The Goon Show cast members
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This is a list of regular cast members of the 1950's British radio programme The Goon Show.
Contents
Harry Secombe
Harry Secombe played these characters- Neddie Seagoon, affable but gullible idiot, around whom the plot usually revolves. The patriotic Neddie is always willing to lay down his life for the Crown, and this often gets him into difficult situations. Neddie is often unemployed, and some episodes begin with him accepting a new job. Some jokes are made about his enormous girth, especially when contrasted to his lack of height (in Wings Over Dagenham, Grytpype calls him 'little square pudding'). Neddie is the son of Fred Seagoon (The Case of the Fake Neddie Seagoons). Variations of Neddie were sometimes used depending on the setting of the episode, including Caractacus Seagoon (The Histories Of Pliny The Elder), Winston Seagoon (1985), and Neddie Toulouse-Lautrec (Tales Of Montmartre)
- Uncle Oscar, uncle of Henry and Min. A very old pensioner who usually jabbers incoherently but soon collapses.
- Unteroffizier Krupp, a German side-kick to Sellers' Eidelberger. Also occasionally a spy (in The Man Who Never Was, Bloodnok is interrogating Krupp: Admit it, you're a German spy. Krupp: I'm not a spy, I'm a shepherd. Bloodnok: Aha! A shepherd-spy!
[Shepherd's pie] ), and a chemical idiot involved with the tails of men's shirts. - Private Bogg, one of Major Bloodnok's soldiers who is usually picked upon to do all the dangerous/scary jobs that Bloodnok himself is too afraid to do.
- Nugent Dirt, the first victim of The Phantom Head-Shaver of Brighton.
- "Izzy", based on the comic "Izzy Bonn".
- Secombe also played various Welshmen (e.g. a lorry driver in Wings Over Dagenham, and a navvy in The Scarlet Capsule). Members of the newsgroup [alt.fan.goons] refer to most of these characters as "Secombe Bach." In the beginning of the episode The Thing on the Mountain, all three Goons (with Milligan as Adolphus Spriggs and one line as Singhiz Thingz) imitate Welshmen. In Wings Over Dagenham, Secombe's Welsh character is named "Dai". There is also a Welsh Eccles, whose so-called Welsh accent consists entirely of words such as Abergavenny, Cardiff Docks, Swansea Docks and leeks; he later admits, "It's no good folks, I can't keep up this accent any longer, I'm not a Welshman at all." In The Mighty Wurlitzer, the first part of the story is set in Wales. Secombe (himself a Welshman in the role of Seagoon), Milligan (playing a cat) and Sellers (à la Mai Jones) end virtually every sentence with the Welsh word "bach". Secombe remarks after Milligan's lines, "That's the first time I've heard a cat bark."
- When there was a need, Secombe would often play the part of a, most often un-named, Yorkshireman. One example of Secombe's Yorkshire accent is in the episode The Lurgi Strikes Britain.
Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan played these characters- (The Famous) "Mad Dan" Eccles, idiot supreme. Eccles is a man with no more wits than a small child. Occasionally he will be performing some absurd task, and when questioned why, it will come out that he misinterpreted instructions. Eccles is often paired with Bluebottle as a friend or a co-worker, and sometimes as an underling or lackey for Neddie. When people around him tell him to shut up, he often joins in, and has been known to go on telling himself to shut up long after everyone else has given up. Another catchphrase is his distinctive rising-and-falling "Ooooooooh..." when comprehension dawns on him. Milligan based Eccles partly on one of his childhood cartoon favourites, the Disney character Goofy, and partly on 'Every idiot I ever met'.
- Miss Minnie Bannister, elderly spinster with a quavering voice, with an interesting past (she was presumably a "flapper" in her heyday. She was known as the Darling of Roper's Light Horse, which was apparently a previously unheard of military unit) and has an addiction to saxophone playing and "sinful modern-type dancing". Minnie is as flirtatious as a girl a third her age. She is also a one-time lover of Major Dennis Bloodnok. They were forever being reunited in various adventures. ("She looks the same as the last time I saw her," Bloodnok once said, "Horrible!") Milligan's contribution to vocal technique here was to speak in a high voice while jiggling the flap of skin over his Adam's apple.
