- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRolf Victor Harris
- Nicknames
- "Ris" at school
- The Octopus
- Boy from Bassendean
- Handy Harris
- Height5′ 10½″ (1.79 m)
- Rolf Harris came to London in 1952 to study Art. A year later he was appearing on TV as an artist and storyteller and had his first hit as a singer in the early sixties with Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport. After a relatively quiet period in his life in the late seventies, his brother Bruce Harris became his manager and reinvented him. Harris is perhaps best known for his 1969 hit song Two Little Boys. His hero is Val Doonican. Harris enjoys taking photos, and dislikes unnecessary bad manners and inconsiderate behaviour.
In 2014, Harris was jailed for five years and nine months following his conviction for historic sexual abuse against four girls dating back to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. His crimes came to light following the death and subsequent sordid revelations of prolific sexual abuse by broadcaster, DJ and charity fundraiser Sir Jimmy Savile, which in turn led to the establishment of Operation Yewtree, a police investigation into historic sexual abuse by celebrities. Harris was arrested and charged by Operation Yewtree officers, although his crimes were not directly connected to Savile, and convicted by a unanimous verdict of the jury.- IMDb Mini Biography By: A. Broderick <[email protected]>
- SpouseAlwen Hughes(March 1, 1958 - May 10, 2023) (his death, 1 child)
- Children
- RelativesJenny Harris(Niece or Nephew)Bruce Harris(Sibling)
- Goatee beard and glasses
- In June 2014, he was found guilty of (and in July 2014 he was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months) 12 historic indecent assaults against four girls aged between 8 and 19 at the time of the assaults. The sentence was referred to the Attorney General Dominic Grieve after complaints that it was too lenient. On 30 July 2014, the new Attorney General, Jeremy Wright, announced that he would not be referring the sentence to the court of appeal for review "as he did not think they would find it to be unduly lenient and increase it. The sentencing judge was bound by the maximum sentence in force at the time of the offending." On 1 August 2014, the Judicial Office said that Harris had applied to appeal against his conviction and that his lawyers had lodged papers at the Court of Appeal. In October 2014, Harris was refused permission to appeal. Since his conviction there have been further reports to police regarding alleged sexual offenses on young girls and women by him.
- Harris' BAFTA Fellowship Award was annulled on 30 June 2014 following his criminal conviction.
- He painted a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as part of her 80th birthday celebrations. It was documented on BBC 1's The Queen by Rolf (2006).
- Studied at the University of Western Australia.
- He and Alwen have a daughter, Bindi Harris (born 10 March 1964). She is named after the town of Bindi Bindi in Western Australia where the Harrises found Bindi stone, a type of fossilised asbestos.
- Can you tell what it is yet?
- The most wonderful magic is watching someone doing a drawing in front of your eyes and that's why drawing and painting on TV is wonderful - it's always a total mystery, and the training I have had in fine art, I have been able to use that.
- I hope that maybe I am on this planet to try and spread a bit of love and affection and to try and help people to warm toward their fellow man instead of all this destruction and misery
- I draw the line at filth and crude language. It seems to be an excuse for not being funny.
- I like to slosh on paint to kill the white of the canvas with a bit of turpentine. Then I start with a blur which looks something like the subject and I gradually refine it.
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