over orfalling down drains were kept to a minimum.

Also best wishes to those who said they'd beunable to attend. including Lady Secombe(.ight as.ain again afd a bad cough andcold): John Antrcbus (who to ou.blessed.elief has sent packing a very na$y case ofnuscular dysaophy ol the throat): JimmyGafton and Gaham Stark (boh a lotbedersince fie mniversdy than before it); RichddLests (who was helping sped up convdes-cene in the fanily).

Christopher Tinothy. enslaved by rehearsalsfor Alan Ayckboum's Haunting Julia: andthe evergren Bery Cryer. who was on tourand'reallyp--.'.- offfiat I cant nake it.'

And finally Sandra Ctron's hat-

Ying tong iddle-i po - bangon 6O years, it's Goons Day

scripls wcre Thc Dreaded 8atrer hddingI luder, Th. Afr!l ofihe Lone &naha, ildJonalhm Sa.l€

Spike Milligan nnd his panners in anarchy mayhlvegone to rhecreat Studioinihe Skybul TheGoon Showmue Eoon.Tomorow it will h exactly6oyearssincethe first episdeofoneoflhc most influ-€ntial radio shows of all time.

To elebralc, survivor! of ihar rdented

will unveil a phque rnd hear. messgefrom Pdncachnles, cmn fan,and Ftronof the Gmn Show Preser!ation SGioty.

"The Coon show r9tr-r96o firstexploded here," the plaquc will declareon thc exierior wnll of the Stnilron Arms(hen cnlled cnfton\). listrnE nho thcnrmes and caricatures of the hu0roristswho made it 80 bang: Spikc Milligrn,Peler Sellers. l{atry tocombeand Michael

The man who lit thcbluctouchpipetwsrimmyGrdon, publicrn.rdplwnierand Secombes m:nager. Ile instnlled asmdl slaS€ upsdrs in rhe pub, ediled t hemalerialand 6ndly naseda nervousBBcinto signing up the6.n8.

"we had Spike Millisan livinr in the.llic, wtrh a monkay in the next room,rcciued Crrftons son, Iames, who waseighr when he walchcd therehcarel oflho firsl in rhaseiiesofThoscrazy P@-plc,atheshowwasnrmadwhanthf thenirwnveson 28 Mny t95t.

No recording exhts ofthat tround-bre*inabrcdcn$ btrtlhosdptstrrvives,ind ifr er theunv€ilinacaremonyil willhre'enaddby memhrsof theCen Show

Despite 0entino soon leavint, TheGoon Show ran rntil lhc Last Snokintsentoon, theepisodcthit brought downrh€cunain in rilunry r960.nlicr ro kriesand about 250 shows. A mong I h. classi(

Tetry toncs aFeed: "We were tryint to doonnwhatrhecoonsdadon mdio:deatea frca.wheelinS, fantNt wodd."

On hand this wcckcnd to share theoemories will k Marcel Srclldan, whoproduced The Yi ng-Tong Song rnd ot herGoons hit sinSlca, ind the plrywrighllohn Antrobus, whoco.wrotescdpts wilhMil ligrn. Ch. iles Chilton, creator of th€

tunShilfud ccl.bnte rhrcddofspfrcm-ltta, hn, dd ueothertus!r 6.

sci6seriesJourneyintoSpaca,andpro'ducerof eanycoon shows, willh joiniryin lheQ&A sessionon Goonth.rcana.

Princechill€s 6 proud tod*larehim'Rlf somsnewhoArew!ptothesoundsoflhe Goon show on the steam-drivenwreb$". Hesid,otr missint the record.int ott he reunion Gsn show in 1972: ,.My

haiiturnedFRnwithenvymdmyh*sf€ll oft"'lhar r97os perlormaDce led tothe fomration ofthestriert when mcm-hF oflhe iudience pt together in a pubaftcrwards.'Th€ysaid,'wecan'tletlhish t he .nd ofihc coons , so th.y foundcdthesdely,'sdd Les Drcu whorunsthe

Ref h sid: "oneof !hchnuriesomheGmnShowb.t hGnl dated. ['llstillhon the nmpa8ein a rcoy€aB iime.'

"lt ws. hugccult, $id John Rcp*h,chdmanof iheprcervrtion sdevwith

hcwill

SIXTY GLORIOUS YEARSby Mike

There is smething very special sbout a60th amiv€rsary, dhough fre Goon Showhad passed ih fir$ greai dlesbne in May2001 wift he 50fr anniveNary ofshow No.1.On frat oeasion, the highlight of &e celebm-tions feil b he BBC when &ey dedicated heevening of May 29 on Radio 2 b dl hingsCoon. DhkMaggs's tsibute docurenbry wasupdaEd for the event, lte Go On Show, lastbroadcdt on the 40th ilniveNry in 1991,w6 repeated and Denis Norden raced thehistory of radio onedy frcm 19,15 to 1951.The best was saved until last. with GoonAsain a brild new venion ofa 1953 GoonShow Ranking as ore oftl€ 'lost shows'. ithad not ben hetrd for 18 yeaN Ge GSPSNewsletter No.102).

To rffik the Dianond Jubilee, ii was theGoon Show heseNation Society hat rose tothe chdlenge. The plaque, unveiled byChdes Chilton, is a permanent tibute to thebith of lte Goon Show and the event waswel attended. with words of acknowledgnentfton our honoured guests and il address readout ftom our royal paron HRH PrineChdes. It had been decided. howevef, thatnothing less thil the fint ever Goon Showshould be an impofratu pafr of the day's €le-

The scdpt had been published by &e GSPS infive Newslefters - Nos.55,56,57,58 & 59.The original script contained alterationsanounting to about ninety deleted lines andlines changed, presumably by Spike md LarrySiephens prior to bansdssion. For fre 60&mniveNary this fully amendd veNion, in itsbroadcast forn, was usd. The cast of fiveconprised Jeffrey Holland ild Jon Gloverreprising their Goon Aeain roles. ild in theblue cornef, GSPS stalwds Philip Ladd andDesFrate Dave Wi6all filled in for Ned of

BrownWales md Mike Bentine. Peter Stanfordmade a commnding announcer and LesDrew won on poinh on the sound effetsftont against mounting odds.

