Disgraced TV Star Rolf Harris Dead at 93

Rolf Harris, the once-beloved BBC presenter who was convicted of child sex offenses, has died. He was 93. The Australian-born TV died on Wednesday, May 10 of neck cancer and “frailty of old age,” a registrar at Maidenhead town hall, close to Harris’s family home in the Berkshire village of Bray in the UK, confirmed, per The Guardian. Harris’ family also confirmed his passing, stating, per the BBC, “This is to confirm that Rolf Harris recently died peacefully surrounded by family and friends and has now been laid to rest. They ask that you respect their privacy. No further comment will be made.”
 
Born in Perth in 1930, Harris won over the hearts of British viewers after he moved to London in the early 1950s and found a job in television, showing children how to draw cartoons, according to Variety. He went on to present other children’s shows, including Jigsaw and Whirligig. As his profile grew, Harris went on to commentate the Eurovision Song Contest for the BBC. He was also well-known for BBC shows including Animal Hospital and The Rolf Harris Show, which broadcast on Saturday nights on the BBC, and later Rolf on Art. Harris also launched a musical career and was well-known for hit songs like “Jake the Peg,” “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport,” and “Two Little Boys.”

Harris’s work in the public spotlight ranted him access to Queen Elizabeth II, who in 2006, per Deadline, marked her 80th birthday by posing for an official portrait with Harris. Harris was also awarded an OBE, MBE, and CBE by the Queen, and won a BAFTA Fellowship in 2012.
 
However, Harris’ legacy was overshadowed when he was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree. At the age of 84 in 2014, he was convicted of 12 indecent assaults against four girls between 1968 and 1986. One of his victims was a childhood friend of his daughter Bindi. Harris was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison for his crimes, but was ultimately released in 2017 after serving just three years. He never apologized to his victims. Amid his conviction, Harris was stripped of the many honors he received over the course of his career, including an OBE and a BAFTA Fellowship. His crimes are the subject of the two-part series Rolf Harris: Hiding in Plain Sight, which premiered on streaming service ITVX last week.