129-539: Ronnie Scott OBE (born Ronald Schatt ; 28 January 1927 – 23 December 1996) was a British jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner. He co-founded Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London's Soho district, one of the world's most popular jazz clubs, in 1959. Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate , East London , into a Jewish family. His father, Joseph Schatt, was of Russian ancestry, and his mother Sylvia's family attended
258-869: A regimental sergeant-major in the British Indian Army , and English mother, Florence Mary Winifred (née Kettleband; 1893–1990). He spent his childhood in Poona and later in Rangoon , capital of British Burma . He was educated at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Poona, and later at St Paul's High School, Rangoon . His father remained in the Indian Army after the end of the First World War, steadily promoted till "the family's lifestyle became almost lavish"; Milligan considered that "My old man lived
387-607: A signaller in D Battery (later 19 Battery), 56th Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery , as Gunner Milligan, 954024. The unit was equipped with the obsolete First World War era BL 9.2-inch howitzer and based in Bexhill on the south coast of England. Milligan describes training with these guns in part two of Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall , claiming that, during training, gun crews resorted to shouting "bang" in unison as they had no shells with which to practise. The unit
516-456: A "Bat-Goons" outfit, to appear in a series of television commercials for BP . A contemporary reporter found the TV commercials "funny and effective". Milligan appeared with Peter Sellers in an advert for Benson & Hedges in 1973. Milligan requested that his fee was paid to ASH: Action on Smoking and Health. When this was refused, he gave the money to charity instead. The advert was popular with
645-543: A GBE (in recognition of his role as chairman of the Scottish War Savings Committee) and the award of medal of the order to Lizzie Robinson, a munitions worker. The order had been established primarily as a civilian award; in August 1918, however, not long after its foundation, a number of awards were made to serving naval and military personnel. Four months later, a 'Military Division' was added to
774-464: A Series of Unrelated Incidents at Current Market Value". The 15-minute series The Telegoons (1963), was the next attempt to transplant the Goons to television, this time using puppet versions of the familiar characters. The initial intention was to "visualise" original recordings of 1950s Goon Show episodes but this proved difficult, because of the rapid-fire dialogue and was ultimately frustrated by
903-473: A basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London 's Soho district, with the debut of a young alto sax player named Peter King (no relation), before later moving to a larger venue nearby at 47 Frith Street in 1965. The original venue continued in operation as the "Old Place" until the lease ran out in 1967, and was used for performances by the up-and-coming generation of domestic musicians. Scott regularly acted as
1032-404: A broad riband or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip. Knights Commander and male Commanders wear the badge from a ribbon around the neck; male Officers and Members wear the badge from a ribbon on the left chest; female recipients other than Dames Grand Cross (unless in military uniform) normally wear it from a bow on the left shoulder. An oval eight-pointed star is worn, pinned to
1161-553: A burning building containing explosives. In December 1922 the statutes of the order were amended; there having been a large number of awards for war work prior to this date, these amended statutes placed the order on more of a peacetime footing. For the first time numbers of appointments were limited, with the stipulation that senior awards in the Civil Division were to outnumber those in the Military Division by
1290-453: A circlet bearing the motto of the Order; the reverse bears George V's Royal and Imperial Cypher. (Prior to 1937 Britannia was shown within the circlet.) The size of the badges varies according to rank: the higher classes have slightly larger badges. The badges of Knights and Dames Grand Cross, Knights and Dames Commander, and Commanders are enamelled, with pale blue crosses, crimson circlets and
1419-466: A citizen of a Commonwealth realm can convert their appointment from honorary to substantive, and they then enjoy all privileges of membership of the order, including use of the title of Sir and Dame for the senior two ranks of the Order. (An example of the latter is Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan , who was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order in 2005, and on successful application for British citizenship, held alongside his Irish citizenship,
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#17327829028151548-648: A clerk in the Woolwich Arsenal , played the cornet and discovered jazz. He also joined the Young Communist League to demonstrate his hatred of Oswald Mosley 's British Union of Fascists , who were gaining support near his home in South London. During most of the late 1930s and early 1940s, Milligan performed as an amateur jazz vocalist, guitarist, and trumpeter before, during and after being called up for military service joining
1677-400: A giant photograph of Ronnie Scott by Val Wilmer , alongside one of his one-liners: "I love this place, it's just like home, filthy and full of strangers." As well as participating in name orchestras, Scott led or co-led numerous bands featuring some of Britain's most prominent jazz musicians of the day. On 7 April 1957, The Jazz Couriers, co-led by Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott, debuted at
1806-443: A gold central medallion. Officers' badges are plain silver-gilt, while those of Members are plain silver. From 1917 until 1937, the badge of the order was suspended on a purple ribbon, with a red central stripe being added for the military division in 1918. Since 1937, the ribbon has been rose-pink with pearl-grey edges (with the addition of a pearl-grey central stripe for the military division). Knights and Dames Grand Cross wear it on
1935-445: A gold dome to their turbans, khaki shirts with banded waistcoats, double-cross bandoliers, leather sandals, and they used to march very fast, I remember, bursting in through the dust on the heels of an English regiment. They used to come in with trailed arms and they'd throw their rifles up into the air, catch it with their left hand—always to this dum-da-da-dum, dum-da-da-dum—and then stamp their feet and fire one round, synchronising with
2064-555: A humble village priest in Russell's film The Devils . The scene was cut from the release print and is considered lost but photographs from the scene, together with Murray Melvin 's memory of that day's filming, are included in Sutton's 2014 book Six English Filmmakers . As illustrated in the description of his involvement in theatre, Milligan often ad-libbed. He also did this on radio and television. One of his last screen appearances