The format of the original show went as fol-

l: Sillyinroductions.2: Skebh Thetheft of 2000cigtretEs3: The Sbrgee$ sng "Irt Youselfco"4: Skebh - Moior mcing and Se story of freB.R.M. Oy Captain hrehetr05: Ray Ellin$on sng .Keep olfthe Gmss"6: Skebh -DickBarbn, Sp&ial Agent7: Ms Geldmy played "I Can't Cive YouAnything but Iave"8: Skebh -The questforTutmhamen.( Fist mention of 'Lurgi' in a Goon Shoy)9: The Sbrgee$ sng'goney I love YouBut"l0: Skerch - The 1951 Fe$ival ofBdtainl1: End of dre show "Marchof the Goons"

Our version contained all five sketches andmercifully no StargeN! The cast all per-fonned magnifiendy wifr no pdorrehedsaland my fluffed lines or dodgy dialets onlyadded to the fun. The show itself was funny,even though it had ben a firs effotr for freGoons themselves, md des us realhe whatwe tre missing in dl he loil shows. Jon

Glover is one of our best 'voice' ffists. Withcredirs going back to 1974 in mmy chmcierpm, he did the voices in Spitting Imge forThe Duke ofEdinburgh. Melvin Brass,Oliver Reed and Steve Davis.

The Goon Asain showin whichJon andJef-frey Hollard appeared wetu on b $in 'TlESpoken Wod A$ard for Comedy/Hunoil' in2002. Jeftuey, as well as being one ofou bestconedy actoN, h a mjor Goon Show andPeier SelleN fan and when asked about the

show he said, "The persnal high spot in mycarsr to date was in Mdch 2001 when I tookpan in a Goon Show re{reation for BBC Ra-dio 2 celebrating 50 yeil ofthe Goons. I hadalways been a mad fan of the pro&mme andalq?ys 'did' the voices and rvhen I was askedby my old friend Dirk Maggs to audition for it,I w6 deligh@d. We had to pass the approvalofSpike Milligan himselfand his agentNorma Fames before we could be ac€p@d. Itwas the gr&test night in the theatre that I have

wer spgnt.'

Our day at the fomer Gnfton's was memom-ble too and a commemontive book in heshape offre Coon Show Companion byRoger Wilmut and Jimmy Crafton was signedby all ou honoured guests. Many more will beasked to sign in the futue. In fact Roger has

I€ft€y Holhnd and lor Clov€i ai rhe micr@hoe

Her€ are fte atrdio ands you dssed onkdio 4 Extra if you came b fte Annivff-sary event. Aeordlng to thelr Nessletter:

The Coon Show Preservation Society hasplanned a "Grand Day Out" tocelebraie thefirst ever broadcast ofhe Goon Show. Thiswill be held at the pub known as Craftonhwhich, in the posrwardays. was a watedng-hole for the younger g€neration of com€diansdd comedy writers. And it was in Grafton'sthat "The Coons" were bom. The pub is nowre named The Stutton Arms, and there, on28th May, a commemontive Goons plaque

will be unveiled. Coons fans will ningle,shde Goons anecdo(es, read scrips, ad appdently a message from possibly the bestknown Coons fan, HRH The hnce ofwales,will be read oul.

Radio 4 Exaa's elebntion will be nore mod-es. on the actual day. we will be broadcasting

Goon fuain, a 2001 re-recordins of SpikeMilligan scripts brcadcast to milk the 50thanniveresy of1l'e Gmn Show. HarySecombe's pilt was played by his son An-drewi Jon Gloverand Jeffrey Holland tookon the pds played by PeEr Sellers andSpikei vocals were pedormed by Ray Elling-ton's son, Lance, and the announcer was An-drew Timothy's son, Chrisbpher. All verymuch kept in fre family. This will be followed byEric Sykes inroducing fre Atrairofthe hne Banana, and fre 3-hour specialwill end on fre hst Coon Showof Alwhich, as pa( ofthe 50th annivercdy ofheBBC. was simulcast on mdio and clevisionin 1972. Sadly, i.was ind€d the lasttimefrose .hree omedy geniuses were to work

Mry Kalederian Head of Prcgrames atBBC kdio 4 Exta

I L0YAI FANS: Unveiling 0f a plaque (bel0w) celebratjng theStrutton Ams Pub, Victoria Prrns by Grail Nunrtrry! L!28f:11 trFof02

SIXTY vears afler its lrrst Gratlon. dauohter ol onornalbroadc'ast. one of the most landlord Jrnriv Graftonlqasinfluenlial radio shows of all presenl. Her {alher sel up atime has been honoured

^ small staoe in his flat

"'fl B e'33x".n.* "u-"

/ff "g:ii;:,: R:tl":'B::H,i'3;t,i;:?i.'"ri l- f rqi!lsi;t,?fi::"l1LY"::"1";L:':n ^i'he t "lc,.rtJn,i

-y'.,j3f1#i$*1ffi!%["Spike N-4illiqan. Peter Sellers. qerm of the dea to start theHaril Seconibe and Mrchael sh-ow qermrnated. Some geooleBentine \rere the onqrnal team mav s6e The Goon Showi as abehind the surreal wEeklv radio linle bit dated but it s stillshow. $'hich built uo a cult relevant because itfollowing after it was firsl s,as revolutionarybroadcast on Mav 28, 1951. al the time.

