- In June 2014, he was found guilty of (and in July 2014 he was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months) 12 historic indecent assaults against four girls aged between 8 and 19 at the time of the assaults. The sentence was referred to the Attorney General Dominic Grieve after complaints that it was too lenient. On 30 July 2014, the new Attorney General, Jeremy Wright, announced that he would not be referring the sentence to the court of appeal for review "as he did not think they would find it to be unduly lenient and increase it. The sentencing judge was bound by the maximum sentence in force at the time of the offending." On 1 August 2014, the Judicial Office said that Harris had applied to appeal against his conviction and that his lawyers had lodged papers at the Court of Appeal. In October 2014, Harris was refused permission to appeal. Since his conviction there have been further reports to police regarding alleged sexual offenses on young girls and women by him.
- Harris' BAFTA Fellowship Award was annulled on 30 June 2014 following his criminal conviction.
- His honours of MBE (awarded 1968), OBE (awarded 1977) and CBE (awarded 2006) were all revoked in March 2015 following his conviction for historic sexual assault against young women and girls.
- He painted a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as part of her 80th birthday celebrations. It was documented on BBC 1's The Queen by Rolf (2006).
- Studied at the University of Western Australia.
- He and Alwen have a daughter, Bindi Harris (born 10 March 1964). She is named after the town of Bindi Bindi in Western Australia where the Harrises found Bindi stone, a type of fossilised asbestos.
- Invented the 'wobble-board' - a musical instrument basically consisting of a large, flexible piece of wood which makes a characteristic oscillating sound when 'wobbled'. This was parodied by The Kinks on their 1969 song 'Australia', which features a wobble-board solo.
- He was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to entertainment, to charity, and to community.
- Rolf Harris was a star performer at the Opening Ceremony of the XIIth British Commonwealth Games, which were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, in 1982 - where Rolf Harris sang 'Waltzing Matilda' and also a restructured form of his best-selling hit: 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport'.
- Resided in Britain since 1952 until his death: he had numerous television shows since 1953 when he got an audition drawing cartoons on the show "Jigsaw", based on his expertise as both a popular singer and a cartoonist. Queensland, Australia, in 1982 - where he sang "Australia".
- Harris was one of the guests who performed a cover of "Stairway to Heaven", the Led Zeppelin rock song, on the Australian TV series The Money or the Gun: Stairways to Heaven (1992). Performed to the tune of "Tie Me Kangaroo Down," Harris' version became a surprise hit, going to #7 on the charts. Harris' version appears on a compilation DVD of 25 versions of the song performed on the show.
- Inducted into the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Hall of fame. in 2008. He was removed from the hall following his 2014 conviction of sex offenses with underage girls.
- Was for many years the face of British Paints, appearing in television and radio commercials that ended with a drum roll on a can of paint and the catchphrase: "Trust British Paints? Sure can!".
- He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to entertainment.
- Named after writer Rolf Boldrewood.
- As a child he owned a dog called Buster Fleabags, about whom he later wrote a book (for the UK Quick Reads Initiative).
- After his later fame, Harris was often referred to within Australia as "the boy from Bassendean".
- As an adolescent and young adult Harris was a champion swimmer.[22] In 1946, he was the Australian Junior 110 yards (100 meters) Backstroke Champion. He was also the Western Australian state champion over a variety of distances and strokes during the period from 1948 to 1952.
- While he was just 16, and still a student at Perth Modern School, his self-portrait in oils was one of the 80 works (out of 200 submitted) accepted to be hung in the Art Gallery of New South Wales as an entry in the 1947 Archibald Prize. He painted a portrait of the then Lieutenant Governor of Western Australia, Sir James Mitchell, for the 1948 Archibald Prize.
- Harris attended Bassendean State School and Perth Modern School in Subiaco, later gaining a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia and a Diploma of Education from Claremont Teachers' College (renamed Edith Cowan University in 1990).
- He won the 1949 Claude Hotchin prize for oil colours with his landscape "On a May Morning, Guildford".
- He was named after Rolf Boldrewood, the pseudonym of an Australian writer whom his mother admired.
- It was in his capacity as singer/artist, that he was 'targeted' in The Goodies (1970) episode: Scatty Safari (1975) where there was a 'plague of Rolf Harrises' - all of them singing and painting.
- He was awarded the AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in the 1989 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to the community as an entertainer.
- He was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1968 Queen's Birthday Honours List and the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1977 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to the performing arts.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content