Rolf
Harris
Biography
Rolf Harris has a Fine Art background and has exhibited at the Royal
Academy.
In
2000 he received an honorary membership from the Royal Society of
British Artists, joining a distinguished list that includes Sir
Winston Churchill and James McNeil Whistler.
The
first series of Rolf on Art, which broadcast on BBC ONE last year,
gained the highest viewing figures for a programme on the visual
arts ever.
Rolf
was formally trained in the UK, attending City and Guilds Arts School
at Kennington in the early 1950s.
It
was later, however, under the tutelage of Australian Impressionist
Hayward Veal, whose techniques had inspired him, that Rolf began
to develop his own characteristic, free style.
By
applying Veal's approach to working on large surfaces, Rolf soon
began making a name for himself on his own television series when
he effortlessly produced huge paintings in a short space of time.
In the UK in 1992 he was named the world's most famous artist when
he came top of a poll of 1,000 people visiting the London artMart
exhibition.
They
were asked to name a well known artist - 38% said Rolf Harris, Constable
followed with 23% and, as one newspaper put it, Rembrandt and Turner
didn't make the frame.
As
a vocalist his hits have included Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, Sun
Arise, Two Little Boys and more recently Stairway to Heaven.
On television he has presented The Rolf Harris Show on BBC Television,
Cartoon Time and HTV's immensely popular Rolf's Cartoon Club which
ran for six series.
In 1995 Rolf began presenting Animal Hospital on BBC ONE. The show
attracts a large audience and won the National Television Awards
Most Popular Factual Entertainment Show in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999
and 2000.
Spin off series have included Animal Hospital Down Under and Animal
Hospital from Oz, screened to coincide with the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Rolf also presented Rolf's Amazing World of Animals for BBC ONE.
He has been awarded both the MBE and OBE and is a Member of the
Order of Australia.
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