On Salurday. about 80 fans -Ameilcan ajand people who worled on the tourisls come _ {*l .onornal sno\ls walcneo lne over ano ask I rl sunVer|ng ol a plaque and heard the place where tit-a messqe from Prince Charles. it all happened. I /patron ofthe Goon Show and now

3;:?"#,x'fin3?::"0'l;*n'"n $i!ili" -srr- _1Tlvo actors. Jon Glover and show them

/ tt}*

Jeffrey Holland. read oul the it w;hilti;;i;";pi;;is;iiy -r-reo:rr.,,-.0,0.(-

Bu( Kwouk

Jean SleilnanMarcel Stellmn

Sally GraftonJoe MccrathBuft Kwouk

Marccl StcllMn *ith Sallv'sson Tim in the backsround

Eccles shnds by to lend a hild whilst Charles Chilton does the honouN...

An gathered to see the plaque..and Smdra Carctr s stumiry hat!

Hullo from Oz - A Postcard fiom Eccle3 to

I walked backwards for Christmas from north London 25 years ago

and ended up on a huge lsland called Australia,When I crawled ontothe beach ofsydney harbour (with mythinlegs), I wasgreeted by four handsometanned men in white coats,

They have a weird Australian custom when theygreetforeign€rs,and puttwo big beautiful silver bracelets on mywrist joined to-gether by a smaft silverchain.Theytook me in an unusual white vanto a very nice buildingsetbehind a high brickwall with elecvicgates.I was overcome with emotion when six more tanned men in white

l,f":::,::,T,,-""

' o.' r r\ll

/()\_;

ilcoatsgreeted me atthe porch.I obserued Australians arevery physical when they meet strang- L < C t e gert grabbing at all my body parts.I tickled so much I couldn'tstop laughing.

Then they put me in a smadwhltejacket.The silly buggers put it on backto front with my armstied at my back.

This must also be anotherAustralian custom.I asked where I was, and a nice man with a stick (he must haveweak legs like me) said I was in

a tOO-NA-TICK-A -SIGH-tEM.I asked ifthat was an aboriginal word and he couldn't stop laughingthen answered,'Yeahmate yeah, it'sthe aboriginal word forWEICOME.'Laterthe nice men put me in a room with a view of a real Australian dunny, and in the dis-

tance the vellow arches of MacDonald's.I asked why I had bars on my window and the nice man with a walking stick said it wasto keep

outthewild kangaroos,

Australians seem vefl Drotective oftourists' welfare and this makes me feel extra safe and

I whh my friend Bluebotlecoold see me now, he'd be so proud.l've spentthe lastfew days having breakfast in bed.

It'svery relaxing being spoon fed bythe man with a stick but he keeps mi$ing my mouth, sillybuser.I think th€y'r€ woried about mythin legs and want m€ to rest up before they send me tochristmas lsland.

l'm so excited and it's all free.I like Australia very much and theircustoms.Wish you were here everybody.Hullo? ls there anvbodv there?Love Eccles.

PS - | fi nd the silver bracelets custom a bit uncomforta ble, but they I in sist I keep them on. At

least I don't need toscratch my bum'costhere's lots ofthi6tymozzies in Oz.

CAtCh YER LATER MATES X

l'm bura the oldest daught€r ofSpike and sprunS from hisloins....um a longtime ago.

I wish I could be with you all and sharethis wond€rful Goondayand the wonderful memories ota mu€h mi$ed tather.Lovq Litht end Peace

Laura Tierney Milligan

Fans offre wdta€n wod will be delight€dto hear that w€ hve recmtly acquired y€tmore pils (we ile in desperate need ofoin -

men. for then) of original scripts for the CoonShow.o augment.hose that we had previouslyobtained ftom Sir Elton John Gee Newslet@r129) and elsewbere.

Keith Wicklum (the poor mm's Ted Kendall)acquired a bundle of casloff papers frcn Tedand also penuaded DirkMaggs (erstwhiieBBC hoducer ofGoon Again) to pdt with 99early Goon Show scdpts. fre Maggs papenyielded nany scripts frat were not previoudy

Afier several atempb to peNuade the BBCWriten Archives Cenft to 'domte' the re-rMiriry scripts that se didn t have. Moriagand I organisd a quick whip rcund and collected sufiicientcoppercoins and old buttonsto allow Richtrd Usher lo spend the day atCaversham. where he printed oficopies oftheremaining scripts. Ifanyone has a sparebucket ofthanks. please send them to Richard

UsherofBBC Radio Berkshne ild JetrWalden of.he BBC WritEn Archives Centefor heh co-opemtion.

Thus, we nowhave the complete collection(ircluding all of tlrc 'special' ndio pro-grammet of Goon Show radio scripts pre-

seNed forposterity and beyond.

Students ofthe EncFlopadia Goonicus will(eventually) be able to enjoy these mailer-

Anyone who has pjles oforiginal CoonShowpape. (e.g. Recording Log Sheets, Pro-gaamme Editing Repons, Programme as

Brondcast Sheets) are rcquested to send them6 the EditoLin-Chiefalong with any spa.ecn bob notes lha. maybe lying around.

Our quest to preserye The Coon Show con-unues...

Hercules Grytppe-Thynne (supplier ofbfoM paper parcels to the genby.)

REMEMBERING THE MILLIGANS

Comedian Spike Milligan's childrenawait details oflegacy after death ofhis widow Shelagh

By Richard Eden, fte Telegraph onlinel91h June 201 I

Six ycrs after a High Couftjudgc ill€d hatSpile Milligan s third \rife. SlElagh $as en-

litled to dE corredian s entire estate anC hissix children slnuld rffeir€ ody \rlut $as$rylus to requirerren s'. slr lus died. aged

61.

Shelagh fur$er upset his children in 2008when she auclioned offthe mementos ofthesld offre Goon Show, who counted ftePdnce ofWales amonghis biggest fans- Theysdd they hrd not been consulted and were_deeply disftssed" oler rhe sale at Bonhams.