2193-471: A kinship with the title character, who declines to leave his bed to face the world. According to Scudamore's biography: Milligan's fans and the theatrical world in general found it hard to believe that he was to appear in a straight play ... He refused to be serious when questioned about his motives. In the story, Oblomov decides to spend his life in bed. Spike decided to identify with his character, and told disbelieving reporters that he thought it would be
2322-606: A lead performer in almost all of the Goon Show episodes, portraying a wide range of characters including Eccles , Minnie Bannister , Jim Spriggs and the nefarious Count Moriarty . He was also the primary author of most of the scripts, although he co-wrote many scripts with various collaborators, most notably Larry Stephens and Eric Sykes . Most of the early shows were co-written with Stephens (and edited by Jimmy Grafton ) but this partnership faltered after Series 3. Milligan wrote most of Series 4 but from Series 5 (coinciding with
2451-428: A longtime friend of Milligan, that Spike was making a mockery of their hard work Kerr replied: "We have to put up with all the shit, mate, because it pays the rent." Joan Greenwood , who played Olga, later recalled that her husband André Morell thought the first performance was so appalling that they should get Greenwood out of her contract. According to Scudamore: Nobody seemed at all comfortable in their roles and
2580-560: A nice comfortable rest for him. This was of course, prevarication. Spike was actually intrigued with Oblomov and had read a translation of Ivan Goncharov's novel. The novel had been adapted for the stage by Italian writer Riccardo Aragno . Aragno's script for Oblomov was bought by Milligan's production company in early 1964. Milligan had long nurtured hopes of transitioning from comedy to serious drama. To this end, Milligan rehearsed for seven weeks with director Frank Dunlop and castmates Joan Greenwood , Bill Owen , and Valentine Dyall at
2709-492: A proportion of six to one. Furthermore appointments in the civil division were to be divided equally between UK and overseas awards. With regard to the Medal of the Order (but not the order itself), a distinction was made in 1922 between awards 'for gallantry' and awards 'for meritorious service' (each being appropriately inscribed, and the former having laurel leaves decorating the clasp, the latter oak leaves). In 1933 holders of
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#17327829028152838-529: A result, he was banned from making any further live appearances on the ABC . The ABC also changed its national policy so that guests had to leave the studio after interviews were complete. A tape of the bulletin survives and has been included in an ABC Radio audio compilation, and also on the BBC tribute CD, Vivat Milligna . Film and television director Richard Lester recalls that the television series A Show Called Fred
2967-631: A seven-volume autobiographical account of his time serving during the Second World War , beginning with Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1971). He also wrote comical verse, with much of his poetry written for children, including Silly Verse for Kids (1959). Terence Alan Milligan was born in Ahmednagar , India on 16 April 1918 during the British Raj , the son of an Irish father, Leo Alphonso Milligan, MSM , RA (1890–1969),
3096-440: A verdict of 'death by misadventure'. Ronnie Scott's widow, Mary Scott, and her daughter, Rebecca Scott, wrote the memoir A Fine Kind of Madness: Ronnie Scott Remembered , with a foreword by Spike Milligan . The book was published in 1999 in London by Headline Book Publishing . Scott is perhaps best remembered for co-founding, with former tenor sax player Pete King , Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club , which opened on 30 October 1959 in
3225-482: A way of staving off the boredom of life in barracks. A biographer describes his early dance band work: "He managed to croon like Bing Crosby and win a competition: he also played drums, guitar and trumpet, in which he was entirely self taught". Milligan acquired a double bass, on which he took lessons and would pluck in jazz sessions. He had perfect pitch . During the Second World War, Milligan served as
3354-516: Is an image of Britannia surrounded by the motto, with the words "For Meritorious Service" at the bottom; on the reverse is George V's Imperial and Royal Cypher, with the words "Instituted by King George V" at the bottom. The name of the recipient is engraved on the rim. This medal is nicknamed "the Gong", and comes in both full-sized and miniature versions – the latter for formal white-tie and semi-formal black-tie occasions. A lapel pin for everyday wear
3483-906: Is not a member of the College of Arms , as are many other heraldic officers; and the Lady Usher of the Purple Rod does not – unlike the Order of the Garter equivalent, the Lady Usher of the Black Rod – perform any duties related to the House of Lords . Since the Second World War, several Commonwealth realms have established their own national system of honours and awards and have created their own unique orders, decorations and medals. A number, though, continue to make recommendations for appointments to
3612-572: The Beatles . During a visit to Australia in 1958, a similar special was made for the Australian Broadcasting Commission , "The Gladys Half-Hour", which also featured local actors Ray Barrett and John Bluthal , who would appear in several later Milligan projects. In 1961, Milligan co-wrote two episodes of the popular sitcom Sykes and a... , co-starring Sykes and Hattie Jacques and the one-off "Spike Milligan Offers
3741-684: The British Raj , called Plain Tales from the Raj , and published in 1975. Milligan was the youngest contributor, describing his life in India when it was under British rule. In it he mentions the imperial parades there: The most exciting sound for me was the sound of the Irregular Punjabi Regiment playing the dhol and surmai [a type of drum]—one beat was dum-da-da-dum, dum-da-da-dum, dum-da-da-dum! They wore these great long pantaloons,
3870-572: The Comedy Theatre in the West End . It would run there for a total of 559 performances. As the play was substantially new each night it drew record numbers of repeat traffic. On 22 April 1965, Queen Elizabeth and her family attended as part of her 39th birthday celebration. Just after the curtain rose, a group of four latecomers attempted to slink to their seats directly in front of the royal family. Milligan immediately shouted: "Turn up
3999-543: The Lyric Hammersmith . The first preview was on 6 October 1964. During this performance Milligan was struck by stage fright and forgot nearly all of his lines. He quickly began making up things to say to the cast, turning the drama into an impromptu improv session. Noticing that a drama critic who'd given rave reviews to Milligan's other stage comedies was in the audience, Milligan ended the first performance by shouting "Thank God, Milton Shulman 's in!" The play
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4128-576: The Marlowe Theatre , Canterbury on 12 February 1962. It was adapted to a longer play and staged by Miles at London's Mermaid Theatre, making its debut on 31 January 1963. It was a critical and commercial success and was revived in 1967 with a provincial tour before opening at London's Saville Theatre on 3 May 1967. Richard Lester later directed a film version , released in 1969. Tiring of comedic roles, Milligan sought out more serious material. He had read Ivan Goncharov's Oblomov and felt
