Spike milligan biography book
Spike Milligan: A biography
January 10, 2024
I've read my copy of Scudamore's biography of Spike Milligan several times now and it still, nearly forty years after its publication, gives perhaps the most meaningful biographical representation of Milligan's life and personality outside his own work. Spike Milligan achieves this because his biographer doesn't aim to record everything about what he did professionally, nor all his personal experiences. The reason why Scudamore was able to produce the definitive biography of Milligan was because she was able to capture much of his contradictions, his paradoxical nature, and to get inside the head and heart of a man who was "a skin too short", and then put it all down in print.
How did Scudamore achieve this? Well, as one reads her biography she repeatedly draws both Spike himself and others that knew him into her narrative, and lets their own words form the basis for her biography. This is coupled with an ability to be both attached and detached from her subject; the author is neither a hagiographer of Milligan nor an inquistor. As one reads through her account of Spike's life Scudamore presents us with specific events and facts about Spike, then juxtaposes these with Spike's own thoughts, answers to her questions, or evidence from those who were in his circle, and then offers penetrating and valid thoughts on what the stories mean when it comes to understanding Milligan.
Take as a case in point her chapter on Milligan's relationship with the famed English poet and novelist Robert Graves. In that chapter Scudamore consistently examines the nature of their mutual love, whilst also reflecting on how Spike's insecurity about his lack of a formal education determined much of what this friendship meant for Milligan. Scudamore portrays a truthful emotional representation of Spike Milligan, and it is this really defines this book as a definitive text.
Of course, by taking the approach of writing a biography that has an emotional (or indeed mental health) focus Scudamore does not necessarily met other important criteria for such a book. The first two thirds of Spike Milligan are reliable in terms of what she says as to her subject's life events, relationships, career choices etc. However she doesn't really map it all to the extent that some readers might wish to read about. To be fair to Scudamore there are other authors who have fulfilled this requirement in separate publications most notaly Spike himself in his war autobiographies. The author does a great job at exploring the Milligan family's experiences before his time in the army, and this is perhaps the other valuable contribution Scudamore makes in developing an understanding of Spike's life after the emotional exploration. Yet there are times when one wishes something more was said about things that have been barely mentioned if at all (especially his 'Q' television series).
It must also be noted that this biography was published in 1985, almost 17 years before Milligan's death. In the years between Spike produced a lot more work (much, to be honest, not as good as past efforts) and had more controversy arise from his life (including the revealing of two illegitimate children). This gap means that this is an incomplete account of Spike Milligan's life, and if one wants to get a more complete depiction of the man, at least in terms of what happened when, where and why, and with who, then one has to go to later biographies. Yet this is not a fatal problem when considering Scudamore's work. It could be said that whilst she missed a few years in her subject's life the author was able to offer us the most vivid and real representation of Milligan at a time when he was at his most complete.
I know my review is biased by my love of Spike Milligan and beause this book was the first to give me a more complete understanding of the man. There are parts of the book where Scudamore writes about Spike and I feel like she is writing a story that in a very small way is mine too. The latter third of the book, where Scudamore spends much of her narrative focused on Milligan's battle with mental illness hits home for me, and even now, after I don't know how many readings, I find myself reading what Scudamore says about Spike and I find myself identifying with certain things.
When one considers that there have been numerous books, documentaries and even plays produced both before and after Spike's death it seems rather presumptious to say there is a definitive text about Milligan. His own work is without doubt the best insight into his life. Yet if I was to pick the one book that will make Spike Milligan understandable for anyone who wants to know who he was, it'd be this text. Spike Milligan by Pauline Scudamore is the best biography of the man one could ever hope to find, to read.
How did Scudamore achieve this? Well, as one reads her biography she repeatedly draws both Spike himself and others that knew him into her narrative, and lets their own words form the basis for her biography. This is coupled with an ability to be both attached and detached from her subject; the author is neither a hagiographer of Milligan nor an inquistor. As one reads through her account of Spike's life Scudamore presents us with specific events and facts about Spike, then juxtaposes these with Spike's own thoughts, answers to her questions, or evidence from those who were in his circle, and then offers penetrating and valid thoughts on what the stories mean when it comes to understanding Milligan.
Take as a case in point her chapter on Milligan's relationship with the famed English poet and novelist Robert Graves. In that chapter Scudamore consistently examines the nature of their mutual love, whilst also reflecting on how Spike's insecurity about his lack of a formal education determined much of what this friendship meant for Milligan. Scudamore portrays a truthful emotional representation of Spike Milligan, and it is this really defines this book as a definitive text.
Of course, by taking the approach of writing a biography that has an emotional (or indeed mental health) focus Scudamore does not necessarily met other important criteria for such a book. The first two thirds of Spike Milligan are reliable in terms of what she says as to her subject's life events, relationships, career choices etc. However she doesn't really map it all to the extent that some readers might wish to read about. To be fair to Scudamore there are other authors who have fulfilled this requirement in separate publications most notaly Spike himself in his war autobiographies. The author does a great job at exploring the Milligan family's experiences before his time in the army, and this is perhaps the other valuable contribution Scudamore makes in developing an understanding of Spike's life after the emotional exploration. Yet there are times when one wishes something more was said about things that have been barely mentioned if at all (especially his 'Q' television series).
It must also be noted that this biography was published in 1985, almost 17 years before Milligan's death. In the years between Spike produced a lot more work (much, to be honest, not as good as past efforts) and had more controversy arise from his life (including the revealing of two illegitimate children). This gap means that this is an incomplete account of Spike Milligan's life, and if one wants to get a more complete depiction of the man, at least in terms of what happened when, where and why, and with who, then one has to go to later biographies. Yet this is not a fatal problem when considering Scudamore's work. It could be said that whilst she missed a few years in her subject's life the author was able to offer us the most vivid and real representation of Milligan at a time when he was at his most complete.
I know my review is biased by my love of Spike Milligan and beause this book was the first to give me a more complete understanding of the man. There are parts of the book where Scudamore writes about Spike and I feel like she is writing a story that in a very small way is mine too. The latter third of the book, where Scudamore spends much of her narrative focused on Milligan's battle with mental illness hits home for me, and even now, after I don't know how many readings, I find myself reading what Scudamore says about Spike and I find myself identifying with certain things.
When one considers that there have been numerous books, documentaries and even plays produced both before and after Spike's death it seems rather presumptious to say there is a definitive text about Milligan. His own work is without doubt the best insight into his life. Yet if I was to pick the one book that will make Spike Milligan understandable for anyone who wants to know who he was, it'd be this text. Spike Milligan by Pauline Scudamore is the best biography of the man one could ever hope to find, to read.
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