- Count Jim Moriarty, impecunious French idiot and Grytpype-Thynne's sidekick. He utters meaningless foreign-sounding expletives like "Sapristi yakabakaka!" and "Sapristi Nyuckoes!" Over the course of the series Moriarty changes from being a competent international criminal to a cringing whelp forever being picked on by Grytpype-Thynne; this deterioration is reflected in his voice, which over the course of five years goes from a deep, sinister purr to a high-pitched croak. Surprisingly, this character arc seems to have been completely unplanned but developed naturally from the characters' increasingly impoverished status.
- Throat or Miss Throat, with the very gravelly voice. Milligan invented this voice by belching, apparently in the middle of rehearsal, much to the producer's annoyance.
- Little Jim, whose single line "He's fallen in the wa-ater" became a national catchphrase. According to a recent TV special about Spike Milligan, the phrase was originated by Peter Sellers' young son.
- Jim/Adolphus Spriggs, aka Jim Pills, who makes frequent appearances on the show. He often repeats his lines in a high-pitched falsetto and calls everybody "Jim", pronounced "Jeeee-eeeeem!". Also known to be a singer (of sorts): in The Histories Of Pliny The Elder, he serenades Julius Grytpype Caesar, whereupon the latter remarks 'Brutus Moriartus, this man is a crawler. Why does he follow such a profession?' Moriarty replies 'For money, Caesar, he says he wants to die rich.' Grytpype: 'And so he shall; give him this sack of gold, and then strangle him.' Many have suggested that he and Little Jim are one and the same, from the fact that they have the same pitch of voice and their lines are often very close together.
- Yakamoto, Japanese character who can be found as Eidelberger's sidekick (e.g. Napoleon's Piano and The Canal) or as a Japanese Army officer (e.g. The Fear of Wages).
- Cor blimey - unnamed character who pops up to say "Cor blimey I'm off!" whenever something dangerous is about to happen. Voice very similar to Throat.
- Havaldar Singhiz Thingz, an Indian idiot, usually found as Bloodnok's servant. The various Indian characters in the show derived from Milligan's childhood in India, where his father had served in the British Army.
- Captain Hugh Jampton, an army officer but primarily getting "one over" on the BBC censors. With "Huge Hampton" - see Cockney Rhyming Slang "Hampton Wick."
- Fred Fu Manchu, Chinese Bamboo Saxophonist. Appears in self-titled episode The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu Manchu. Makes minor appearances in a number of other episodes (e.g. China Story and The Lost Emperor).
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers played these characters- Major Dennis Bloodnok, military cad, lecher and idiot. Seagoon's former officer and in love with Minnie Bannister, to Henry Crun's disgust, but Henry can do nothing about it, as long as Sellers is playing Bloodnok. In contrast to most military officers in fiction, Bloodnok is a flatulent, world-class coward who'll betray his country for £5.
- Hercules Grytpype-Thynne, a suave, well-educated impecunious homosexual cad. He often collaborates with Count Moriarty to swindle Neddie. As with Moriarty, his decline into disgrace was apparently a character development that was not deliberate - after all, in The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler, he was a police inspector. His homosexuality was never mentioned openly in the show, although it was alluded to on several occasions (e.g. Seagoon: Why don't you get married? Grytpype: I would, but Moriarty doesn't love me.), but "came out" in a biographical note in the book The Goon Show Scripts (1972). Sellers' characterisation was based on renowned British actor George Sanders.
- Henry Crun, aged idiot inventor and beau of Minnie Bannister. His famous catchphrase, "You can't get the wood, you know" was a satirical reference to British postwar austerity, and like "lurgi" it also quickly passed into the vernacular.
- Bluebottle, young lecherous Boy Scout and idiot from Finchley. He is usually a playmate or companion of Eccles and can usually be convinced to carry out any task, however dangerous, in return for a quarter of dolly mixtures. Bluebottle is always willing to help anyone, but normally is as bad at interpreting instructions as Eccles is and frequently ends up being "deaded" (killed), usually by a huge explosion. The voice and character were inspired by an actual person, one Ruxton Hayward, a scout-master in full uniform with bushy beard, who tried to hire Peter Sellers to appear in a stage show.
- Cynthia, ROE (Rose of England), a breathy femme fatale from Earl's Court. Neddie's occasional love interest, with a jealous lover called Raoul (played by Ray Ellington with a George Sanders patina). Jilted for an elephant.
