Milligan is the son of an Irish father, Leo Alphonso Milligan, a regimental sergeant major in the British Indian Army, and English mother, Florence Mary Winifred (née Kettleband). He is raised in India and Burma (Myanmar). He is educated at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Poona, and later at St. Paul’s High School, Rangoon. He moves to England with his family in 1933. He serves in the army during World War II and, when he is wounded in combat, begins a struggle with manic-depressive illness that lasts the rest of his life. Toward the end of the war, he meets Harry Secombe, and they work together entertaining the troops. After the war the pair, along with Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine, begin spending time at the Grafton Arms pub, where they develope their comedy routines. BBC radio begins broadcasting the group’s work in 1951, as Crazy People, and in 1952 it is renamed The Goon Show. As such it continues until early 1960 (though Bentine soon leaves the show) and becomes a cult classic.
Milligan later acts onstage and in small parts in movies—including Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)—and writes numerous books of poems, war memoirs, the play The Bedsitting Room (with John Antrobus; first performed 1962), and a number of television series. He also supports a multitude of causes, especially those involving the environment. Because his father is Irish and he is born in India—and despite his years of military service—the British government does not consider him a citizen. Rather than take an oath of allegiance, he takes Irish citizenship. Nonetheless, he is made an honorary Commander of the British Empire in 1992 and is given an honorary knighthood in 2000.
Milligan dies from kidney failure, at the age of 83, on February 27, 2002, at his home on Dumb Woman’s Lane near Rye, East Sussex. On the day of his funeral, March 8, 2002, his coffin is carried to St. Thomas Church in Winchelsea, East Sussex, and is draped in the flag of Ireland. He had once quipped that he wanted his headstone to bear the words: “I told you I was ill.” He is buried at St. Thomas’ churchyard but the Chichester diocese refuses to allow this epitaph. A compromise is reached with the Gaelic translation of “I told you I was ill,” Dúirt mé leat go mé breoite, and in English, “Love, light, peace.” The additional epitaph Grá mhór ort Shelagh can be read as “Great love for you Shelagh.”
According to a letter published in the Rye and Battle Observer in 2011, Milligan’s headstone is removed from St. Thomas’ churchyard in Winchelsea and moved to be alongside the grave of his wife, but is later returned.
Norton is educated at Synge Street CBS. From an early age he wants to be an actor, and regularly attends performances at the Abbey Theatre. His mother, Frances, plays the violin and his father, Eugene, is a baritone singer and works as a bakery manager. He has one sibling, the late acting teacher Betty Ann Norton.
Norton has been acting for over forty years in theatre, television, and film, and frequently plays clergymen, most notably Bishop Brennan in the sitcom Father Ted, as well as roles in The Sweeney (1975), Peak Practice (1993), Sunset Heights (1997), A Love Divided (1999), Rebus: Black and Blue (2000), Mad About Mambo (2000), Boxed (2003) and Jimmy’s Hall (2014). He stars as Finian McLonergan in the critically acclaimed New York City Center‘s 2009 production of Finian’s Rainbow, and in October 2009 reprises the role in the Broadway revival at the St. James Theatre. His co-stars are Cheyenne Jackson (Woody) and Kate Baldwin (Sharon).
As well as Bishop Brennan in Father Ted, Norton also plays Albert Einstein in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (namely “The Nth Degree” and “Descent“); the librarian Lieutenant James Porteous in the highly acclaimed 1970s British television drama series Colditz; Phil Harrister, a criminal involved in an intricate bank robbery, in The Sweeney episode “Contact Breaker”; O’Brady in the Minder episode “National Pelmet“; and Rory, a roguish but genteel Irishman who is diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, in The Royal episode “Beggars and Choosers.”
Norton makee his film debut with a small role in the 1965 thriller The Face of Fu Manchu starring Christopher Lee, and later appears in the 1969 epic film Alfred the Great as Thanet. He plays the part of Pongo in the screen version of Spike Milligan‘s war-time memoir Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall. In 1971 he plays Chris Cawsey (aka “The Rat Man”), one of several villains in the controversial Sam Peckinpah film Straw Dogs starring Dustin Hoffman. His character has a deviously infectious, deliberately irritating laugh that helps build tension throughout the film.
In 2011 Norton appears as the character Old Mr. Black in the film Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close directed by Stephen Daldry. He appears in the 2011 film Water for Elephants, in which he portrays a circus worker called “Camel” who befriends a character played by Robert Pattinson. In 2012 he appears as the character Tommy in the short film Homemade written by Matthew Roche and directed by Luke McManus. He is in the Ken Loach film Jimmy’s Hall which is released in 2014. He plays the role of Mr. Heelshire in the 2016 film The Boy. In 2018 he plays the role of Mr. Binnacle in Mary Poppins Returns.
Norton has a longtime partnership with playwright Conor McPherson, having originated roles in six of his plays in Dublin, London and New York, and for which he has won both the Tony and Olivier Award. Norton plays Jack in The Weir (1997), Joe in Port Authority (2001), Matthew in Come On Over (2001), Richard in The Seafarer (2006–7), Reverend Berkeley in The Veil (2011), and Maurice in The Night Alive (2013).
seamus dubhghaill 