Spike Milligan, one of the founding fathers of 20th century British comedy and the zany genius behind BBC Radio's The Goon Show, died yesterday at the age of 83.
"He died this morning. I believe it was from kidney failure," his agent, Norma Farnes, said.
Along with fellow Goons Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe, Milligan influenced a whole generation of comedians from Beyond the Fringe to Monty Python's Flying Circus with his surreal antics. He was the last of the comic trio to die.
His greatest fan was Prince Charles, once famously labelled "a grovelling little bastard" on live television by Milligan.
He was also scathing about US comedy. "I watch American comedies and they are as funny as a baby with cancer," he once said.
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