Can You Tell What it is Yet?

In 1952, a young Australian stepped off a ferry in Dover with dreams of being a famous portrait painter like his grandfather. He too could paint, but also play the piano, write songs, ride a bike with no hands and swim 110 metres backstroke in 80 seconds flat. If Rolf Harris seems to have been with us for ever, that's because he has. After nearly 50 years on stage and screen, he is one of the most loved, respected and enduring figures in British showbusiness. He was there at the very beginning of television in the UK and is still there. And although he calls himself "a lucky amateur", millions would disagree. We have grown up watching him draw cartoons, paint big pictures, wobble his board and talk to animals and their owners. Now, in his autobiography, Rolf Harris charts his rise from the dusty streets of Bassendean in Western Australia to becoming a household name on both sides of the world. Along the way there are triumphs and disasters, revelations and regrets. He has worked with the likes of Tony Hancock and Woody Allen, jousted with John Lennon and had the Beatles singing "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" with their own lyrics.
Thirty years later he was voted the most popular act ever at Glastonbury and had 86,000 people screaming his name. Reborn as a rock singer and award-winning television presenter, Rolf Harris was labelled by one newspaper the "Ultimate Renaissance Man". In reality, he is proof positive that if you live long enough, real talent will give you more than one bite at the cherry.