4257-557: The Mermaid Theatre production of Treasure Island . Miles described Milligan as: ... a man of quite extraordinary talents ... a visionary who is out there alone, denied the usual contacts simply because he is so different he can't always communicate with his own species. Treasure Island played twice daily through the winter of 1961–62 and was an annual production at the Mermaid Theatre for some years. In
4386-559: The Order of Canada . On the other hand, the Australian Honours System unilaterally created in 1975 did not achieve bi-partisan support until 1992, which was when Australian federal and state governments agreed to cease Australian recommendations for British honours; the last Australian recommended Order of the British Empire appointments were in the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours . New Zealand continued to use
4515-507: The Royal Artillery , in the fight against Nazi Germany , but even then he wrote and performed comedy sketches as part of concerts to entertain troops. After his call-up, but before being sent abroad, he and fellow musician Harry Edgington (1919–1993) (whose nickname 'Edge-ying-Tong', inspired one of Milligan's most memorable musical creations, the " Ying Tong Song ") would compose surreal stories, filled with puns and skewed logic, as
4644-625: The World Wildlife Fund . In December 2007 it was reported that, according to OFSTED , it is among the ten most commonly taught poems in primary schools in the UK. While depressed, he wrote serious poetry, much of which is compiled in Open Heart University . He also wrote a novel Puckoon and a series of war memoirs, including Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1971), "Rommel?" "Gunner Who?": A Confrontation in
4773-546: The civil service . It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or a dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal , whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. The order was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V , who created the order to recognise 'such persons, male or female, as may have rendered or shall hereafter render important services to Our Empire'. Equal recognition
4902-399: The 1968 production, Barry Humphries played the role of Long John Silver, alongside William Rushton as Squire Trelawney and Milligan as Ben Gunn. To Humphries, Milligan's "best performance must surely have been as Ben Gunn ..., Milligan stole the show every night, in a makeup which took at least an hour to apply. His appearance on stage always brought a roar of delight from the kids in
5031-473: The 21st century quotas were introduced to ensure consistent representation among recipients across nine categories of eligibility: with the largest proportion of awards being reserved for community, voluntary and local service. Non-military awards of the British Empire Medal resumed in 2012, starting with 293 BEMs awarded for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee . In 2017 the centenary of
5160-471: The Associated Press photo library"; Milligan recalled his mother being "often tense and angry... a domestic tyrant" due to having to manage on "next to no income". After moving to Brockley , south east London from the age of 12 in 1931, Milligan attended Brownhill Road School (later to be renamed Catford Boys School) and St Saviours School, Lewisham High Road. After leaving school, he worked as
5289-495: The BBC titled the show as Crazy People , or in full, The Junior Crazy Gang featuring those Crazy People, the Goons , an attempt to make the programme palatable to BBC officials, by connecting it with the popular group of theatre comedians known as The Crazy Gang . The first episode was broadcast on 28 May 1951 on the BBC Home Service . Although he did not perform as much in the early shows, Milligan eventually became
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5418-491: The BBC's cold attitude towards the series and stated that he would have made more programmes, had he been given the opportunity. A number of episodes of the earlier "Q" series are missing, presumed wiped. Milligan's daughter, Laura, conceived and co-wrote an animated series called The Ratties (1987). Milligan narrated the 26 five-minute episodes. He later voiced the highly successful animated series Wolves, Witches and Giants , which aired on ITV from 1995 to 1998. The series
5547-439: The BBC's refusal to allow the original audio to be used. Fifteen-minute adaptations of the original scripts by Maurice Wiltshire were used instead, with Milligan, Sellers and Secombe reuniting to provide the voices; according to a contemporary press report, they received the highest fees the BBC had ever paid for 15-minute shows. Two series were made in 1963 and 1964 and (presumably because it was shot on 35mm film rather than video)
5676-792: The British Empire . Rather than using this chapel, the Order now holds its great services upstairs in the nave of the cathedral. In addition to the Chapel of the Order of the British Empire, St Paul's Cathedral also houses the Chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George . Religious services for the whole Order are held every four years; new Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed at these services. Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander prefix Sir , and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commander prefix Dame , to their forenames. Wives of Knights may prefix Lady to their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Knights or spouses of Dames. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when
5805-494: The British Empire for Gallantry. Any individual made a member of the order for gallantry after 14 January 1958 wears an emblem of two crossed silver oak leaves on the same ribbon as the badge, with a miniature version on the ribbon bar when worn alone. When the ribbon only is worn the emblem is worn in miniature. It could not be awarded posthumously , and was replaced in 1974 with the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM). If recipients of
5934-760: The Desert (1974), Monty: His Part in My Victory (1976) and Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall (1978). Milligan's seven volumes of memoirs cover the years from 1939 to 1950 (his call-up, war service, first breakdown, time spent entertaining in Italy and return to the UK). Milligan also wrote comedy songs, including "Purple Aeroplane", which was a parody of the Beatles' song " Yellow Submarine ". In addition he wrote
6063-776: The Military Division of the order from the UK and across the Empire. Recommendations for all appointments to the Order of the British Empire were originally made on the nomination of the King's United Kingdom ministers (recommendations for overseas awards were made by the Foreign Office , the Colonial Office , the India Office and the Dominions Office ); but in the early 1940s the system was changed to enable
