The Goon Show cast members and characters

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This is a list of regular cast members of the 1950's British radio programme The Goon Show.

Contents

[edit] Harry Secombe

Harry Secombe played these characters

[edit] Neddie Seagoon

Main article: Neddie Seagoon

[edit] Uncle Oscar

Uncle of Henry and Min. A very old pensioner who usually jabbers incoherently but soon collapses.

[edit] 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 Tale of Men's Shirts.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Nugent Dirt

The first victim of The Phantom Head-Shaver of Brighton.

[edit] Izzy

Based on the comic "Izzy Bonn".

[edit] Welshmen

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."

[edit] Spike Milligan

Spike Milligan played these characters

[edit] Eccles

Main article: Eccles (character)

[edit] Minnie Bannister

Main article: Henry Crun and Minnie Bannister

[edit] Moriarty

Main article: Count Jim Moriarty

[edit] Throat

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.

[edit] Little Jim

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.

[edit] Spriggs

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.[citation needed]

[edit] 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).

[edit] 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.

[edit] Thingz

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.

[edit] Hugh Jampton

Captain Hugh Jampton, an army officer but primarily getting "one over" on the BBC censors. With "Huge Hampton" - see Cockney Rhyming Slang "Hampton Wick."

[edit] Fu Manchu

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, The Siege of Fort Night and The Lost Emperor).

[edit] Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers played these characters

[edit] Bloodnok

Main article: Major Bloodnok

[edit] Grytpype-Thynne

Main article: Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

[edit] Henry Crun

Main article: Henry Crun and Minnie Bannister

[edit] Bluebottle

Main article: Bluebottle (character)

[edit] Cynthia

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.

[edit] "Mate"

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".

[edit] Babu Banerjee

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.

[edit] Eidelberger

German anti-hero. 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.

[edit] Flowerdew

Camp person who makes 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!". Comparable with the characters Julian and Sandy from Round the Horne.

[edit] 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 tersely. "Got him. Now to get the crocodile."

[edit] Fred Nurke

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).

[edit] 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 (e.g., see Rommel's Treasure).

[edit] 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.

[edit] Churchill

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.

[edit] Hearn

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.

[edit] And more...

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.

[edit] Michael Bentine

Bentine was part of the regular cast for the first two seasons. As a tribute of sorts, unheard characters called Bentine are sometimes referred to in later episodes (e.g. The Man Who Never Was)

Michael Bentine played these characters

[edit] Osric Pureheart

The archetypal absent minded professor.

[edit] Hugh Jampton

As under Milligan above.

[edit] 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 (e.g. The Treasure Of Loch Lomond, The Jet-Propelled Guided Naafi). In Ill Met By Goonlight, Seagoon, Eccles and Bloodnok are part of the commando raid on Crete. When Seagoon complains that, although the party numbers four men, he's only been given enough black face paint for three, Grytpype tells him that Ellington is the fourth man, whereupon Ellington shouts, "It ain't fair, just 'cos I got a sunlamp."
  • 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.

[edit] 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?.

In the beginning of 'The Canal', Dyall is announced in his usual manner, as the man in Black, with a gong-beat - only to read out, "Listeners - a funny thing happened to me on my way to the Theatre tonight...a steamroller ran over my head. So Much for Humour."

[edit] References

The ultimate source from which almost all Goon Show character lists on the internet have been derived is

  • Wilmut, Roger, Jimmy Grafton (1976). “Goonography - Cast List”, The Goon Show Companion - A History and Goonography. London: Robson Books, pg.88. ISBN 0903895641.

Character descriptions were given in two of Milligan's books of scripts (he has written a back story to his characters which is not always consistant with the scripts) :

  • Milligan, Spike [1972] (1973). “Introduction”, Goon Show Scripts. London: Sphere Books. ISBN 0722160798.
  • Milligan, Spike [1973] (1974). “Introduction”, More Goon Show Scripts. London: Sphere Books. ISBN 0722160771.
    v • d • e
    The Goon Show
    The Goons
    Michael Bentine • Spike Milligan • Harry Secombe • Peter Sellers
    Other Contributors
    Ray Ellington • Max Geldray • Wallace Greenslade • Larry Stephens • Wally Stott • Eric Sykes • Andrew Timothy
    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 & Standing Still Film
    Characters
    Cast members and their Characters • Major Bloodnok • Bluebottle • Henry Crun and Minnie Bannister • Eccles • Hercules Grytpype-Thynne • Count Jim Moriarty • Neddie Seagoon
    General information
    Episodes and archiving • Running Jokes
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