It is understood that Shelagh, a foriner BBCproduction assistant 25 yeare hisjunior, willb€ bxri€d ner to Millisatr ir Sl Thonas s

churchynrd in Winchclscn, Easl Sussex. Hisgravc cmics thc thmous cpilaph (in Gaclic):''I lold you I s?s lll.''

Milligan_s gm\'e staled trnmarked forlloyears because his family werc unable to agreon a memorial to him.

The comedian. who died tiom kidney lhilurein 2002 at the agc of83, had no childrcn withShclash, to whom hc was madcd for 19

]cars. Somc ofhis childrcn from his prcviousmarriGcs attcmptcd to havc his will rcvokcdin favour ofan cariic. lcgal documcnt whichlcft thcm a sharc ofhis housc at Udimorc,

Despite his yean in entertainnent and hisrepuhrion as one olthe leading lighrs ol Brl!ish comedy. his todune had dwindled tof626,636. A large part ofhis e*ab h said tohave been spenton providing health care fbrhim in his latd ycds.

INTERVIEW - Peter Sindair

John Repsch: While I ws afrending She-lagh's funeral, I spoke to some of the poplewho lflew her md Spike. A few weeks laterthey reminisced in more detail. The frNtwas Shelagh's bro&er, Peter Shclair.

Peter Sinclair: Spike said to me on two osa-sions. "Shelagh is avery sood wife. I wantyou to know that. She looks after me wonder-tully and I'n very happy. She's a wondertulcook and she\ so wondertul for ne." He nil-ded a colonel's daughter. My dad was a colo-

The Army was very much a pafr of Spike'slife.

It wasn't hh regiment, bui Spfte was RoyalAtillery, md ny dad was Royal tuiillery as

Did frey me€a?

No, heyjust nissed, actually. Spike was do-ing a play called Son of Oblomv md my dadtook Shelagh to see ii. Spike said somefting ioher because frey were netr fre front of the

stage. but frey never actudly met.

I undeNhnd that Shelagh staged s lot ofpafries at The Carpenters.

She was a good hostess. And if Spike wasn'tupstaged he'd be all right. He was very sensi-tive, realy. Beins bi-polil. milic depressive.it could be just one thing that broke the straw.I'd feel encouraged to compete with psplebeing tunny lite that ild, on one occasion.Shelagh said. "Donl try to upstage him. He'sin abit ofa depression." His personality wassuch that either he would be silent, and onecould get the impression that he was with-drawn. or he would be perforning, crackingjokes ild entetainins. ild his timins wasvery good. I ould heil himtell ajoke hun-dreds of tines and stil laugh at it. He told methat he hadnt been to a pdty till he was 30

yetrs of age, so socially there were sone lim-irs. I renember him asking ne to open thedoor once to let in the guess. He said, "Petef,I'nhopeless atthings like this." He couldn'trelate. He was always going on about clichesbeing the hild-rail of the crippled mind. So,small talk was not his thing. Therefore therewas this uncomfotable silence. Greting ps-ple wasr "Conein." Sma[ talk wasn'tthere:"Hope you had a sood joumey down, r eb.Which is prcbably why he criticized it. buteveryone ended up notbeing able to say any-thing. Bsause he would bke a play on wordsat everything you said, sometimes. You'd say."How are you, Spike?" And he'd say, "What,are you a doctor? Why tre you asking how Ian?" Orpeople would come up to him ifwewere out at dinner - women mainly - who heprobably didn't even know, and say, "Spike. Ilost my husband last week. " hd he'd say,"Oh, that's very cdeless ofyou." It was quiteclever but it dghi have upsei &em. Lefs faeit, you don'i have a minub's peace whenyou're wellhown - hey hink hey own a

person like frat. I'm afraid that with Spikealso, when he ried to dissuise himself, helooked nore like himself than he did before. Ircmenber going to the De La Wm Pavilion -I think it was the Ted Heath Bild. The foyerwas full of people, and he said. "I've sot toget right acrcss there." So he put his hand inftont ofhis frce ild looked between his fin-seN. Of ouse, everybody looked, didn'tfrey, to see who was doing whai.

Would h€ p€rfom st psrties or just syhsllo?

Soretimes he would, sometimes he wouldnt.Realy the pdies just involved siting roundand chatting. If we had a sbge. he'd perfomon it. Quite often he would go to bed etrlyand wiE or waeh television. He had a blrck& white.

whv?

He just liked it. He had a wind-up telephone.

On one occasion when they chmged all ftetelephone sysbms, and you were puton hold,which we never used to have yeaN ago, hespoke to somebody ild they put him on holdild played him some music. And Spike, beinsSpite, thought, "l don't want to hetr this,thilk you." So when they cane back on thephone. he said. "Would you hold on for a min-ute?" And he put a rsord on of Rrchmaninovild left the telephone receiver beside it. Hew6 so incredibly quick - it was spontaneouswith hin. On one occasion there was a famousju z man who had died, and we were at thetuneral. standing in the rain and dre hemehadn't dved. There was a lot of silence, peo-ple despondeni. And he nextthing, iwo fu-neral cm iurned up. Spfte said, "CMst,they've brought him in two hdves," whichwentdown OK - quite surpdsing redly. Buthe couldjust get the edge ofgeuing away wi&mmgs.

Spike msa hve don€ hundrds of thou-san& of &ese frings.

It was when you leastexpeted ii. He usd bdo a little shoracut in London down a one-waystreet, the wrcng way. He gotcaught by thepolie, who said. "This is aone-way sfter.And Spite said, "l know - I'n only soins one

He used to say he didn't like The Caryen-

Shelagh checked out for him 360 properties.