6192-436: The Order of the British Empire for Gallantry received promotion within the order, whether for gallantry or otherwise, they continued to wear also the insignia of the lower grade with the oak leaves; however, they used only the post-nominal letters of the higher grade. When the order was founded in 1917, badges, ribands and stars were appointed for wear by recipients. In 1929 mantles, hats and collars were added for recipients of
6321-520: The Order of the British Empire. In 2024 appointments to the order were made by the governments of: Most members of the order are citizens of the United Kingdom or Commonwealth realms that use the UK system of honours and awards. In addition, honorary awards may be made to citizens of nations where the monarch is not head of state ; these permit use of post-nominal letters, but not the title of Sir or Dame . Honorary appointees who later become
6450-404: The Order, however, are not assigned any special precedence. As a general rule, only wives and children of male recipients are afforded privileges. Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to be granted heraldic supporters . They may, furthermore, encircle their arms with a depiction of the circlet (a circle bearing the motto) and the collar; the former is shown either outside or on top of
6579-709: The Portuguese synagogue in Alie Street. Scott attended the Central Foundation Boys' School . Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of 16. He toured with trumpeter Johnny Claes from 1944 to 1945 and with Ted Heath in 1946. That same year, he appeared as one of the band members in George in Civvy Street . He worked with Ambrose , Cab Kaye , and Tito Burns . He was involved in
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#17327829028156708-463: The United Kingdom; those who would formerly have met the criteria for the medal were instead made eligible for the MBE. In 2004, a report entitled A Matter of Honour: Reforming Our Honours System by a Commons select committee recommended phasing out the Order of the British Empire, as its title was "now considered to be unacceptable, being thought to embody values that are no longer shared by many of
6837-450: The addition of a vertical pearl grey stripe in the centre for awards in the military division). From time to time the order was expanded: there was an increase in the maximum permitted number of recipients in 1933, and a further increase in 1937. During the Second World War, as had been the case during and after World War I, the number of military awards was greatly increased; between 1939 and 1946 there were more than 33,000 appointments to
6966-449: The audience and Spike had soon left the text far behind as he went off into a riff of sublime absurdity." In 1961–62, during the long pauses between the matinee and the evening show of Treasure Island , Milligan began talking to Miles about the idea he and John Antrobus were exploring, of a dramatised post-nuclear world. This became the one-act play The Bedsitting Room , which Milligan co-wrote with John Antrobus and which premiered at
7095-402: The audience began to hoot with laughter when Milligan's slipper inadvertently went spinning across the stage into the stalls. That was the end of Spike's playing straight. The audience demanded a clown, he became a clown. When he forgot his words, or disapproved of them, he simply made up what he felt to be more appropriate ones. That night there were no riotous first night celebrations and most of
7224-565: The birth of the Milligans' second child, Seán) and through most of Series 6, he collaborated with Eric Sykes, a development that grew out of his contemporary business collaboration with Sykes in Associated London Scripts . Milligan and Stephens reunited during Series 6 but towards the end of Series 8 Stephens was sidelined by health problems and Milligan worked briefly with John Antrobus . The Milligan-Stephens partnership
7353-422: The cast seemed to go home stunned. The following night Milligan began to ad lib in earnest. The text of the show began to change drastically. The cast were bedevilled and shaken but they went along with him ... Incredibly, the show began to resolve itself. The context changed completely. It was turned upside down and inside out. Cues and lines became irrelevant as Milligan verbally rewrote the play each night. By
7482-454: The cast to adhere closely to the script but by Series 4, the BBC had adopted the use of magnetic tape. Milligan eagerly exploited the possibilities the new technology offered—the tapes could be edited, so the cast could now ad-lib freely and tape also enabled the creation of groundbreaking sound effects. Over the first three series, Milligan's demands for increasingly complex sound effects (or "grams", as they were then known) pushed technology and
7611-474: The cathedral. That year, Commonwealth awards made up 40% of all OBEs and MBEs awarded (and 35% of all living recipients of the higher awards). Gradually that proportion reduced as independent states within the Commonwealth established their own systems of honours . The last Canadian recommendation for the Order of the British Empire was an MBE for gallantry gazetted in 1966, a year before the creation of
7740-418: The circlet. In 1929, to bring the order into line with the other orders of chivalry, members of the first class of the order (GBE) were provided with mantles, hats and collars. Only Knights/Dames Grand Cross wear these elaborate vestments; the hat is now rarely, if ever, worn. Use of the mantle is limited to important occasions (such as quadrennial services and coronations ). The mantle is always worn with
7869-429: The club's genial master of ceremonies , and was noted for his repertoire of jokes, asides and one-liners. A typical introduction might go: "Our next guest is one of the finest musicians in the country. In the city, he's crap". Another memorable announcement was: "Next week we're proud to have a quartet featuring Stan Getz and violinist Stuff Smith . It's called the 'Getz-Stuffed quartet'." Ronnie often used in later days
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#17327829028157998-444: The collar. Although the mantle was introduced in 1929, very few mantles would have been produced prior to the 1937 design changes, as there were few occasions for wearing them in the intervening years. On certain days designated by the sovereign, known as " collar days ", members attending formal events may wear the order's collar over their military uniform, formal day dress, evening wear or robes of office. Collars are returned upon
8127-479: The country's population". The committee further suggested changing the name of the award to the Order of British Excellence, and changing the rank of Commander to Companion (as the former was said to have a "militaristic ring"), as well as advocating for the abolition of knighthoods and damehoods; the government, however, was not of the opinion that a case for change had been made, and the aforementioned suggestions and recommendations were not, therefore, pursued. In
8256-491: The creation of the co-operative agency. Milligan made several forays into television as a writer-performer, in addition to his many guest appearances on interview, variety and sketch comedy series from the 1950s to the 2000s. The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d (1956), starring Peter Sellers, was the first attempt to translate Goons humour to TV; it was followed by A Show Called Fred and Son of Fred , both made during 1956 and directed by Richard Lester , who went on to work with
