Episode 2212
Rolf Harris
Wed, 2023-May-24 02:40 UTC
Length - 3:52
Direct Link
Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.
With 370,228 views on Tuesday, 23 May 2023 our article of the day is Rolf Harris.
Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian entertainer, musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality and a convicted sex offender. He often used unusual instruments in his performances: he played the didgeridoo and the stylophone and is credited with the invention of the wobble board. Harris was convicted in England in 2014 of the sexual assault of four underage girls, which effectively ended his career. Harris began his career in television, music, and art in the 1950s, releasing several songs including "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" (a Top 10 hit in Australia, the UK, and the US), "Sun Arise", "Jake the Peg", and his recording of "Two Little Boys" (which reached number 1 in the UK). During the 1960s and 1970s, Harris became a successful television personality in the UK, later presenting shows such as Rolf's Cartoon Club and Animal Hospital. In 1985, he hosted the short educational film Kids Can Say No!, which warned children between ages five and eight how to avoid situations where they might be sexually abused, how to escape such situations, and how to get help if they are abused. In 2005, Harris painted an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. He lived in Bray, Berkshire, England, for more than six decades. After the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal broke in late 2012, Harris was arrested as part of the Operation Yewtree police investigation. He was questioned in May 2013 regarding historical allegations of sexual offences. Harris denied any wrongdoing, and was bailed without charge. In August 2013, Harris was again arrested by Operation Yewtree officers and charged with nine counts of indecent assault dating to the 1980s, involving two girls between 14 and 16 years old, and four counts alleging production of indecent child images in 2012. In July 2014, at the age of 84, Harris was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison on twelve counts of indecent assault on four female victims during the 1970s and 1980s. He was released on licence in 2017 after serving nearly three years at HM Prison Stafford. Following his conviction, Harris was stripped of many of the honours that he had been awarded during his career, and reruns of television programmes featuring Harris were pulled from syndication. One count, that Harris indecently assaulted an eight-year-old girl in Portsmouth, was overturned as unsafe in 2017. Harris applied for permission to appeal against his convictions concerning the three remaining girls, but permission was refused.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 02:40 UTC on Wednesday, 24 May 2023.
For the full current version of the article, see Rolf Harris on Wikipedia.
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