- Willium "Mate" Cobblers, working-class cockney idiot. His catchphrase, "You can't park 'ere, mate", was a Goon in-joke that took a swipe at officious BBC commissionaires. (Sellers used a similar voice for trade union leader Fred Kite in the movie I'm All Right Jack). Based on a hardware store owner known to the Goons. When asked "What kind of wood is this?" he would respond "That's solid wood, that is, mate".
- Mr. Babu Banerjee, one of a pair of Indian gentlemen, the other, Mr Lalkaka, was played by Milligan. Conversations between these Indian characters occasionally used Hindi obscenities that both Milligan and Sellers had picked up. These were usually the subject of complaints by, surprisingly, elderly ladies.
- Eidelberger, a German Threat. Sometime Dr. Frankenstein, who invented Eccles, aided and abetted by Yakamoto. Camp Commandant of Stalag 10, 12, and 13, and nominal Kapitan, and Seagoon's accomplice in the plot to steal Napoleon's Piano from the Louvre. His full name is Justin Eidelberger, as in "Just an idle bugger". This was another way the Goons would slip words that were then banned from radio into the script.
- Flowerdew, a camp person who made infrequent appearances in the middle of the show's run. Flowerdew is a dab hand with a sewing machine, especially when, as in The Nasty Affair At The Burami Oasis, Seagoon tells him to run up a flag. Also appears in The Histories Of Pliny The Elder; when he tells Seagoon to "Shut up! It was perfectly quiet till you came along!", Seagoon replies, "You're a sailor, and sailors don't care!"
- Cyril, a Jewish character, with an aversion to non-Kosher water. Bloodnok, being stereotypically British, is Anti-Semitic; when, in King Solomon's Mines, Cyril is indeed drowning in "non-Kosher water", Blooknok exclaims "Goodness! A crocodile making straight for Cyril!", Fires, and then exclaims tensely. "Got him. Now to get the crocodile."
- Fred Nurke, who, in The Affair of The Lone Banana, vanishes from right under his mother's nose. Seagoon asks: 'What was he doing there?' Headstone the butler (Sellers) replies 'It was raining at the time, I believe' (another Jewish reference - see Max 'Conks' Geldray).
- Gladys, a strange sexless thing that continually changed its voice and responded often with the phrase 'Yes Darling!'. This part was also played by Ray Ellington.
- Lew/Ernie Cash. Another Jewish character, a deep nasal stereotypical voice; usually a fast-talking theatrical agent or impresario (e.g. The Greenslade Story), who cajoles actors in the wings with two broken legs to break another one. Based on a friend of the Goons. Occasionally appeared as a judge or magistrate.
- Sir Winston Churchill, who makes regular appearances as the PM. Looks for bits of paper in odd locations, approves crazy projects like Atomic Dustbins for the Christmas Islands and is suspected of throwing Batter Puddings at Clement Attlee.
- Hearn, Hern or Herne, also Herne Sales. An American character used for narration, outrageous announcements, parody sales pitches. The Goons referred to Americans as "herns", possibly because saying "hern hern hern...." sounded American to them. See also Lafcadio Hearn.
- It is a measure of Peter Sellers' vocal talents that he was able to speak all Milligan's characters so accurately that Spike's absences from the show were undetected until the final credits were read. When he himself was absent, as in Who is Pink Oboe?, anything up to half-a-dozen other actors and comedians had to be recruited to fill in for him.
Michael Bentine
Michael Bentine was part of the regular cast for the first two seasons, often playing Prof. Osric Pureheart. As a tribute of sorts, unheard characters called Bentine are sometimes referred to in later episodes (e.g. The Man Who Never Was)Other members
- Andrew Timothy – the show's original announcer (the father of the actor Christopher Timothy, who played James Herriot in the BBC TV series All Creatures Great And Small), who left the show after the first few episodes of season 4, claiming that he feared for his sanity. He did however make a brief pre-recorded appearance in The Scarlet Capsule, and returned in 1972 for The Last Goon Show of All
- Wallace Greenslade – announcer, he opened and closed each show (often parodying the traditional BBC announcing style), and occasionally played himself in an episode, most notably The Greenslade Story, as well as other small parts (e.g., he was The Phantom Head-Shaver of Brighton).