8385-403: The death of their owners, but other insignia may be retained. The six office-holders of the order wear pearl-grey mantles lined with rose-pink, having on the right side a purple shield charged with the roundel from the badge. Each of these office-holders wears a unique badge of office, suspended from a gold chain worn around the neck. The British Empire Medal is made of silver. On the obverse
8514-626: The distinction between ranks in military operational gallantry awards will cease'. The reforms affected the order at various levels: for example the automatic award each year of a GBE to the Lord Mayor of London ceased; the OBE replaced the Imperial Service Order as an award for civil servants and the number of MBEs awarded each year was significantly increased. As part of these reforms the British Empire Medal stopped being awarded by
8643-484: The end of the week, Oblomov had changed beyond recognition. Andre Morell came again ... and afterwards said 'the man is a genius. He must be a genius—it's the only word for him. He's impossible—but he's a genius!'. The play continued running as an improv comedy. The decision soon caused it to break all box office records at the Lyric. After five weeks it was rechristened Son of Oblomov and moved on 2 December 1964 to
8772-481: The entire series has reportedly been preserved in the BBC archives. Milligan's next major TV venture was the sketch comedy series The World of Beachcomber (1968), made in colour for BBC 2 ; it is believed all 19 episodes are lost . In the same year, the three Goons reunited for a televised re-staging of a vintage Goon Show for Thames Television , with John Cleese substituting for the late Wallace Greenslade . In early 1969, Milligan starred in brownface in
8901-529: The former was to be responsible for recording all proceedings connected with the order, issuing warrants under the seal of the order and making arrangements for investitures, while the latter (at that time the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury ) was responsible for collecting and tabulating the names of those who were to receive an award. The office of Dean was added in 1957. The King of Arms
9030-401: The governments of overseas dominions to make their own nominations; Canada and South Africa began doing so in 1942, followed by Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth realms. In May 1957, forty years after the foundation of the order, it was announced that St Paul's Cathedral was to serve as the church of the order, and in 1960 a chapel was dedicated for its use within the crypt of
9159-450: The highest class of the order (GBE). The designs of all these items underwent major changes in 1937. The badge is worn by all members of the order; the size, colour and design depends on the class of award. The badge for all classes is in the form of a cross patonce (having the arms growing broader and floriated toward the end) with a medallion in the centre, the obverse of which bears a crowned image of George V and Queen Mary within
9288-641: The honours system, calling it "a preposterous charade". The order has attracted some criticism for its naming having connection with the idea of the now-extinct British Empire . Benjamin Zephaniah , a British poet of Jamaican and Barbadian descent, publicly rejected appointment as an Officer in 2003 because, he asserted, it reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality". He also said that "it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised". Spike Milligan Terence Alan " Spike " Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002)
9417-454: The house lights! Start everything again!" He pointed to the blushing foursome and cried: "That's cost you your knighthood!" Then, noticing that Peter Sellers was seated between Prince Charles and Princess Margaret , Milligan asked in a loud voice: "Is there a Sellers in the house?" Sellers immediately shouted, "Yes!" Milligan launched into a vaudeville routine about Prince Phillip 's suspenders, with Sellers participating from his seat with
9546-446: The insignia to Buckingham Palace and by ceasing to make reference to their honour, but they still hold the honour unless and until annulled by the monarch. In 2003, The Sunday Times published a list of the people who had rejected the Order of the British Empire, including David Bowie , John Cleese , Nigella Lawson , Elgar Howarth , L. S. Lowry , George Melly , and J. G. Ballard . In addition, Ballard voiced his opposition to
9675-640: The junior post-nominal letters. The British sovereign is the sovereign of the order and appoints all other officers of the order (by convention, on the advice of the governments of the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth realms ). The second-most senior officer is the Grand Master (a 'Prince of the Blood Royal, or other exalted personage' appointed by the sovereign, who, by virtue of their appointment, becomes 'the First or Principal Knight Grand Cross of
9804-489: The late 1940s and made a precarious living with the Hall trio and other musical comedy acts. He was also trying to break into the world of radio, as a performer or script writer. His first success in radio was as writer for comedian Derek Roy 's show. After a delayed start, Milligan, Peter Sellers , Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine joined forces in a relatively radical comedy project, The Goon Show . During its first season
9933-512: The later years of the series many Goon Show "grams" were produced for the series by members of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop , a notable example being the " Major Bloodnok 's Stomach" effect, realised by Dick Mills. Although the Goons elevated Milligan to national stardom, the demands of writing and performing the series took a heavy toll. During Series 3 he had the first of several serious mental breakdowns , which also marked
10062-528: The latter. Knights and Dames Commander and Commanders may display the circlet, but not the collar, surrounding their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet. See List of current honorary knights and dames of the Order of the British Empire Only the monarch can annul an honour. The Honours Forfeiture Committee considers cases and makes recommendations for forfeiture. An individual can renounce their honour by returning
10191-463: The left breast, by Knights and Dames Grand Cross; Knights and Dames Commander wear a smaller star composed of 'four equal points and four lesser'. The star is not worn by the more junior classes. Prior to 1937 each star had in the centre a gold medallion with a figure of Britannia, surrounded by a crimson circlet inscribed with the motto of the order ('For God and the Empire'); since 1937 the effigies of King George V and Queen Mary have been shown within
10320-540: The life of a gentleman on sergeant's pay". After Army cuts meant his father's position was no longer required, Milligan travelled by sea, from India to England for the first time. He arrived on a winter's morning and was bemused by the climate, so different from India's, remembering the dock's "terrible noise, and everything so cold and grey." The Milligan family lived in England in somewhat straitened circumstances, Leo Milligan only being able to find "a poorly paid job in
