Descended from a prominent Peruvian family and Eton-educated, Michael had originally intended to become an engineer and scientist. Then World War II intervened, and Bentine spent it serving as an officer in the RAF operations section of British Intelligence. After the war, he abandoned science and engineering in favour of comedy and script-writing, forming the madcap comedy duo ‘Sherwood and Forest’ with his friend Tony Sherwood.
He first met Harry Secombe while both were playing at the Windmill Theatre, after which he was introduced to Spike Milligan and became one of the foursome which formed the early Goons. Bentine wrote many of the sketches for the early shows and played a plethora of parts. His main character was a mad scientist called Osric Pureheart. He left the Goons after the second series, partly due to friction with Spike over the scripts, but also ‘so that he could spend Sundays with his family’. He came back for one final appearance in “The Giant Bombardon” (show 4/13), in which Captain Pureheart made his return.
After leaving The Goon Show, Bentine performed in and wrote over 1500 television and radio shows. His own TV show, It’s a Square World, won the Montreaux International Television Prize in 1963, and he’s perhaps best known for children’s programmes such as The Bumblies and Potty Time.
The Goon Show Preservation Society 