How nany he wentto see. I don\ know. Buthe'd got thh neurcsis and there was alwayssonething wong with it - he could heil a dogbilking. Then he saw The Cilpenters and theview was what he liked. And the owneN said,

"That was the old price. It's gone up f25.000,"or something. And he paid it. Ifthat had benme, I'd have told then where to put it. He wa$n't happy with the house and he told the previ-ous owneN he didnl like it. Renember thatprogmmme Room 101? Well, he dumped it inthe bin in kon l0l. Sounfortunadly iire-

flectd on him a bii, saying it was hodble. Isuppose people frought, "Whatdid you buy itfor?" They had tenible huble with burglilalarms. They kept going off So they had tohave all this equipnent linked to the police$ation. Quite often you'd get there and findthe police there. the alarm's gone off, thelights m flashing. One time they lockedthemselves out, so the police or the fire bri-gade climbed up and got through a bedroonwindow. I thought. I w6 blocked in in Ryewith my vehicle one Saturday, and dpy saidthey had no one to send. And yel if I'd benSpike, I'd prcbably have had what Spike had.which was a policeman and a WPC. I wasstaying here one weekend and I got up bhave a pee in fre night, and I thought I hearda litde noise like a bedside alarn clock. It wasa very faini'b*p, bep, bep'. I wmderedaround &e roon to see where it was codngfron. I opened he bedroom door, and I hearditcodng tuon fre end ofhe landing. And Igotdown here - it's 2 o'clock in fre moming-and he whole ofhe downstaiN was full ofwhiie smoke. The burglar alann was snouldering. It had shoted or sorething. And theyhad so much rouble with it that Spike got up.went downstain, grabbed hold of it andyilked dre whole thing off the wall and threwit out the ftont door. They didn't have a bur-glar altrn after that. When things happenedthat were dodgy. like when sonething wenton fire, he would solve the prcblem, but he'ddo more damge in solving it thil if he'd leftit alone. ff the chip pil was on fire, he'dsmother itwith a hand-stibhed linen diningtable over that w6 worth a lot more than achlp pm.

The frre brigsde seem to have ben regulsvisitos.

There was ilother occasion when they tunedup. Spite and Shelagh had an elderly gtr-dener. One day Spike sdd io Shelagh, "Whatare all frose whib floweN siuck in &e gd-den?" And she said, "Mr Diichefs put frose

in." They looked like a white sort of floweryou get in fields. He said, "I don't like then.Tell him to take them away." So the next tineMr Dieher care, he did that and made a bon-fire at the bottom of the gilden ild the hedgecaught light ild the whole of the botom of thegtrden was ablaze. The fire brisade had tocone up thrcugh the field at the back and theysdd itcould easily have goi &e house.

Someone has ssid that whichever propefrieshe had visit€d, he could hear dogs barking.

He didn't like doss and he viewed them as

crapping ruhines that come and sniff yourballs all the tine! He liked cats. He spent a lotof money with fre vet when he cat got runover. Shelagh got a dog. It was aBasenji -

they don't btrk. But unfortunably it couldn'tresist junping up on hln and sniffing him allthe dne. So he got fd up with frat- He wouldpat it gingerly and wish itwould go away.

Was &e mov€ from Bamet ao b€ n€ar€rShelagh's r€htions?

That was one reason. I know that Shelaghwmtd to come to sussex to be netrer toMum, and Spike wanted to gei oui of hndon.And the other thing was that the upksp onHadley Wood lBilnet] was horendous. Oneof the daughteN left the bath tap on and all theplasEr had core down in dre huse drawingrcom. I thint I'm right in saying that insuancewon't pay for that because it's old plaster. Sothe ost of repai.ing that drawing room musthave been astronomical.

Was he fed up with London bsruse he did-n't like the urbil life?

I think so. Things were a bit annoying uptherei people rewing up ctrs next door. Andsone boys clinbing up dE apple tee in theirlitde bit of gtrden. He got into a bit of trcubleover that, buying an airgun. It was naughty butit probably surprisd him frat he hit himl

Things were different in Sussex.

He usd b go round Udlnore and pdk his caranywhere. The lady tmffic warden wouldknow hin. She soft of waved the ticket at himand said. 'Spike. tre you going to be herelong?" He'd say. "No. I'njust going to getmyprescription," or something. Atone tine heput a notice on his cil: "Please don't give nea parking ticket - I'm a World We II vet-eril." I realize, frcn beins in the shadow ofsoneone who was a celebrity. that they get allthe favouritism. He'd go to a restaurant, andthey'd say. "Dont wory about that - it's onthe house." Cbcasionally, if he'd booked atable, they'd put hin by the window or undera spotlight beause ii's very good for fre res-taumt. So he was ready for frat dl he time:'Could you iurn the light out?" or "Could youiun that background music down, please?"

He knew what they were up to.

He liked rehumnts but I don'a frink hews a big eatel

No. He usd to have knick-knacks dound frehouse. One fraiI hought was cleversaid:'Vegettrians Are Nice To Meat'.

He was v€gehtrn, wasn't h€? But he at€eggs, s he cm't have been a ful-blmdedvegetadan.

He would be quite happy with bolognese andoccasionallyhe'deat venison because it w6culled. He used to tel a lew Jewish jokes buthe'd only Ell themto Jewish people! Thingslike: Jewish Jalam - pork chops at half-pnce.

Everyone was in the frring line.

This is dre problem with the Q series. He said,

"They'Il wait until I'n dead before they repeatit." And the fact is it was sossing the line. Itwas not politically orect. a lot of it. Therewas nothing wong with it.

Cetting back to Shelagh, I think she mywell have added to Spike's longevity.

He didn't cook. and drerefore he needed a

wife in the old fashioned way thal people neda wife. I think thal wrs a slabilizing inluenceon his life. I ve seen two sackfuls offannailleters in that house. How can you cope withthat lot? Two big hundredweight srckfuls - inone delivery. Shelagh was trained in PA work.ild in the eillier days dnt phone would neverstop ringing - continual. You'd dng hinupild a voice would say. 'Next, please'or''who's next?'Later, afb Spike died, therew6 a problen with the will...Unfortunately, inabit ofthejoumalisn dnt went on. Shelaghdidn'tcone out in a good light. and she wasnotprepiled for a slanging natch. She wasdeply nourning Spike rt the 1ine, and it waslike r knife going through her 10 have the willconlesled- And she wrnted to keep r dignifiedsilence overil rll- ThaCs why I fel thal nowsome ofthe things can b explained differ-enily.