10449-518: The lyric to saxophonist/composer Duncan Lamont 's "English Folk Song," heard on jazz singer Tina May 's 2021 album, 52nd Street (and Other Tales) . He was the narrator for Lamont's Sherlock Holmes Suite , commissioned by the City of London to commemorate the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes in The Strand magazine. Bernard Miles gave Milligan his first straight acting role, as Ben Gunn , in
10578-588: The medal 'for gallantry', which had come to be known as the Empire Gallantry Medal , were given permission to use the postnominal letters EGM (and at the same time to add a laurel branch emblem to the ribbon of the medal); however, in 1940, awards of the EGM ceased and all holders of the medal were instructed to exchange it for a new and more prestigious gallantry award: the George Cross . In 1941,
10707-559: The medal of the order 'for meritorious service' was renamed the British Empire Medal , and the following year its recipients were granted the right to use the postnominal letters BEM. During the war, the BEM came to be used to recognise acts of bravery which did not merit the award of a George Cross or George Medal , a use which continued until the introduction of the Queen's Gallantry Medal in 1974. The designs of insignia of
10836-449: The medal. The colour of the riband was also changed: twenty years earlier, prior to the order's establishment, Queen Mary had made it known that pink would be her preferred colour for the riband of the proposed new order, but, in the event, purple was chosen. Following her appointment as Grand Master of the order in 1936 a change was duly made and since 9 March 1937 the riband of the order has been 'rose pink edged with pearl grey’ (with
10965-473: The names of the former are written out in their fullest forms. Male clergy of the Church of England or the Church of Scotland do not use the title Sir (unless they were knighted before being ordained) as they do not receive the accolade (they are not dubbed "knight" with a sword), although they do append the post-nominal letters ; dames do not receive the accolade, and therefore female clergy are free to use
11094-662: The new Flamingo Club in Wardour Street , Soho. The group lasted until 30 August 1959. With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band With others Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry , rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside
11223-473: The new form of jazz being played in the clubs there. Scott was among the earliest British musicians to have been influenced by Charlie Parker and other players of modern jazz. In 1952, Scott joined Jack Parnell 's orchestra and from 1953 to 1956 led a nine-piece band and quintet which included Pete King , with whom he later opened his jazz club, Victor Feldman , Hank Shaw , and Phil Seamen . He co-led The Jazz Couriers with Tubby Hayes from 1957 to 1959 and
11352-454: The numbers restricted to the order as full members do. Although the Order of the British Empire has by far the highest number of members of the British orders of chivalry, with more than 100,000 living members worldwide, there are fewer appointments to knighthoods than in other orders. From time to time, individuals may be promoted to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of
11481-498: The onset of a decades-long cycle of manic-depressive illness. In late 1952, possibly exacerbated by suppressed tensions between the Goons' stars, Milligan apparently became irrationally convinced that he had to kill Sellers but when he attempted to gain entry to Sellers's neighbouring flat, armed with a potato knife, he accidentally walked straight through the plate-glass front door. He was hospitalised, heavily sedated for two weeks and spent almost two months recuperating; fortunately for
11610-620: The order alongside its own honours until the establishment of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1996. Other Commonwealth realms have continued to use the Order of the British Empire alongside their own honours. In 1993 the Prime Minister, John Major , instituted a reform of the honours system with the aim 'that exceptional service or achievement will be more widely recognised; that greater importance will be given to voluntary service; that automatic honours will end; that
11739-408: The order and medal were altered in 1937, prior to the coronation of King George VI , 'in commemoration of the reign of King George V and Queen Mary, during which the Order was founded'. The figure of Britannia at the centre of the badge of the order was replaced with an image of the crowned heads of the late King and Queen Mary, and the words 'Instituted by King George V' were added to the reverse of
11868-409: The order was celebrated with a service at St Paul's Cathedral. The order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes, but no more than 858 officers and 1,464 members may be appointed per year. Foreign appointees, as honorary members, do not contribute to
11997-426: The order, to which serving personnel would in future be appointed. The classes were the same as for the Civil Division (as it was now termed), but military awards were distinguished by the addition of a central vertical red stripe to the purple riband of the civil awards. In 1920 appointment as an MBE 'for an act of gallantry' was granted for the first time, to Sydney Frank Blanck Esq, who had rescued an injured man from
12126-475: The play five times. In a 1988 interview with Bernard Braden , Milligan described theatre as being important to him: First it was a means of livelihood. And I had sort of lagged behind my confederates, that I ... remained in the writing seat. And I realise that basically I was quite a good clown ... and the one and only chance I ever had to prove that was in Oblomov when I clowned my way out of what
12255-592: The public and also won several industry awards. From 1980 to 1982, he advertised for the English Tourist Board , playing a Scotsman on a visit around the different regions of England. Other advertising appearances included television commercials for Kellogg's Corn Flakes, the Leyland Mini , Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Planters nuts. In the 1970s, Charles Allen compiled a series of stories from British people's experiences of life in
12384-557: The raw comedy creation in front of me." Milligan contributed occasional cartoons to the satirical magazine Private Eye . Most were visualisations of one-line jokes . For example, a young boy sees the Concorde and asks his father "What's that?". The reply is "That's a flying groundnut scheme , son." Milligan was a keen painter. In 1967, applying a satirical angle to a fashion for the inclusion of Superman -inspired characters in British television commercials, Milligan dressed up in
12513-433: The right leg and shell shock , he was demoted by an unsympathetic commanding officer (identified in his war diaries as Major Evan "Jumbo" Jenkins) back to Gunner. It was Milligan's opinion that Major Jenkins did not like him, because Milligan constantly kept up the morale of his fellow soldiers, whereas Jenkins's approach was to take an attitude towards the troops similar to that of Lord Kitchener . An incident also mentioned