- Ray Ellington (not related to the Duke) and his Quartet – singer and drummer. The popular Ellington Quartet acted as rhythm section for the show's orchestra. Ellington, whose father was African-American, also occasionally played small roles, mostly as African or Arab characters such as Chief Ellinga, spouting much gibberish masquerading as Swahili, Sheik Rattle'n'roll (The Nasty Affair At the Burami Oasis), The Wad-of-Char (Shifting Sands), and The Red Bladder, and various Scottish and Irish characters. A lot of the jokes involving Ellington would these days would be considered racist; in one episode he was called Black Rod, a reference to the British Parliamentary office of the same name, and although his thick African American accent was nothing like Scots, several jokes were made about him being in the Black Watch.
- Max Geldray – Dutch jazz harmonica player (but no actor). Occasionally the butt of Jewish jokes, and more frequently, references to his nose - not for nothing known as 'Conks'
- Wally Stott and his Orchestra - the house band. Stott was a well-known British band leader and arranger whose other credits included numerous recordings for film and singing star Diana Dors. He also composed the music for Hancock's Half Hour.
- George Chisholm – one of the show's regular musicians, sometimes called upon to play Scottish characters.
Guest appearances
- John Snagge – doyen of BBC newsreaders who, like Greenslade, also played himself (usually in pre-recorded inserts), and was a great supporter of the show. Snagge had a prominent part in The Greenslade Story, when he was present in the studio instead of being pre-recorded, and read his part in his best 'Here-is-the-News' voice.
- Valentine Dyall – radio's "Man in Black", often called upon to play sinister characters. Appeared as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood, the Christmas special Goon Show made for the General Overseas Service in 1956. Appeared in The Canal, as an amateur brain surgeon attempting to murder his children (Neddie & Eccles), as well as Lloyds insurance salesman Bluebottle, for the insurance money; appeared as Baron Seagoon in Drums Along the Mersey, with an elaborate scheme to smuggle a million pounds out of England; appeared as Dr Longdongle in The House of Teeth, a mad medic driven to knocking out men's false teeth and painting them black to fulfil a promise of fifty pairs of castanets to his Spanish flamenco dancer girlfriend Gladys la Tigernutta; appeared as the creepy caretaker of Tintagel Manor in The Spectre of Tintagel; deputised as Grytpype-Thynne for an indisposed Peter Sellers in Who Is Pink Oboe?.
- Charlotte Mitchell – stepped into the breach on the rare occasions (Tales Of Montmartre, Ye Bandit Of Sherwood Forest) when the script called for an authentic female.
- Cecile Chevreau, another authentic female; made a cameo appearance in African Incident, being found in a compromising position up a tree with Major Bloodnok.
- Jack Train – made two appearances (in Shifting Sands and Who Is Pink Oboe?) reprising his role as Colonel Chinstrap from ITMA. Chinstrap fitted into the Goon Show framework surprisingly well, demonstrating the debt the Goons owed to ITMA.
- Dick Emery – stood in for Secombe as "Emery-type Seagoon" in Spon, and replaced Milligan in a few others, alternating with Graham Stark. Emery also appeared in the closest thing to a Goon Show film, The Case of the Mukkinese Battlehorn (which also featured Sellers and Milligan but not Secombe). He went on to provide voices for the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, and was popular in his own television sketch show in the 1970s.
- Kenneth Connor – stood in for Secombe in The £50 Cure as well as appearing as Willium Mate in Who is Pink Oboe? in place of Peter Sellers, who was ill.
- A. E. Matthews – appeared as himself in The Evils of Bushey Spon
- Dennis Price – appeared as Prince John in the Goons Christmas special broadcast of Robin Hood.
- Bernard Miles – appeared as approximately himself, complete with his best bucolic accent, in The Rent Collectors
References
| The Goon Show |
|---|
| The Goons |
| Michael Bentine • Spike Milligan • Harry Secombe • Peter Sellers |
| Other Contributors |
| Ray Ellington • Max Geldray • Wallace Greenslade • Wally Stott |
| Radio & TV Series |
| The Goon Show • The Telegoons |
| Films |
| Let's Go Crazy • Penny Points to Paradise • Down Among the Z Men • The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn • The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film |
| Characters |
| Major Bloodnok • Bluebottle • Henry Crun and Minnie Bannister • Eccles • Hercules Grytpype-Thynne • Count Jim Moriarty • Neddie Seagoon |
| General information |
| Cast members • Archiving • Episodes |
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