WHEN news of Rolf Harris's arrest broke, a collective gasp swept across the nation.
This was not just a famous face, this was one of the best-loved celebrities of past and present - a true family favourite.
Born in Australia in 1930, Harris grew up in the Perth suburb of Bassendean and went on to carve himself a 60-year career that saw him achieve success as an artist, musician and TV personality.
A champion swimmer, he was the Australian junior 110 yards backstroke champion in 1946. However a mysterious illness struck leaving him paralysed for several weeks and it was this that prompted him to take the leap and travel to England to pursue a career in art. "I thought if I were to continue teaching I would be a weekend painter, which is like a weekend driver, you never get any better than you were the previous weekend," he told jurors at his trial.
That was in 1952, and after a few failed attempts at art school, Harris managed to get himself a slot on a BBC show, despite his first audition being a self-confessed "disaster". Also a keen musician, he started by entertaining at the Down Under club, a haven for ex-pat Australians and New Zealanders, playing his piano accordion.
His song Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, became a hit in Australia, the UK and the United States in the 1960s.
Harris's musical career was to grow and grow, and he became well-known for his use of instruments, from the didgeridoo to his famous "wobble board".
He released comedic song Jake the Peg in the 1960s, but his biggest hit was in 1969 with Two Little Boys, originally written in 1902, which became the Christmas No 1. He performed at Glastonbury for the first time in 1993. In 2005 he had the rare privilege of painting a portrait of the Queen to mark her 80th birthday. He latterly hosted TV programme Animal Hospital, but said in a 2011 TV interview he had suffered from depression.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article