Spike Milligan was born in India in 1918 and his career as a musician, actor, poet, scriptwriter and novelist spanned over fifty years. His first book was published in 1959, after which he published many volumes of poetry, scripts, novels, letters and general humour. In 1992 Spike was awarded the CBE for his work as an entertainer, broadcaster and writer and in 1994 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Comedy Awards. He died in February 2002.