Jimmy Savile dies aged 84 | Television & radio | The Guardian Jimmy Savile dies aged 84 Jimmy Savile – veteran broadcaster, tracksuit-wearer, cigar-chomper, and charity campaigner – dies at home in Leeds Saturday 29 October 2011 10.29 EDT First published on Saturday 29 October 2011 10.29 EDT Close This article is 5 years old Sir Jimmy Savile, best known for his TV series Jim'll Fix It, has died at his home in Leeds. The veteran broadcaster and charity campaigner, known for his penchant for lurid tracksuits, chunky gold jewellery, tinted glasses and cigars, was 84. He would have celebrated his 85th birthday on Monday. Police were called to his home in Roundhay, Leeds, at 12.10pm on Saturday, where they discovered his body. His death is not being treated as suspicious. He was admitted to hospital suffering from a bout of pneumonia in September.

Born in Leeds in 1926, the youngest of seven children, Savile enjoyed a long and colourful career in showbusiness, which included dancehall manager, Britain's first celebrity DJ, book reviewer and Top of the Pops presenter. He was also a Mensa member, marathon runner, cycle racer, miner and wrestler. The white-maned star presented the first episode of Top Of The Pops, but he was most widely known as the fixer of childhood dreams through his 1970s TV show. Thousands of children wrote to him in the hope of having their wishes granted. His catchphrases, including "Howzabout that then" and "Now then, now then..." were parodied by impressionists. Savile was knighted for his services to charity, having raised £40m for good causes, including £12m to help create a spinal injuries unit at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire., He was also a staunch supporter of Margaret Thatcher and claimed he spent 11 successive New Years with the former prime minister at Chequers. BBC director general, Mark Thompson, said: "I am very sad to hear of Sir Jimmy Savile's death.

"From Top of the Pops to Jim'll Fix It, Jimmy's unique style entertained generations of BBC audiences. Like millions of viewers and listeners we shall miss him greatly." Former colleague Dave Lee Travis told Sky News Savile was a "larger-than-life" character. "We are all going to be worse off without him around," he said. Radio presenter David Hamilton paid tribute to Savile's "tireless" work raising money for charity. "He was a very energetic character," Hamilton told Sky News. "But most of all, I remember him as just a totally flamboyant, over-the-top, larger-than-life character and as he was on the air, he was just the same off." Broadcaster Stuart Hall told BBC Radio 5 Live Savile was "unique" but "a loner". "He had lots of imitators, the one and only Jimmy Savile." Former radio colleague Tony Blackburn remembered Savile's "big, over-the-top personality". "He was quite a character," Blackburn told Sky News. "I think he will be best remembered for his charity work and, you know, those tracksuits he always used to wear, and he was just an unusual person.

"He was a one-off, that's the way he'll be remembered, really. But in particular all that money he raised for charity." A spokeswoman for Buckinghamshire healthcare NHS trust, which runs Stoke Mandeville Hospital, said: "We are incredibly saddened to learn that Sir Jimmy Savile has passed away. Sir Jimmy has been a great supporter of Stoke Mandeville Hospital for a number of decades. He was tireless in his attempts to fundraise for the hospital and was integral in the creation of the National Spinal Injuries Centre that we have today.

"Sir Jimmy will be sorely missed by staff and patients alike." Funeral cortege follows crooked route that resembles silhouette of maverick star smoking a cigar on way to requiem mass Published: 9 Nov 2011 Mourners of the entertainer choked back tears as they recalled his charity fundraising at his requiem mass in Leeds cathedral Published: 9 Nov 2011 Friends and fans pay tribute at Leeds ceremony for eccentric star whose final wish was to be buried at a 45-degree angle Published: 8 Nov 2011 Coffin goes on display before his burial in Scarborough later in the week Published: 8 Nov 2011 Jimmy Savile - Biography - IMDb Jimmy Savile Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Trade Mark (4) | Trivia (37) | Personal Quotes (29) Overview (5) 5' 8½" (1.74 m) Mini Bio (1) Jimmy Savile was born on October 31, 1926 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England as James Wilson Vincent Savile.

He died on October 29, 2011 in Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Trade Mark (4) Saying "Now then, now then" and "How's about that, then?" Peroxide blond hair and smoking a big cigar His distinctive and frequently impersonated Yorkshire accent Wearing tracksuits Trivia (37) He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1972 Queen's New Years Honours List and was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 1990 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to entertainment and charity. Attended St. Anne's Roman Catholic School in Leeds, England. Injured, although apparently not seriously, in a gas fire accident in England. [2001] Was a "Bevin Boy" at the end of World War 2: drafted to work in the coal mines (between 10% and 15% of conscripts were sent to the mines rather than into the military). His Radio Luxembourg programme for Decca in the early 60s, was known as 'The Teen & Twenty Disc Club'.

Was once voted tie-man of the year. Is a member of MENSA. Has run in many marathons and is thought to have helped raise over £40,000,000 for charitable causes. Was a successful respected advertising icon in the 1970s. His most remembered advert was for the "wear seat belts" campaign called "clunk click every trip", which lead to widespread take-up of seat belt use. He has also advertised train journeys "let the train take the strain" and "this is the age of the train", Green Shield Stamps, Bisto Gravy (with his mother), Startrite Shoes and Dale Farm Yoghurts. Before retirement often volunteered for patient portering duties at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Bucks. Once pretended to be his own brother by wearing a short haired dark wig. His second appearance on This Is Your Life (1962) is thought to have been a mistake by Thames TV, who had not only lost the recording of his first appearance but had completely forgotten that he had already appeared previously.

