Rolf Harris: Convicted paedophile who used his fame to groom young girls dies aged 93
Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris, who became one of the UK’s biggest TV stars but was later jailed for using his fame to groom and assault young women, has died after a long illness, aged 93.
Harris was jailed for sexual assaults on young girls, one a childhood friend of his daughter, another an autograph hunter.
He denied all the accusations but was convicted after a high-profile trial of a dozen historical indecent assaults against four girls and four charges of producing indecent child images. It wrecked his career and ruined his reputation.
Sentencing him in 2014 to five years and nine months in prison, the judge said Harris had taken advantage of his celebrity status and shown no remorse.
Harris arrived in Britain aged 22 from his native Australia in 1953 and became a national treasure who had several of his own TV series, and appeared as a guest on many others from the 1960s onwards.
He had a string of hits with songs such as Jake the Peg, Two Little Boys, and Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport. He also appeared several times at Glastonbury Festival.
He was awarded many honours, including an MBE, OBE and CBE, a BAFTA fellowship and honorary university doctorates, all of which were revoked after his conviction.
Queen Elizabeth II sat for him for an 80th birthday portrait which was hung in Buckingham Palace.
Harris performs with his wobbleboard at Glastonbury Festival in 2010
‘He had a darker side to him’
Leading publicist Mark Borkowski said: “When the accusations sank in you began to feel cheated, that all those emotions you’ve had for an icon were false.
“He had a darker side to him that overshadowed all the fun and games he had broadcast for decades.
“People will remember him as an entertainer, unique, [who] lived in the heart of the nation and was good at reinventing himself – but he will be remembered for his crimes.”
Harris, married with a daughter, was among a dozen celebrities arrested during Operation Yewtree, one of a series of police investigations into historical sex abuse allegations against high-profile figures – including BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, a prolific sex offender exposed only after his death.
At the start of his trial, the prosecutor described Harris as “a Jekyll and Hyde” character with a hidden dark side to his personality.
Harris pictured in custody. Pic: Met Police
A childhood friend of his daughter Bindi was his main victim, telling the jury he had groomed and indecently assaulted her repeatedly between the ages of 13 and 19, once when his daughter was asleep in the same room.
She called the police about Harris after the wide publicity surrounding Savile’s exposure, though there was no connection between the two men’s crimes.
Harris said he’d had a relationship with the woman but claimed it began after she turned 18. He later wrote to her father insisting nothing illegal had happened.
‘Parents believed their children were safe’
Mike Hames, former head of the Metropolitan Police’s paedophile squad, said: “Children loved him and parents were willing to leave their children with him because they believed they were safe.
“That’s the perfect way to operate from the point of view of a child abuser because they are able to get the child by themselves and because the child is in awe and most unlikely to say anything.”
Rolf Harris recording an album in 1997
Australian Tonya Lee, who waived her right to anonymity, said Harris abused her three times on one day when she was 15 and on a theatre group trip to the UK.
She later said she contemplated taking her own life because of the abuse.
Other victims told the court that he touched or groped them, sometimes at public events or charity performances.
Jurors were also told of indecent assaults on women in Australia, New Zealand, and Malta – although Harris wasn’t charged with overseas crimes.
Peter Watt, of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), said the charity had helped police build the case against Harris after 28 calls to its helpline, including 13 women who said he had abused them.
Mr Watt said after Harris’s conviction: “His reckless and brazen sexual offending, sometimes in public places, bizarrely within sight of people he knew, speaks volumes about just how untouchable he thought he was.”
Wife stood by him in final years
In 2015, Harris was stripped of his CBE and of honours in his native Australia.
In 2017, while he was still in jail, he was put on trial a second time, over four allegations of indecent assault on three teenage girls. He denied the charges and was found not guilty after the jury failed to agree verdicts.
The Queen meets Harris and Kylie Minogue backstage at the Diamond Jubilee Concert in 2012
In a statement read out by his lawyer, Harris said: “I feel no sense of victory, only relief. I’m 87 years old, my wife is in ill health and we simply want to spend our remaining time together in peace.”
Harris was freed from jail halfway through his second trial after serving three years. One of his convictions was overturned on appeal.
He spent the rest of his days living reclusively with his sculptor wife Alwen, who had stood by him, at the couple’s Thames riverside home in Berkshire.
Hollywood actor and Oscar-winning director Robert Redford, known for films including Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, All The President’s Men and The Sting, has died at the age of 89.
Redford, who was also the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the US, died on Tuesday morning.
In a statement, his representative said he was “surrounded by those he loved”, at home in “the place he loved” in the mountains of Utah. “He will be missed greatly,” she added.
The actor and filmmaker won the Oscar for best director for Ordinary People in 1981. Pic: AP
Born Charles Robert Redford Jr in Santa Monica, California, in 1936, he attended college on a baseball scholarship but later went on to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
He debuted on Broadway in the late 1950s before moving into television, in shows such as The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Untouchables.
Rising to stardom in the 1960s, Redford became a go-to leading man in Hollywood and a huge star of the following decade, leading films including The Candidate, All the President’s Men and The Way We Were.
He worked hard to transcend being typecast for his good looks, through his political advocacy and a willingness to take on unglamorous roles.
Starring alongside Charles Dierkop and Robert Shaw in The Sting. Pic: Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
On set behind the camera during the filming of A River Runs Through It. Pic: AP
In the 1990s and 2000s, his film credits included Indecent Proposal, The Last Castle and Spy Game, and he also worked actively as a filmmaker – helming movies including A River Runs Through It and The Legend Of Bagger Vance. In 1998, he both starred in and directed The Horse Whisperer.
