Rolf Harris

Passions

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Family

Australian entertainer, author, artist and musician. In 1959 his hit song "Tie Me Kangeroo Down, Sport" hit the charts. The son of Welsh immigrants, Harris was a champion swimmer in his youth, capturing many titles between 1948-1952. He moved to England as a young adult to study art and landed a few acting roles. While working at a radio station, he wote and recorded his hit song. He continued to pursue his art and his acting careers. His long association with the BBC was cemented in 1967 with the first broadcast of The Rolf Harris Show. On December 19, 2005 he unveiled his portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that he had been commissioned to paint for her 80th birthday. On March 1, 1958, Harris married Alwen Hughes, a Welsh sculptor whom he met while they were students. Their only child, a daughter named Bindi was born on March 10, 1964. In 2013, Harris was arrested and charged with twelve counts of indecent assault, and four of making indecent images of a child. He was one of 12 people arrested as part of Operation Yewtree. He denied any wrongdoing and his trial began on 6 May 2014. On 30 June 2014, Harris was found guilty of all twelve charges of indecent assault. He was sentenced to a total of five years and nine months in prison. Harris served his sentence at HM Prison Stafford. He was released 19 May 2017. Harris faced seven further indecent assault charges. The offences allegedly occurred between 1971 and 2004 and involve seven complainants who were aged between 12 and 27 at the time. Harris pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. His trial began on 9 January 2017, with him appearing and watching by videolink from Stafford Prison. On 8 February, Harris was cleared of three charges. On 15 February it was announced he would face a retrial for three offences, and one new charge (to which he pleaded not guilty). His retrial began on 15 May. On 30 May, the jury were unable to reach verdicts and prosecutors announced that they would not pursue another retrial. Link to Wikipedia biography