12642-634: The royals. This culminated in Milligan giving a high-kick, lobbing one of his bedroom slippers at Sellers, nearly missing Prince Phillip's head. Once back in bed with co-star Joan Greenwood, Milligan spent the rest of the performance poking fun at the Queen for bringing her son to such a racy play. The play ended with Milligan unsheathing a katana on stage and asking the Queen to knight him for his efforts that night. She declined. The performance ran 45 minutes over its scheduled ending. Prince Charles reportedly saw
12771-603: The same Order'). The position of Grand Master has been held by the following people: In addition to the sovereign and the grand master , the order has six further officers: At its foundation the order was served by three officers: the King of Arms, the Registrar & Secretary and the Gentleman Usher of the Purple Rod. In 1922 the Prelate was added, and the office of Registrar was separated from that of Secretary:
12900-521: The services of John Schatt to book rock bands for Ronnie Scott's upstairs. After Scott's death, King continued to run the club for a further nine years, before selling the club to theatre impresario Sally Greene in June 2005. In September 2013, while the club was being redecorated, a 12-metre-square (39 ft) hoarding was placed on the Frith Street façade as a tribute to its eponymous founder, bearing
13029-637: The short-lived musicians' co-operative Club Eleven band and club (1948–50) with Johnny Dankworth . Scott became an acquaintance of the arranger/composer Tadd Dameron , when the American was working in the UK for Heath, and is reported to have performed with Dameron as the pianist, at one Club Eleven gig. Scott was a member of the generation of British musicians who worked on the Cunard liner Queen Mary intermittently from 1946 to around 1950. The ship would sail to New York City where they were exposed to Bebop ,
13158-502: The show, a backlog of scripts meant that his illness had little effect on production. Milligan later blamed the pressure of writing and performing The Goon Show for both his breakdown and the failure of his first marriage. Milligan was also involved in the writers' agency Associated London Scripts . Milligan married for the first time and began a family. This reportedly distracted him from writing so much that he accepted an invitation from Eric Sykes to share his small office, leading to
13287-624: The situation comedy Curry and Chips , created and written by Johnny Speight and featuring Milligan's old friend and colleague Eric Sykes. Curry and Chips set out to satirise racist attitudes in Britain in a similar vein to Speight's earlier creation, the hugely successful Till Death Us Do Part , with Milligan 'browning up' to play Kevin O'Grady, a half-Pakistani–half-Irish factory worker. The series generated numerous complaints, because of its frequent use of racist epithets and 'bad language'—one viewer reportedly complained of counting 59 uses of
13416-447: The skills of the BBC engineers to their limits—effects had to be created mechanically ( Foley ) or played back from discs, sometimes requiring the use of four or five turntables running simultaneously. With magnetic tape, these effects could be produced in advance and the BBC engineers were able to create highly complex, tightly edited effects "stings" that would have been very difficult (if not impossible) to perform using Foley or disc. In
13545-455: The solo on " Lady Madonna ", the 1968 single by the Beatles , playing on Roy Budd 's score for the film Fear Is the Key (1972), and performing the tenor sax solo on " I Missed Again ", the 1981 single by Phil Collins . In the 1981 New Year Honours , Scott was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to jazz music. Charles Mingus said of him in 1961, "Of
13674-461: The standard of the George Medal (even though, as appointments to an order of chivalry, they were listed before it on the Order of Wear . In contrast to awards for meritorious service, which usually appear without a citation, there were often citations for gallantry awards, some detailed and graphic. From 14 January 1958, these awards were designated Commander, Officer or Member of the Order of
13803-506: The title Dame . Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal GBE; Knights Commander, KBE; Dames Commander, DBE; Commanders, CBE; Officers, OBE; and Members, MBE. The post-nominal for the British Empire Medal is BEM. Members of all classes of the order are assigned positions in the order of precedence . Wives of male members of all classes also feature on the order of precedence, as do sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander; relatives of Ladies of
13932-589: The titles Sir for men and Dame for women before their forenames, except with honorary awards. King George V founded the order to fill gaps in the British honours system : In particular, George V wished to create an order to honour the many thousands of individuals from across the Empire who had served in a variety of non-combat roles during the First World War . From its foundation the order consisted of five classes (GBE, KBE/DBE, CBE, OBE and MBE) and
14061-560: The tradition of Lear ." One of his poems, " On the Ning Nang Nong ", was voted the UK's favourite comic poem in 1998 in a nationwide poll, ahead of other nonsense poets including Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. This nonsense verse , set to music, became a favourite Australia-wide, performed week after week by the ABC children's programme Playschool . Milligan included it on his album No One's Gonna Change Our World in 1969, to aid
14190-561: The troops. After being demobilised, Milligan remained in Italy playing with the trio but returned to Britain soon after. While he was with the Central Pool of Artists (a group he described as composed "of bomb-happy squaddies ") he began to write parodies of their mainstream plays, which displayed many of the key elements of what would later become The Goon Show (originally called Crazy People ) with Peter Sellers , Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine . Milligan returned to jazz in
14319-458: The white boys, Ronnie Scott gets closer to the negro blues feeling, the way Zoot Sims does." Scott recorded infrequently during the last few decades of his career. He suffered from depression. While recovering from surgery for tooth implants, he died at the age of 69 from an accidental overdose of barbiturate prescribed by his dentist. The Westminster coroner's inquest in February 1997 recorded
14448-526: The word "bloody" in one episode—and it was cancelled on the orders of the Independent Broadcasting Authority after only six episodes. Milligan was also involved in the ill-fated programme The Melting Pot . Director John Goldschmidt 's film The Other Spike dramatised Milligan's nervous breakdown in a film for Granada Television , for which Milligan wrote the screenplay and in which he played himself. Later that year, he
14577-507: Was a very bad script ... I clowned it into a West End success and uh, we kept changing it all the time. It was a tour de force of improvisation ... all that ended it was I got fed up with it, that's all." In 1959 Ken Russell made a short 35 mm film about and with Milligan entitled Portrait of a Goon . The making of the film is detailed in Paul Sutton's 2012 authorised biography Becoming Ken Russell . In 1971 Milligan played
