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May 24, 2013, 7:03pm

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Laurence
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SIR JIMMY SAVILE
« Thread Started on Oct 29, 2011, 2:59pm »

In view of recent events and revelations I have edited this obituary because, as written, it was no longer considered by me to be an accurate reflection of Saville's true character.

Sir Jimmy Savile OBE, KCSG, best known for his BBC television show Jim'll Fix It, and for being the first and last presenter of the long-running BBC chart show Top of the Pops, also known for his philanthropy and support of various charities and fundraising efforts, has died aged 84 after suffering from pneumonia.

James Wilson Vincent "Jimmy" Savile was born in Leeds, the youngest of seven children, to Agnes Monica (Kelly) and Vincent Joseph Marie Savile, a bookmaker's clerk and insurance agent, on 31 October 1926. As a youngster he was conscripted during World War II to work as a coal miner and went down the mines as a Bevin Boy.

In the early 1940s he started playing records at music halls and later laid claim to being the first ever DJ; the first person to use two turntables and a microphone, which he did at the Grand Records Ball at the Guardbridge Hotel in 1947. This claim has been disputed as twin turntables were illustrated in the BBC Handbook in 1929, and were advertised for sale in Gramophone magazine as early as 1931.

Savile later lived in Salford and worked as manager of the Plaza Ballroom in Oxford Road, Manchester in the mid-fifties. He lived in Great Clowes Street in Higher Broughton, Salford and was often seen sitting on his front door steps. He also managed the Mecca Locarno ballroom in Leeds around the late 1950s and early 1960s. Mecca also owned the Palais, a dance hall in Ilford, Essex and Savile did a stint as manager there between 1955 and 1956.

His Monday evening records-only dance sessions (admission one shilling) were a huge favourite with local teens. Savile was a hospital porter at Broadmoor Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary and became a semi-professional sportsman, competing in the 1951 Tour of Britain cycle race and working as a professional wrestler.

Savile started his radio career working as a Radio Luxembourg DJ from 1958 to 1967. In 1960 he presented Tyne Tees Television's music programme Young at Heart. Although the show was broadcast in black and white, Savile dyed his hair a different colour every week.

On New Year's Day, 1964, he presented the first edition of British music chart television programme Top of the Pops from a television studio – a converted church – in Dickenson Road Rusholme, Manchester. On 31 December 1969, Savile hosted the BBC/ZDF co-production Pop Go The Sixties, shown across Western Europe, celebrating the hits of the 1960s. He presented the television programme Jim'll Fix It from 1975 to 1994. During the early 1960s he co-hosted (with Pete Murray) New Musical Express Poll Winners' Concert, annually held at Empire Pool, Wembley, with acts such as The Beatles, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Joe Brown And the Bruvvers, The Who, and many others. These were filmed and recorded and later broadcast on television.

In 1968 he joined BBC Radio 1, where he initially presented Savile's Travels and the discussion show Speakeasy. His best-remembered contribution to Radio 1, however, is the Sunday lunchtime show Jimmy Savile's Old Record Club, where entire top tens from years gone by were played. This was the very first show to feature old charts. Over a period of time, you could hear every record that ever made the BBC Charts.

He is also remembered for fronting a long running series of advertisements in the early 1980s for British Rail's InterCity 125 (in which he declared "This is the age of the train") and a series of Public Information Films promoting road safety, notably "Clunk Click Every Trip" which was about wearing seatbelts, the clunk representing the sound of the door and the click the sound of the seatbelt fastening. This led to Savile's hosting his own Saturday night chat/variety show on BBC1 from 1973 entitled Clunk, Click, which in 1974 featured the UK heats for the Eurovision Song Contest featuring Olivia Newton-John. After two series, the show was replaced by Jim'll Fix It.

He was featured on This Is Your Life twice. His second appearance was a result of the production team's being unaware of his previous appearance. He was interviewed by Dr. Anthony Clare for the radio series In the psychiatrist's chair and also appeared in a Louis Theroux documentary.

Savile visited the Celebrity Big Brother house on 14 January and 15 January 2006. During these visits he "fixed it" for some of the housemates to receive their wish; for example, Pete Burns received a message from his significant other and friend while Dennis Rodman was able to trade Savile's offering for a supply of cigarettes for other housemates.

In 2007 Savile returned to television with Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again, in which he shows some of the most popular 'fixits' ever, recreating them with the same people, as well as making new dreams come true.