It's inhr€sting to hear about Spik€'s ltrb inth€ htter &ys.

After he died, I renenber seeing Joanna Lunley at fie nenorial service, outside St Mdin-in the Fields lols ofcaneras going- Shecane over to me and said, "Do I know you?"She'd cone to tea at Spike and Shelaghk whenI was there one tine. I wasn't very well and Iw6 in my dressins sown. She was givins nespiritual healing. holding my hilds. But shedid recognize ne weadng a suit.

Wh€n was tht?when he stded to get i11. l've never ben inthe entertainnent world but I ve met a fewpeople. I renenber answering the door when

Spike lived in Barnet, to Janes Coburn andLynsey de Paul, and I ve been drere withRonnie Scou, Johnny Spight. Johnny Speightws saying thatherd gotabad leg. And hedgone to his doctor ild said. 'Doctor. my leftleg is giving me a lot oftouble. Can you fixitl" The doctor shookhis head and said, "lmsofy, Johnny, Iln aftaid i1's old age-' AndJohnny said, 'Don'1 give ne tha1, doctor, i1h

fre sane age as he ofrer leg.

That's fre Hnd of fring Spik€ would havesid.Spike would recount it as what JohnnySpeighthad said. And hed tell a few storiesabout his father, when he was in lndia. Heused to Ell Spike about all the tigers he'dshot, in those days ofbig gane hunting. Onenight, at 2 or 3 oclock in the moming. heburst into Spikes bedroon and said. "Son.Ive gotto tell you something. Ive never shota tiger." And Spike said, "Couldnt you havetold ne that in the morningl He said. 'Well.I feel guilty. I tell you, Ive never shot atiger.Sofy to le1 you down.' Spike said, Well,why did you tell ne Drd that you've shol allthese tigers?' He said, 'Which do you prefer:an exciling lie or a boring 1ru1h? And thatwas the'crealivily'ofwhal hc used to tellSpike. Whetherlhis next one h 1rue or not, Idont know- I think i1h true. Spike's falher,Leo, wenl a bit brld, rnd hc got hnnselfa wignade- One day r crow cane and look it offhis head- Anyway, Spike's falherhrd wiltento sone chdity, like the Salvrtion Anny, because he w6 very shotr offunds. when theywere in lndia. And Spike hadju$ done hisfirst show, I think. ild he senthis father a

botde of malt whisky and a box ofcigus.And the nan conn*ted to the chilitycane tointerview ko about his povety{rickenstate. Spike s num said, "He s out on the ter-race round the back.' He went round. ildthere he was. reclining in a chair with a bottleof scotch and a cigil in his mouth. ltjustwould be a1 thrl line that he calledl

Spike & Shelagh's friend MichaelOliphant shares his memories,

You 6ked ne if Shelash ninded givins upherjob to be with Spike. Althoush during theirmdage I could see frai he could be quite ahandful, I never raisd the subject dll afier hedied. On hat occasion I was bying io get She-lagh io help with fre hospital chdty and wewere having a drink in Hastings. Dudng &econversaiion I told her how nuch I addredher loyalty to Spike when he could be so diffi-cult at dnes, and she said that she didnt regretone monent of her ndage to spike. she fetlucky to have had all frose yeds wih him and

didn't rert giving up her career at all.

I first ret then after they moved to Udimorethough Thea Ebn, wife of Peter (Goon Showproducer.). Thea said she was the one who toldthem about CarpenteN and &ought it wouldsuit then.

During ou first meeting over dinner I disov-ered that Spike had a great interest in Rugby. Ihad ju$ helped std a rugby club in Rye andhe agreed to come to waeh us play on a Satur-day. So I picked hin up ild took hin alonsild we watched frcn my car on the touchline.He was a geat hit with the lads after the ganemd he held coutr wih gusto. Like he roydtyhe did not carry cash upon his person, so heowes me quite a few dri*s! As he becameaccustomd b he club he cane down inde-pendently in his Mini and enjoyed both freganes and the times afterwilds in the btr.

Sometimes Shelagh would phone me in themorning and 6k me to pop up to the housejust as Spike was dsing. I think this was thehtrdest time of the day for hin. black dog andall. She would sit me down opposiE him andgive me a cup of coffee whilst he drank histea. He didn't speak and when he wasn't sip-ping the tea nothing moved exept his eye-brows. I would chat away about the rugby clubild stuff going on in Rye and get litde reac-

tion. Butever so gradually he would std torespond and dter an hour or so he would be

normal. It was like a wtrm-up rct.

I had a potter fdend called Bunny who hadbought he buildings and lmd doundWinchelsea Stadon. One day when I wasfrere Spike appetrd. He had shuffld downfre hill from Carpenters. Bunny colletdfrese old cdavans so it looked like a gypsysib and we would retire into a waterproof oneand discuss the Seond World Wd whilsisipping tea and nunching c*es. A chapcdled Reg was ftere bo and it became a bitof a badition (for some weird reason we allhad to wetr hats). Shelagh would core downand collect Spike when it was tine to go. Ithink it gave her a break and he ould spendan nou or rwo ymrng.

Shelagh was a good egg. Soneiimes Spikewas unable to meet his commitnenh io openan eveni or appear somewhere md Shelaghwould stand in for hln. I remenber organis-ing The Festival of &e Natural World inHastings and Spike couldn't n*e the open-ing. So Shelagh did m excellentjob for himin drivins rain | |

Spike was never any good with paperwork,noi patient enough, and Shelagh used to tryand keep him in order. When we were raisingmoney for a rugby clubhouse he offered tohelp apply for loibry funding. We gave hlnfre piles ofdocumentadon but hejust phondfren up and demndd f,350,000. Nedless bsay &is was not sueessful. When he gave frepapeN back to ne I discovered he had sweptup all fre stuffon his desk including his ddtwill! This was returned to Shelagh!