But he was best known for his role as wily outlaw the Sundance Kid, opposite Paul Newman’s Butch Cassidy in the 1969 film. The pair became a famous screen partnership, starring opposite each other again in The Sting a few years later, and good friends.
As well as his starring roles, Redford was also an activist and an accomplished filmmaker – winning the Oscar for best director for Ordinary People in 1981. It was the second of his two Academy Awards – the first won for his acting performance in The Sting – as well as an honorary prize in 2002.
Redford and Dustin Hoffman in All The President’s Men, released in 1976. Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
In a career spanning seven decades, he also received three Golden Globe Awards, including the Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement honor in 1994.
In his later years, Redford took on a challenging role in All Is Lost, a 2013 survival story that featured virtually no other characters and barely any dialogue. His performance earned a standing ovation after the film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2018, he received critical acclaim again in what he called his farewell movie, The Old Man And The Gun.
His legacy lives on in the Sundance Film Festival, which grew into a cornerstone of the film industry and provided a launching pad for filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Darren Aronofsky.
And in 2016, former President Barack Obama awarded him the presidential medal of freedom – considered the US government’s highest civilian honour – saying at the time that Americans “admire Bob not just for his remarkable acting, but for having figured out what to do next”.
Pic: Reuters
Robert Redford leaves behind his wife Sibylle Szaggars and two daughters – Shauna, a painter, and Amy, an actress and director.
He was previously married to Lola Van Wagenen. One of their children, Scott, died at the age of two months from sudden infant death syndrome. Another, James, died of cancer in 2020.
‘One of the lions has passed’
Meryl Streep starred alongside Redford in Out Of Africa in 1985. Pic: Cover Images via AP
Tributes have been shared across social media following the announcement of Redford’s death.
Meryl Streep, who starred in Out Of Africa and Lions For Lambs opposite Redford, said: “One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend.”
Filmmaker Ron Howard, known for Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind, described Redford as “a tremendously influential cultural figure for the creative choices” he made as an actor, producer and director, and said Sundance had been a “gamechanger”.
Pictured with his wife Sibylle Szaggars in 2012. Pic: Reuters
Marlee Matlin, star of the Oscar-winning CODA, said the film “came to the attention of everyone” because of the Sundance Festival.
“Sundance happened because of Robert Redford. A genius has passed,” she said.
“He was part of a new and exciting Hollywood in the 70s and 80s,” wrote author Stephen King. “Hard to believe he was 89.”
Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, wrote: “Decades ago, Robert Redford came to Utah and fell in love with this place.
“He cherished our landscapes and built a legacy that made Utah a home for storytelling and creativity.
“Through Sundance and his devotion to conservation, he shared Utah with the world. Today we honor his life, his vision, and his lasting contribution to our state.”
Spain has become the latest country to threaten a boycott of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel competes.
It is now the fifth broadcaster to say it will pull out over Israel’s participation, following recent announcements by the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland – but the first of the competition’s so-called “Big Five”, a group which also includes Britain, Germany, Italy and France.
These countries provide the biggest financial contributions to Eurovision, with participants automatically qualifying for the final round, and their withdrawal would increase the pressure on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the event.
Ireland, represented by EMMY at Eurovision 2025, have also said they will not take part if Israel does. Pic: Reuters
The Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group, the competition’s governing body, said a decision on Israel’s participation is pending and that it has “taken note of the concerns expressed by several broadcasters”.
RTVE, the Spanish state broadcaster, announced the decision following a board vote on Tuesday.
The measure, proposed by president Jose Pablo Lopez, garnered 10 votes in favour, four against, and one abstention in the 15-member board, the broadcaster said in a statement.
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez has previously called for Israel to be banned from the competition, highlighting how Russia was expelled following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
At the time, the EBU said the decision reflected “concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s contest would bring the competition into disrepute”.
Yuval Raphael represented Israel at this year’s event. Pic: Reuters
Recent editions of the contest, which has always expressed political neutrality, have involved demonstrations against Israel’s continued military action in Gaza – launched in response to the attack by Hamas militants on 7 October 2023, which left some 1,200 people dead.
Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Hamas attack, finished second in this year’s competition, held in Basel, Switzerland, in May – but there were protests before and during her performance. Austrian singer JJ, who won, has also called for Israel’s exclusion in 2026.
Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest JJ from Austria. Pic: AP
Israel has denied accusations it is committing genocide and claimed its actions have been in self-defence against Hamas. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its military action.
In a statement following the vote in Spain, contest director Martin Green said he understood the “concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East”, and that consultation with members is ongoing “to gather views on how we manage participation and geopolitical tensions”.
Broadcasters have until mid-December to conform if they want to take part.
What have others said?
The Netherlands was represented by Claude in Switzerland. Pic: Reuters
Dutch broadcaster AvroTros said last week that it was taking a stance in response to the loss of life in Gaza, with the deaths of journalists there a factor in the decision.
Irish broadcaster RTE said the country was taking the same stance, saying it was “unconscionable” to take part given the “ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza”.
Following his win in May, singer JJ said it was “disappointing to see Israel still participating”, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. “I would like the next Eurovision to be held in Vienna and without Israel,” he added.
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The “potential impacts and consequences of either decision” are being assessed, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group said in a statament.
Next year’s Eurovision will be the 70th anniversary of the event, and will take place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna on 16 May.
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