ROLF HARRIS died in Might 2023, virtually a decade after he was jailed for a a string of intercourse assaults on youngsters.
His spouse Alwen, who stood by her husband following his conviction, handed away on the age of 93 on September 12, 2024.
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Who was Rolf Harris?
Rolf Harris was born on March 30, 1930, in Perth, Australia.
His dad and mom, Agnes and Cromwell, had emigrated there from their earlier house in Cardiff, Wales.
Harris confirmed an curiosity in artwork from a younger age and was simply 16 when a self-portrait he painted was exhibited within the Artwork Gallery of New South Wales.
He was additionally a eager swimmer as a teen.
In 1953 Harris, then aged 22, left Australia to maneuver to England and a 12 months later he landed a task presenting a youngsters’s artwork present on the BBC.
Harris married Alwen Hughes, a Welsh sculptress and jeweller, whereas they have been each artwork college students in March 1958.
He then returned to Australia to tackle extra TV work and begin his music profession.
It was throughout this stint Down Below that he first started utilizing his well-known catchphrase — “Are you able to guess what it’s but?” — whereas on a promotional tour of Australia for Dulux.
Harris returned to the UK in 1962 and re-recorded his hit Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport.
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport was a Prime 10 hit in Australia, the UK and United States, with Harris even performing it with The Beatles.
He went on to land a UK No1 with Two Little Boys in 1969 and a No7 hit with Stairway to Heaven in 1993.
In addition to changing into well-known for his music, Harris turned a preferred tv character within the UK within the Sixties and Seventies due to his roles on The Rolf Harris Present, Rolf’s Cartoon Membership and Animal Hospital.
In 2005 Harris, who lived in Bray in Berkshire for greater than six a long time earlier than his loss of life, painted an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
Harris had one youngster, a daughter referred to as Bindi, together with his spouse.
In 2023, it was reported that she had modified her title to Ava Reeves in an try and distance herself from her lifeless father.
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Why did Rolf Harris go to jail?
Rolf Harris was convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault in June 2014 and was subsequently jailed for 5 years and 9 months.
Throughout sentencing the choose stated: “Your status now lies in ruins, however you haven’t any one accountable however your self.”
The disgraced star was launched from jail in Might 2017 part-way by a retrial on 4 accusations of indecent assault, however was not often seen in public within the interval between then and his loss of life.
The final picture of the previous presenter earlier than his loss of life aged 93 confirmed him in a wheelchair after neck most cancers left him needing 24-hour care.
Harris appeared on the Courtroom of Attraction in London to attempt to overturn his 2014 convictions in November 2017, claiming jurors within the case have been “poisoned” towards him.
One conviction was overturned following his attraction, however the different 11 remained.
Harris stood trial for a second time in 2017, accused of 4 counts of indecent assault towards three teenage ladies, the youngest of whom was 13, at public occasions between 1971 and 1983.
The retrial heard from the three girls who claimed Harris molested them after they have been younger.
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They included a lady who alleged he groped her at a music occasion in London when she was 14 in 1971 and a 16-year-old who instructed jurors he touched her inappropriately throughout filming of ITV present Star Video games in 1978.
The 13-year-old alleged he molested her after an episode of BBC youngsters’s programme Saturday Superstore in 1983.
Harris didn’t give proof, together with his legal professionals saying he didn’t keep in mind any of the occasions.
His legal professionals claimed that the ladies have been motivated by greed, coming ahead after he was convicted in June 2014 of 12 counts of indecent assault.
After deliberating for slightly below 5 hours at Southwark Crown Courtroom in London, the jury was unable to achieve a verdict on any of the 4 costs and have been discharged by Decide Deborah Taylor.
Harris had denied all 4 counts towards him.
What crimes did Rolf Harris commit?
Harris was discovered responsible of finishing up a number of indecent assaults towards youngsters on the top of his fame.
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He dedicated 12 indecent acts towards youngsters in a interval between the 70s and 80s, on the pinnacle of his tv profession.
The crimes have been dedicated towards 4 ladies — one aged simply seven or eight.
His trial heard that one of many victims was a childhood good friend of his daughter and one other a younger autograph hunter.
One rely of indecent assault was overturned because of an unsafe conviction in 2017.
Was Rolf Harris knighted?
Harris was awarded an array of various honours earlier than his crimes got here to mild, however was by no means knighted.
In 1968, he was awarded an MBE, an OBE then adopted in 1977 and a CBE was handed to him in 2006.
Harris was stripped of those honours in March 2015 when the prison costs towards him turned identified.
He was additionally stripped of being a Member of the Order of Australia, an honour he was awarded in 1989, and which had been upgraded to Officer within the Queen’s New Years Honour’s in 2012.
