Spike Milligan on AllMovie

Born Terence Milligan. A British "army brat," he grew up in India, Burma, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), then moved to England in his mid teens. In 1936 he began his performing career as a singer and trumpeter. He became well known in the '50s on the English radio show Crazy People, which developed into the legendary Goon Show. He wrote much of his own comedy material for the show, and did the same on a number of TV series. He debuted onscreen in 1951, but -- although busy as a screen actor -- never achieved as much success in films as on radio and TV. He co-wrote the play The Bed-Sitting Room and authored several comic novels as well as books of nonsense and verse.