14706-487: Was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British India , where he spent his childhood before relocating in 1931 to England, where he lived and worked for the majority of his life. Disliking his first name, he began to call himself "Spike" after hearing the band Spike Jones and his City Slickers on Radio Luxembourg . Milligan
14835-412: Was broadcast live. "I've seen very few moments of genius in my life but I witnessed one with Spike after the first show. He had brought around a silent cartoon" and asked Lester if his P.A. took shorthand. "She said she did. 'Good, this needs a commentary.' It was a ten-minute cartoon and Spike could have seen it only once, if that. He ad-libbed the commentary for it and it was perfect. I was open-mouthed at
14964-467: Was commissioned by the BBC to write and star in Q5 , the first in the innovative Q... TV series, acknowledged as an important precursor to Monty Python's Flying Circus , which premiered several months later. There was a hiatus of several years, before the BBC commissioned Q6 in 1975. Q7 appeared in 1977, Q8 in 1978, Q9 in 1980 and There's a Lot of It About in 1982. Milligan later complained of
15093-493: Was finally ended by Stephens' death from a brain haemorrhage in January 1959; Milligan later downplayed and disparaged Stephens' contributions. The Goon Show was recorded before a studio audience and during the audience warm-up session, Milligan would play the trumpet, while Peter Sellers played on the orchestra's drums. For the first few years the shows were recorded live, direct to 16-inch transcription disc , which required
15222-402: Was first announced at the end of December 2006, and is available to recipients of all levels of the order, as well as to holders of the British Empire Medal . The pin design is not unique to any level. The pin features the badge of the order, enclosed in a circle of ribbon of its colours of pink and grey. Lapel pins must be purchased separately by a member of the order. The creation of such a pin
15351-415: Was in the BBC dramatisation of Mervyn Peake 's Gormenghast and he was (almost inevitably) noted as an ad-libber . One of Milligan's ad-lib incidents occurred during a visit to Australia in the late 1960s. He was interviewed live on air and remained in the studio for the news broadcast that followed (read by Rod McNeil), during which Milligan constantly interjected, adding his own name to news items. As
15480-675: Was later re-equipped with the BL 7.2-inch howitzer and saw action as part of the First Army in the North African campaign and then in the succeeding Italian campaign . Milligan was appointed lance bombardier and was about to be promoted to bombardier , when he was wounded in action in the Italian theatre at the Battle of Monte Cassino . Subsequently, hospitalised for a mortar wound to
15609-683: Was leader of a quartet that included Stan Tracey (1960–67). From 1967 to 1969, Scott was a member of the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band , which toured Europe and included Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis . Simultaneously he ran his octet, which included John Surman and Kenny Wheeler , and a trio with Mike Carr on keyboards and Bobby Gien on drums (1971–1975). Scott's other bands often included John Critchinson on keyboards and Martin Drew on drums. He did occasional session work, which included performing
15738-469: Was made a substantive member and subsequently styled as Sir Terry Wogan). Although initially intended to recognise meritorious service, the order began to also be awarded for gallantry. There were an increased number of cases in the Second World War for service personnel and civilians including the merchant navy, police, emergency services and civil defence, mostly MBEs but with a small number of OBEs and CBEs. Such awards were for gallantry that did not reach
15867-513: Was open to both women and men; provision was also made for conferring honorary awards on foreign recipients. At the same time, alongside the order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. The first investiture took place at Ibrox Stadium , as part of a royal visit to the Glasgow shipyards, with the appointment of Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde as
15996-585: Was recommended in Sir Hayden Phillips ' review of the honours system in 2004. The Chapel of the Order of the British Empire is in St Paul's Cathedral . It occupies the far eastern end of the cathedral crypt and was dedicated in 1960. The only heraldic banners normally on display in the chapel are those of the Sovereign of the Order of the British Empire and of the Grand Master of the Order of
16125-518: Was savaged in the theatrical press. However, Oblomov 's producers had booked the play into the Lyric for three weeks. Anxious to recoup their investment by any means, they gave Milligan carte-blanche on stage. Milligan's antics included starting the play while sitting with the audience, yelling for his castmates to entertain him. Another night he wore a false arm that fell out of his sleeve when co-star Ian Flintoff, playing Oblomov's doctor, shook Milligan's hand. When Flintoff complained to Bill Kerr ,
16254-512: Was the co-creator, main writer, and a principal cast member of the British radio comedy programme The Goon Show , performing a range of roles including the characters Eccles and Minnie Bannister . He was the earliest-born and last surviving member of the Goons . He took his success with The Goon Show into television with Q5 , a surreal sketch show credited as a major influence on the members of Monty Python's Flying Circus . He wrote and edited many books, including Puckoon (1963) and
16383-526: Was to be given for services rendered in the UK and overseas. Today the majority of recipients are UK citizens, though a number of Commonwealth realms outside the UK continue to make appointments to the order. Honorary awards may be made to citizens of other nations of which the order's sovereign is not the head of state. The five classes of appointment to the Order are, from highest grade to lowest grade: The senior two ranks of Knight or Dame Grand Cross and Knight or Dame Commander entitle their members to use
16512-467: Was when Jenkins had invited Gunners Milligan and Edgington to his bivouac to play some jazz with him, only to discover that the musicianship of the gunners was far superior to his own ability to play "Whistling Rufus". After hospitalisation, Milligan drifted through a number of rear-echelon military jobs in Italy, eventually becoming a full-time entertainer. He played the guitar with a jazz and comedy group called The Bill Hall Trio , in concert parties for
16641-622: Was written by Ed Welch , who had previously appeared in the Q series, and collaborated with Spike on several audio productions produced and directed by Simon & Sara Bor. Wolves, Witches and Giants was broadcast in more than 100 territories, including Britain and the United States. Milligan also wrote verse, considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense . For example: "It's due to pigeons that alight; on Nelson's hat that makes it white." His poetry has been described by comedian Stephen Fry as "absolutely immortal—greatly in
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