Max Miller (comedian) - Legacy

Legacy

Miller influenced many comedians during his lifetime and since. His jokes live on and are often told by other comedians. The late comedian Walter William Bygraves named himself "Max Bygraves" in honour of Miller.

The biography, Max Miller the Cheeky Chappie by John M. East was published in 1977. A paperback version was issued in 1993 with additional material. Two paperbacks containing Miller's jokes have been published: The Max Miller Blue Book compiled by Barry Took and illustrated by cartoonist Trog (1975) and The Max Miller Appreciation Society's Blue Book compiled by members with a foreword by Roy Hudd (2001).

Several radio and television documentaries have been produced including Gerald Scarfe’s The Girls Who Do (40 Minutes, BBC, 1989) and Heroes of Comedy: Max Miller (1994). Here's a Funny Thing a play featuring John Bardon by R.W. Shakespeare which had been staged at the Edinburgh Fringe and at the Fortune Theatre in London was broadcast on Channel Four in November 1982

In 1999 the Max Miller Appreciation Society was formed in Brighton. Its main purpose is to keep his memory alive. It has erected a bronze statue sculptured by Peter Webster in the Royal Pavilion Gardens, New Road, Brighton (unveiled 1 May 2005; re-sited August 2007) and mounted two blue plaques on his former homes on Ashcroft in Kingston Lane, Shoreham-by-Sea (2000) and at 160 Marine Parade, Brighton (2006). In 2009 the Society curated an exhibition devoted to Miller's life and career in Bardsley's Fish Restaurant, Baker Street, Brighton.