In 1962 Jimmy attempted to launch a recording career on Decca Records with the single "Ahab the Arab" written by Ray Stevens, this and its follow up "The Bossa Nova" sank quietly without trace. In October 2009 traded in his ancient Volkswagen Camper van for a new model which he uses to travel the country. In November 2009 he received an honorary degree in the arts from the University of Bedfordshire for his lifelong support of the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, UK. He particularly supported Stoke Mandeville because he had sustained a spinal injury (from which he eventually made a full recovery) as a result of a tunnel roof-fall while he was working as a coal miner in the 1940s. In October 2012, the university announced that the degree would be posthumously rescinded following a series of sexual abuse allegations made against him following his death. He called his beloved mother by the nick-name of "The Duchess". Once lived in a caravan in the back of the BBC car-park. Created the "Double Deck" that could play two vinyl records back-to-back.

Gave the name to the show "Top of the Pops". He held the first UK Disco. Buried in the town of Scarborough, England. As he wished, his coffin was interred at a 45-degree angle to the vertical so it was "overlooking" the sea. [November 2011] His closed coffin was laid In-State for a short time at the Queens Hotel, Leeds, England. His funeral service was held at St Anne's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Leeds, England, where he had been christened as a baby. [November 2011] Left behind charity accounts totaling more than £5 million as well as a personal wealth worth at least £2.5 million. During his lifetime, he is believed to have raised £45 million for charity. Sir Peter Parker , Chairman of British Rail, was so pleased with the success of the "This is the Age of the Train" advertising campaign which Jimmy Savile fronted that he gave him a gold pass allowing him unlimited use of the British railway system. Never married.

In October 2012, almost a year after his death, an ITV documentary examining claims of sexual abuse against Savile led to broad media coverage and a substantial and rapidly growing body of witness statements and sexual abuse claims, including accusations against public bodies for covering up or failure of duty. Scotland Yard launched a criminal investigation into allegations of child sex abuse by Savile over six decades, describing him as a "predatory sex offender", and later stated that they were pursuing over 400 lines of inquiry based on the testimony of 300 potential victims via fourteen police forces across the UK. By late October 2012, the scandal had resulted in inquiries or reviews at the BBC, within the National Health Service, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the Department of Health. In January 2013, a joint report by the NSPCC and Metropolitan Police, "Giving Victims a Voice", stated that 450 people had made complaints against Savile, with the period of alleged abuse stretching from 1955 to 2009 and the ages of the complainants at the time of the assaults ranging from 8 to 47.

The suspected victims included 28 children aged under 10, including 10 boys aged as young as 8. A further 63 were girls aged between 13 and 16 and nearly three-quarters of his victims were under 18. Some 214 criminal offenses were recorded, with 34 rapes having been reported across 28 police forces. Savile was never charged during his lifetime. Due to his distinctive voice, mannerisms, catchphrases and dress sense, he was one of the most frequently impersonated celebrities in Britain for decades. Notable examples are by The Two Ronnies (1971), Mike Yarwood , Alistair McGowan and Tweenies (1999). In the 1990s, satirist Christopher Morris broadcast a spoof obituary of Savile on BBC Radio 1 which claimed he had dropped dead during the Stoke Mandeville Hospital Boxing Day party, but the patients were not mourning and wished he had suffered rather more. Irvine Welsh has acknowledged that he based his character Freddy Royle, from his 1996 story "Lorraine Goes to Livingston", on Savile.

Royle, a children's TV presenter described as the nation's "favourite caring, laconic uncle", turns out to be a child molester and necrophiliac, raising millions for the hospital where he commits his crimes. Spitting Image (1984) made a puppet of him which showed him, in a series of sketches, being chased around by doctors with butterfly nets. To questions about his apparent lack of a sex life, Savile claimed that he had committed himself to entertainment from an early age and he had ruled out personal ties to concentrate on his career. He said that sex was "rather like going to the bathroom". Following the revelation of his crimes, there were many calls for him to be stripped of his Knighthood and OBE (Order of The British Empire) but this is impossible due to the honors dying with the person. Despite his family friendly persona, he was known, long before his crimes came to light, to those who worked with him as cold, vindictive and unfriendly. The nature and scale of Savile's crimes have led everyone associated with him to go to great lengths to distance themselves.

The BBC has either edited footage from Savile's programmes or banned them outright, all of the hospitals who had wings bearing Savile's name had it removed, and Savile's ornate headstone in Leeds was taken down, broken into pieces, and taken to a landfill. Was the recipient of many honorary degrees and titles, almost all of which were rescinded upon his crimes being revealed. Personal Quotes (29) He's a sabra. A sabra is an Israeli fruit that's prickly on the outside and all soft and lovely inside. That's Jonathan King. Don't try and get people to like you, but try to make sure they don't DISlike you. I've got everything. What have I got left in life? To wake up tomorrow. Because if tomorrow is as good as today, that'll do for me. Question One: Am I doing my thing at the cost of somebody else? Answer: No. