A happy birthday to the late Norma Farnes, born on this day in 1934.
Norma played a crucial role for decades in preserving the work of Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes, as she was their agent from 1966 onwards. Norma Farnes Management - formed two years later, took over the running of Sykes' and Milligan's professional lives.
Describing Farnes as an agent does her a huge disservice, as she really did look after both men for decades. She saw Spike at his most vulnerable, recounting in one interview how she intervened to stop him killing himself on one occasion.
You can see an interview with her from 2011 on the BBC website.
Farnes died in 2019. Goon fans everywhere should be forever grateful for her hard work in helping preserve Milligan's and Sykes' comic legacies. Her book about working with Spike, Spike: An Intimate Memoir, was published in 2003 and is available to buy in many places, including here.