Spike's direct approach actualy workedsometimes. Poor Elton John was badgered bySpike and he generously donated !3.000 tous. Spike's rerction was to phone hin againand tel him he w6 a mean basttrd ildshould have given f300,0001 He dso gotf,1,000 from Paul Mccdtney md one or two

Shelagh used to tell ne that Spike wouldprobrbly ralhcr hrvc slaycd in Bmrct whcrcnorc pcople droppcd in fron timc 10 1ine.Hc hatcd Crrpcntcrs, the btrilding, hcncc thc

plrquc to The Bhrd Archilccl. Bu1 thc vicwswcrc lcdfic and I mcr no$ oflhc frmilyover the years. You heil a lot of rumoursbutthey semed like a normal. slightly dy$functional, nice modern family to me.

"IF YOU could hLc boughi S0ikeVillifnn in hs.$ rho iomr.{oE $otldhuvu scid 'liglrt thc fwc and stsd \irllbic.k'," rccalls Udimore residert lllichelOliplrmt.

lvlich.ol caue 10 kooe SDike lvellthrough his involvefienr with RycRtgby Club. dr. MeDla.iol Csrc (;ctrl.cand rhe Sale ihe llrcde V.lley mfrpaign

He Narl oili "Mot pcoplc rvill rc-nlcmber hin ar a cofiio gcnius nldki$! l[a( kc ruffcftd lrom mmic dc-lrc$ron

"Hc Nss !okll]' utrprcdictablc. tluthm6th fhi! $!s 0 sorrde.fol nru), ovtr-fls'ing wiih compa*ion, elwa],6 willirgto fighr agajnsr.irjusricc qnd s,qbc$itrgaRnontJ1

"He wN olsu rcrt Beilcrour, I sksJhjm fo. hcll qilh Rye ho(litilJ thcr u8by club ood trunuuus c\.@tr in Udj;n)nrc. Rlc md lln$i[gs. He !eve! o[cdlumcd m{ dotm,

"Somo did not nppeNiate hi$ $€ueol humour - crcn found him ahihsivc.Etrt he wis only humol. He <lislikcdpompo$iD and one of hti le6t thloilrircpldces sls 0 nuis_\ cro\rdcd party qhcrch€ sould h. pinncd to flre \rll b1. poshludics in la*c hag-

"You qsuld see ttNnr elbwing thcir{ay rcrois the ronfi h gel it hi$ lhdcthey \ould shoul "\bu'rc Spikc Milli.gao!" d il'thal had nsdi 6onrc aMzitrgdisco'ery. IIe v,ould nply'l borv who I

am madam. Do lou knov who yon4fe?"'

"Bul he loved children, dApeoiellyfiis owD. aril I rcmcmbrr tlhcn I rrasonce lookin! eller my njccc ind hcrttrolhcr, discovurirrg to my amazcmcntthnt Spike \1Rs ns Nphe\e! hso.

'\\hctr I akcd him il hc rould likcto urefi Spike. rhd so.or-year-old's e;*ncarl-v poDDcd out of his head. I phonedSpiko md he sid ur could rtrrr ruurLlbd1fiat be wd sulposed to he ill in b.daodthol dre teleyisior t*ople surc thcrc.

"Surc mouri ahen \@ arrivcd at lhcduor tllc(' els a hrgc black tsBC limobiiog loaded .od Spike oer ur il his lry-Jma

"Complfiety unphaed by tlE chaossound him hc sat us do\\n and becamedeply orgoged il come,sotion \i(h ll)echildrcn. I le rhen carel'fllty iutoemphslu book J0rils lul lrought u(l sml us on

"l lcmcd I lot ftom him. (]nc thjngir lh.t thcrc is nothing wrong fur a

Srowr rmtr to halc a lcar in his cye and6trolh6 that Do $atter hov overwl:elnrjnq thc odds, ildividmls frtrs Alrilc tbruhol they bclicvu ir lill thcir dyinghffi0r.

"l look lonrtd o mectin3 him ^gainin gteftity to resuote oul$ diroursioos

aboui the Eame of nt!'J1v, lhr Mndcs ofthe uuivetse aud thr foolichnuss ofmdkind."

In a STOP PRESS, we have recalled theNewslefier in order to chmge the news ofRuaon's ailhg h€lth, Sadly we must nowrepora hs pa$ing on 18 S€pt. Our dep6tsfpa&ies ao hs family & fdends. Obib

at Leices&r Sqmre Theatre? Wrifien &directed by John, performd by The Wire-le$ Theatre Co and no doubt s@n [s-t€nable to onfne.iilo@dr€l€ssth€trecompanycork or08448 733433

The Audio LbmrJ is soon to have the soundof a new broom sweeping frrough it. Achivht Tony Reynolds was a lad when he bokoveroperations in 1924 md is now 103 andwaiting to be measued up: "mat we ned isyou6, preferably of the youfrful vadety, andtwo of them: one to do fre techical stuff,keeping sbck up-b-date, and the other bsend off psple's rquess. We have an eye-bogling ollstion here - il absoluEly price-less asset with prcbably more Goonery thanthe BBCI" Besides Goon Shows, there is eve-

rything ftom Spike\ Australian Idiot Weeklyild Mike's Round the B€nd to Hry's DesertIslandDiscs ild PeErin Ray's a hugh. Any-one interested please drop a line to news-goons@gmail.com or John Repsch.

WANTED! FiNt-hand accomb fmm thosewho attended Gmn Shows. What do your€member best about them? How dd th€yompare wiol the bmadcss? etc.