Savile's catchphrases included "How's about that, then?", "Now then, now then, now then", "Goodness gracious", "as it 'appens" and "Guys and gals". Savile was frequently spoofed for his distinctive appearance, which almost always consists of a track suit or shell suit, along with gold jewellery. Savile was also very well known as a heavy cigar smoker, and often smoked them for the public eye. He also has a bench in memory of himself with the words 'Jimmy Savile – but not just yet!' engraved on it, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

He was a member of Mensa and named as one of the Radio Times "Top 40 most eccentric TV presenters of all time" in July 2004. A bachelor, Savile rejected being a homosexual fiercely. Savile lived with his mother (whom he referred to as "The Duchess") and kept her bedroom and wardrobe exactly as it was when she died. Every year he had her clothes dry cleaned.

He was awarded an honorary Commando Green Beret by the Royal Marines in the 1970s for being one of only two civilians to complete the Royal Marine Commando speed march, 30 miles across Dartmoor carrying 30 lb of kit. In 1971 he was awarded the OBE, and in 1990 he was knighted for his services in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. The same year he was honoured
with a papal knighthood from the Vatican making him a Knight Commander of Saint Gregory the Great (KCSG).

One of the United Kingdom's most recognisable personalities, aside from his TV and radio work, Savile carried out a considerable amount of charity work, including raising money for the Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he worked for many years as a volunteer porter. He raised money for the Spinal Unit, NSIC. (National Spinal Injuries Centre). Savile raised money for St Francis Ward - a ward for children and teens with Spinal Cord Injuries. For years, he was the honorary president of Phab (a charity dedicated to the integration of the Physically Handicapped in the Able Bodied community) and has helped raise over £40,000,000.

He also sponsored medical students at the University of Leeds to perform undergraduate research in the LURE, donating over £60,000 every year. In 2010 the scheme was extended with a commitment of £500,000 over the following five years.

Savile was also well known for running marathons (many of them again for Phab, including their annual half marathon around Hyde Park). He completed the London Marathon in 2005, at the age of 79.

In 2007, Savile was interviewed under caution by police investigating an allegation of indecent assault in the 1970s at the now-closed Duncroft Approved School for Girls near Staines, Surrey, where he was a regular visitor. The Crown Prosecution Service advised there was insufficient evidence to take any further action and no charges were brought. In March 2008, Savile started legal proceedings against The Sun newspaper which had linked him in several articles to the child abuse scandal at the Jersey children's home Haut de la Garenne. The States of Jersey Police said that in 2008 an allegation of an indecent assault by Savile at the home in the 1970s had been investigated, but there had been insufficient evidence to proceed.

Police were called to Savile's house at 1210 on Saturday 29 October 2011 where they found his body. He had been treated in hospital for pneumonia.

On 30 September 2012, almost a year after Savile's death, British newspapers reported that as many as 10 women claimed they had been sexually molested or raped by Savile during the 1960s and 1970s. One of the alleged victims was reported to have been aged 14 at the time.

It was also revealed that the BBC had been making a Newsnight special, in November 2011, that would have exposed Savile as a child molester and paedophile, but at the 11th hour had halted the investigation and refused to broadcast it. The BBC is currently conducting its own investigation into the reasons for not going ahead with the broadcast. The chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten says the corporation's reputation is on the line and it must face up to the truth. The Royal Television Society is meeting to consider stripping Newsnight of this year’s News Programme of the Year award.

The Metropolitan Police stated on 4 October 2012 that their Child Abuse Investigation Command would lead a process of assessing the allegations, which was "not an investigation at this stage." On 12 October 2012 they announced that they had received 340 lines of enquiry, were dealing with 40 potential victims, and had recorded 12 allegations of sexual offences which dated back to 1959.

As of 19 October 2012, police were pursuing 400 separate lines of inquiry based on testimony from 200 witnesses via 14 police forces across the UK, and a formal investigation was opened by the Metropolitan Police to identify criminal conduct related to Savile's activities, and by the Crown Prosecution Service into reasons why a prosecution had been dropped as unlikely to succeed in 2009.

As the police begin their investigations they believe that Savile had potentially undertaken a 'staggering' level of abuse on an 'unprecedented' scale over six decades.

A memorial plaque on the wall of Savile's former home in Scarborough was removed in early October 2012 after it was defaced with graffiti. A wooden statue of Savile at Scotstoun Leisure Centre in Glasgow was removed around the same time. A sign on a footpath in Scarborough bearing Savile's surname was removed. On 9 October 2012, the headstone of his grave was removed, his family citing "respect (for) public opinion". The headstone was broken up and sent for landfill. Saviles Hall, the Leeds conference centre owned by Royal Armouries, has been re-named New Dock Hall.

The papal knighthood given to Jimmy Savile "should not have been bestowed", a Vatican spokesman has told the BBC. The Catholic Church in England and Wales confirmed it has written to the Holy See to ask if the honour can be posthumously removed.

At the time of writing Former pop star Gary Glitter, a convicted paedophile, has been arrested on suspicion of sex offences by police investigating the Savile abuse claims.

« Last Edit: Oct 28, 2012, 9:50am by Laurence »

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