Michael Bentine - Life and work, Programmes, Books

Comedy performer, born in Watford, Hertfordshire, SE England, UK. He made his stage debut in 1941 and, after wartime service in the RAF, worked at the Windmill Theatre (1946) and in the show Starlight Roof (1947). One of the early members of The Goons (1950–2), he left the popular radio series to pursue a solo career, and appeared on television in After Hours (1959–60) and It's a Square World (1960–4), which allowed him to indulge his eccentric penchant for zany, surreal humour. Later television series, often for children, included The Golden Silents (1965), Potty Time (1973–80), and Mad About It (1981). He wrote novels and autobiographies, including The Long Banana Skin (1975) and A Shy Person's Guide to Life (1984).

Michael Bentine (26 January 1922 - 26 November 1996) was a comedian, comic actor, and member of the Goons.

Life and work

Bentine was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, of Anglo-Peruvian parentage and grew up in Folkestone, Kent, one of his friends being the young David Tomlinson.

In World War II he served as an RAF Intelligence officer, and took part in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Having appeared in the Goon Show on radio from 1951-3, he also appeared in the Goon Show film Down Among the Z Men, and at the time seemed perhaps the most comfortable of the cast in working in a visual medium.

In 1995, Michael Bentine received a CBE from Queen Elizabeth II "for services to entertainment".

He was a holder of the Peruvian Order of Merit, as was his grandfather Don Antonio Bentin Palamero.

Bentine was a crack pistol shot, and helped to start the idea of a counter-terrorist wing within 22 SAS Regiment.

Shortly before his death from prostate cancer at the age of 74, he was visited at his home in England by the heir to the British throne Charles, Prince of Wales, who was a close personal friend.

Programmes

Some of the programmes Bentine appeared in were:

The Goon Show (1950-52) Round the Bend in Thirty Minutes (1959) It's a Square World (1960-64) The Golden Silents (1965) Michael Bentine's Potty Time (1973-80)

Books

The Reluctant Jester sub-title My Head-on Collision with the 20th Century - Bantam Press - 1992 - ISBN 0-593-02042-1 Open Your Mind sub-title The quest for creative thinking - Bantam Press - 1990 - ISBN 0-593-01538-X Templar - Bantam Press - 1988 - ISBN 0-593-01339-5 The Condor and The Cross sub-title An Adventure Novel of the Conquistadors - Bantam Press - 1987 - ISBN 0-593-01265-8 Lords of The Levels - Grafton - 1986 - ISBN 0-586-06643-8 The Shy Person's Guide To Life - Grafton - 1984 - ISBN 0-586-06167-3 Doors of The Mind - Granada - 1984 - ISBN 0-246-11845-8 The Door Marked Summer - Granada - 1981 - ISBN 0-246-11405-3 Smith & Son Removers - Corgi - 1981 - ISBN 0-552-12074-X The Long Banana Skin - New English Library - 1976 - ISBN 0-450-02882-8 Madame's Girls The Best of Bentine The Potty Encyclopedia The Potty Khyber Pass