Ruxlon on hh 80S bidday. pholo Mdgarct Pedson

For this issue of the Newsletter we have TWOprire quizzes. Here's the fint ore.NIEMORIES OF MLLIGANNorm has kindly donaEd two sisned copies.ild Mike Brcwn has set dtre fiendish questions to trake sue you don't win them. So, toprove him dght, just mswer these inconectly:1. In wHchyetrdid Noma join Spike at

Orme Coui - 1962, 1964 or 1966?2. Who was the firstchdlmn of 6e GSPS?3. WhchGoon Show is set in bofr 1600 and

19512Better prove hm wrong. AnsweN by Oct 12to Mfte Brom,

ImmeN relief ao se€ John Anarobus beat-ing hs desa and yodellhg again after mayduel with "muscular dystrophy of th€throaa", bua you €n't keep a good mandown, Anyone se his htest play, Help: I'ma Pdsoner in a Tootposb Facbry, July 30

Janet Brown, famed impersonator of MtrgaretThaoher and who peformed in Goon Showdemo Tatters Castle ild toued with dre

Goons, died in May.

As tribu@ to Shelagh, GSPS snt f30 dona-tion to St Michael's Hospice,

Comins soon: sage veNion ofSelleN's fiNtmjor fila fte Indykilers. Playing in hn-don from 26 Nov. www.freladykillers.co.uk

WANTEDI Goon Show storyline for TimLestherbarrow whose frngeN are itching toillustrate them for Newslefier. 750 - 1,000words or theresboub, plese.

Also preseni in crowd ai 60fr mniveNary:Maudce Wilishhe's son Rowan and HmyMonis\ GpotFX) son Dave.

Plan ao compile amiv€sary DVD: plaqu€uv€iling, ina€d€ws, C{on Show p€rform-mce, photos.

Ronnie Corbett, once managed by JinmyGdton, was fildng at The Shiton Annsfollowing week. Ronnie Corbeils ComedyBriiain shown on ITV Aug I I, included a

cameo peformance by our illusdous plaque.

hoks like we got it up ju$ in time.

During the week begiming sth September,those nice people fmm the WonderfulWorld of Wirels BBC 4 Extn deided torepeat the 5 paft series of Sir Harry resdingG@n Abread

Folowing hot on the heals of the seond seriesof Michael Bentine\ Potty Tim cores....waitforit....series thr* on DVD. (gad how cun-ning | ) And, just in cas you can't guess $hatcould be oming next. November wil see therelease of Series 4. Deails online at http://www.neiworkdvd.net

The last surviving producer of The GoonShowyoung Mr Charles Chilton launchedhis autobiography , xrte's Chulie * the

George IV pub in Chiswick on Saturdsy20th Augus.

Charles CHlton taks about his dne in freBBC and producing fre Goon Show in aninierview on the BBC websib at http://www.bbc.co.uk/newvenieriainmenGatrs-1,t312805

And {inally, il the {int quiz wasn't enoughfor the "little grcy cells", herc's the seond

HUNGRY?

Before you shfr gawing the photo ofJohnSteed's cake, identify:1. The 6 Gmn items adoming it.2. On€ G@n Show &aa €d it€m is ass@i-

aad frfr.You may win &e BBC Radio Conedon'sdoubl€-casaa€ of fre hst Goon Show ofAl and At hst th€ Go orr Show. (On eeoth€r han4 you my noa,) hsw€rs by Oca12 toJoh Steed,

(photo of the cake on Page 22 for those whohave eaEn their slicel)

Netrly ten yem after his deatll comdy genius Spike Milligil will agdn be fre cente of atten-tion when one of his paintings cones up for sale - the fiNt painting by the former Goon to go

Grild Auctions expects a huse mount ofinErest in the paintins. a l0-inch by 7-inch watercol-ou of a femle nude, painted in 1948. Our paintings specialist, Jonathan Riley. says. "There isno doubt that Milligil w6 a gifted and naturally{alented dist. This painting has never beenexhibitd and inded has never ben sen in public before." The estimate is f,800 - [1,200.

The owner of the painting is Foke$one atrist Chdes Newington, a close tuiend of Milligan for20 yeds before Hs deafr in 2002. He struck up m endudng fdendship after a chme encounterin the sheet: "I was in fre wondetrlly-named Dumb Woman's Lane betwen Winchelsea mdRye when I recognid Hm waking along. We stded chatting and when I said I was an trdst,he said, 'Me bo,'md invitd me for ba. We had a shtrd passion for di and we got on incrdibly well iogeher. We'd met every wek or so, usually at fre Indim re$amnt in Rye, and I notonly regdded him as a detr friend but also a mentor. In 1995 I orgmisd his fiNt and only soloexhibition of his work as a fine dist at The Agency Club in St Matin's Lane, London. None ofthe paintings were for sale ild the event did not include the 'Nude'. Like Edwtrd If,af, Spike'sd is known only for his humorous book illustrations. Both Millisan and lf,ar wished to beknown as serious fine dists but the shadow of their other notorieties denied them that. AiterSpfte died, his wife Shelagh gave me 6e pdnting as a gift."

Jeff Sims, Edwdds Htrvey, PR & MdkedngSprfu 'rpdutig - se b6ck orer

Pgl,Pics0, l: AtranBngs

Pg3. Pi.s 5, 8, 9. A: Ben Gritte.Pe5: h Entedai.i.g L6. Hq S{onbePp8. Pi.s C, G: John SidPp2, I I I 3, 23: Spike Mlligan, his pail in our liws,

Ppl 4, I ?, Pics 2, 4, D F: Tina Hanmnd

PgA: wwwtlegdph.co.ukPg29: Dar tuben Dar Spik, Pauline Scdad@Pg32: Mre C@n Show $ript, Spike MilliglnPg33: tu tuk of de 6ons, 6o.s. Robso. BmksPg35: ww.muo..co.uk

Pg39: Pder Sllers a celebtudon, Atran RigebfdPg{: Bwds Hdey, PR & Ma*edng

Pics6. ?, B: Julie Wmn