UK Kiddie Show Star Convicted of Assaulting Girls Dies at 93

[Mark Jeffries]

To Americans, Australian Rolf Harris is known--if he is known at all--for his international novelty hit of 1964 "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport."  But people in his native Australia and later in the UK knew him as the host of a series of children's shows and nature and art programs.  And then it came out that he had made a series of indecent assaults on girls between 1968 and 1986, the discovery coming at the same time fellow broadcaster and children's show host Jimmy Savile was accused of being a pedophile, with a longer string of crimes than Harris.  But while Savile died in 2009 before being accused (although some of his bosses at the BBC had known but kept quiet), Harris was taken to court, where he was found guilty and served for three years in prison.  He never made a public apology and lived the rest of his life uneventfully, with the honors of the Queen and BAFTA taken away from him, and died on May 10 in his Berkshire home of neck cancer:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60393842

A few years ago, the game show digital subchannel BUZZR unwittingly posted on Facebook an episode of "To Tell the Truth" featuring Harris as a central character around the time "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" was a hit.  They did receive comments critical of presenting Harris in a favorable light, especially since FB lists the account as based in the UK because BUZZR is run by the UK-based Fremantle Media (who owns the rights to "To Tell the Truth" along with many other game show formats).

[Kevin M.]

Did they tan his hide when he died, Clyde?

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Kevin M. (RPCV)