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East End Road 17 (N3, Barnet)
(Stephens House & Gardens)

A Conversation with Spike

Terence Alan 'Spike' Milligan
(Ahmednagar, British India 1918 - Rye, East Sussex 2002)
British-Irish comedian, writer, poet, playwright and actor
(Wikipedia)
John Somerville
2014

London /  A Conversation with Spike   London /  A Conversation with Spike

Description

Statue of Spike Milligan sitting on a bench, adorned with figures from his life.

London - A Conversation with Spike
Characters from The Goon Show: Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan, and Peter Sellers
London - A Conversation with Spike London - A Conversation with Spike London - A Conversation with Spike
The Goons: Major Bloodnok – Bluebottle and Eccles – Neddie Seagoon,
London - A Conversation with Spike London - A Conversation with Spike
Elephants
London - A Conversation with Spike
Soldiers
London - A Conversation with Spike
Comedy and tragedy masks
London - A Conversation with Spike London - A Conversation with Spike
Fairies
London - A Conversation with Spike
"Q" TV series, acknowledged as an important precursor to Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Signature

John Somerville 2014
Keiro

Information Sign

A Conversation with Spike
By John Somerville, 2014

Widely regarded as the 'Godfather of alternative comedy' Spike Milligan
kept Britain laughing for fifty years. He first became famous in the 1950s
for writing and starring in 'The Goon Show' on BBC radio, wrote
83 books for both adults and children, performed on stage and screen,
wrote and played music and campaigned about the environment.
The statue was installed here by The Finchley Society of which he was
president. He lived from 1955 to 1974 in Holden Road, Woodside Park
and often visited the House & Gardens. The statue of this comic genius
sitting on a bench encourages a 'Conversation with Spike'. Take a minute
to enjoy specific elements of the bench:

The Goon Show – the characters at the bottom are Spike with his
co-stars Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers.

The Goons – the heads of the four main characters Major Bloodnok,
Neddie Seagoon, Eccles and Bluebottle are at the bottom of the backrest.

Elephants – Spike was born in India whilst his father served in the army. The
family later moved to Burma and returned to England when Spike was 15.

Soldiers – represent his time in the army during World War II. He wrote
about his experiences in his first book 'Adolf Hitler – My Part in his Downfall'.

Comedy and tragedy masks – represent the fact that his life was a mixture
of the two. When he was wounded in combat he began a struggle with
manic-depressive illness that lasted the rest of his life.

Fairies – Spike had a lifelong fascination with them, convincing his children
that there were fairies living at the bottom of their garden. This inspired him
to start writing poetry, at first just for his children but several anthologies are
now in print.

Q – the foliage at both ends of the bench form the letter Q, the title of
several BBC series made by Spike.

Sculptor

Sources & Information

Tags

  • Bloodnok, Major
  • Bluebottle
  • Comedian
  • Eccles
  • Elephant
  • Fairy
  • Mask
  • Milligan, Spike
  • Seagoon, Neddie
  • Secombe, Harry
  • Sellers, Peter
  • Sit-by-me statue
  • Soldier
  • Somerville, John
  • Locatie (N 51°35'48" - W 0°11'39") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

    Item Code: gblo189; Photograph: 17 March 2019
    Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
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    © Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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