Rolf Harris biography

 

A popular question among pub quizzmasters is: "Who wrote lyrics to Led Zeppelin's legendary anthem, 'Stairway To Heaven' and turned it into a chart hit?". It's popular because the answer still manages to surprise the followers of heavy metal bands, and always proves interesting to everybody else. The answer, "Rolf Harris" shouldn't really surprise anyone because it is only one tiny item in a huge list of achievements by this much loved Antipodean. Rolf astonished Led Zeppelin fans when he turned the well known Robert Plant/ Jimmy Page masterpiece into a UK #7 hit for himself during 1993. His other achievements even include becoming Australian national junior backstroke champion!

Born in Bassendean, Perth, Western Australia, in 1930. He won a radio ‘Amateur Hour’ competition at the age of 18, and after graduating from the University of Western Australia, went to London in 1952 and soon began training at a London art school. It was there that he met his future wife, Alwen- a fellow artist- which doubtless gave him an additional reason to settle in the UK. He had already developed most of his entertainment abilities while still in his hometown, Perth, though his efforts there were mostly on an amateur or semi-professional basis.

Although his early ambitions were in painting, the draw of the entertainment world was too strong for Rolf and he found himself hosting a show on children's TV, from which he soon widened his audience. He was such a good all round entertainer that he might not have been noticed for anything in particular. He was a skilled comedian, musician and cartoonist. He managed to combine the comedy with music on his records and added these to his artistic abilities in his TV shows to become one of Britain's most revered broadcasters. Despite the fact that Rolf has been resident in the UK for almost 50 years, he has always kept strong links with his first home, Australia. He was one of the first performers at the new Sydney Opera House in 1973 and Rolf is just about as well known 'down under' as he is in Britain- and that is fame, indeed.

Rolf exploited his Australian background to good effect and his early 1960s singles all had an exaggeratedly strong Australian flavour. Most of his material he wrote himself including his hit with the novelty; 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down'. He has also exploited unusual musical instruments to make all his work very distinctive. These included the 'wobble board', which he invented himself, and the digeridoo.

By the late 1960s it looked as though Rolf's hit making days were probably behind him. However he managed to produce the last UK #1 of the decade with the sentimental 'Two Little Boys' which marked a considerable deviation from his previous Australian oriented output Although he is no longer regularly producing singles, he is still a familiar and popular figure on UK television, and his regular appearances at Glastonbury demonstrate that he has lost none of his musical abilities.

In 2003 he celebrated 50 years in television with a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Harris is also a highly successful painter and was commissioned to paint a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II to mark her 80th birthday in 2006