Rolf Harris, the former entertainer who was convicted and jailed as a paedophile, has been confirmed dead at the age of 93.
His death certificate states Harris died two weeks ago, on May 10, from neck cancer and “frailty from old age” at his home in Berkshire, west of London.
That was the same day a private ambulance was seen outside the $9 million riverside home in Bray that the disgraced entertainer shared with his wife, amid reports he was “very sick and unwell”.
Harris’s death was confirmed on Tuesday (local time) by a registrar at Maidenhead Town Hall, west of London. It was formally registered on May 23.
Harris’s family issued a statement on Tuesday revealing the Australian-born former comic had already been laid to rest.
“This is to confirm that Rolf Harris recently died peacefully surrounded by family and friends and has now been laid to rest,” the statement read.
“They ask that you respect their privacy. No further comment will be made.”
Late last year there were reports Harris was no longer able to eat because of his neck cancer.
“Only carers and nurses, who care for him 24 hours, come and go. I’m told he can’t eat anymore,” neighbour Portia Wooderson told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
A decade ago, Harris was convicted for indecently assaulting four girls, some as young as seven or eight. He never apologised.
Before his downfall, Perth-born Harris enjoyed a career spanning more than 50 years across Australia and Britain.
With a hit record Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, he was adored by generations of children for his jovial on-screen persona.
He was so respected in Britain that he was once granted the rare privilege of painting a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
He performed with the Beatles and presented himself as the affable inventor of the novelty musical instrument, the wobble board.
But as his star faded, the veteran entertainer became one of the highest-profile celebrities to be embroiled in a massive British police investigation that followed revelations that the late BBC TV host Jimmy Savile had been a prolific child abuser.
In 2014, Harris was found guilty of 12 counts of assaulting four girls between 1968-1986 and jailed for nearly six years. One conviction was later overturned on appeal.
He faced further charges in 2017 but the jury was unable to reach verdicts and he was released from jail that year.
During the 2014 trial, the prosecution portrayed the bearded, bespectacled entertainer as a predator who groomed and abused one woman for her entire teenage and young-adult life.
Harris denied all the charges and said the allegations against him were “laughable”.
The sentencing judge said he had shown no remorse for the harm he had caused.
Prosecutors said he had a “Jekyll and Hyde” personality who used his fame to exploit his victims.
Among the victims was a friend of Harris’ daughter, who claimed he molested her throughout her teenage years.
Harris had said their relationship was consensual, and his relatives and friends supported him throughout the trial.
But a jury convicted him of all charges, and a judge sentenced him to five years and nine months in prison.
Harris had been a successful television presenter, songwriter and artist.
He was best known for his children’s television shows such as Rolf’s Cartoon Time and Animal Hospital, and had numerous hit songs in the 1960s.
With his relentlessly cheery persona, Harris toured and performed on TV for decades with his unusual act of rapid, performative painting – his catchphrase was “can you tell what it is yet?” – and singing children’s songs like Jake the Peg.
Born in 1930, Harris grew up suburban Perth, and was an award-winning swimmer as a teenager.
After several failed attempts at art school, he launched his television career with a slot on a BBC show in 1952.
As well as hosting children’s shows, Harris was also known in the 1960s for performing popular songs including Two Little Boys, which became a No. 1 Christmas hit in the UK.
In 1993, his wobble board cover of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven also charted in the country.
By the 2000s, he was considered by many to be a national treasure of sorts: The Queen sat for a portrait painted by him in 2005 to mark her 80th birthday, and he starred in a concert celebrating the late monarch’s diamond jubilee outside Buckingham Palace in 2012.
After his conviction, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, which had described Harris as “one of the world’s most iconic entertainers”, said it would withdraw his fellowship.
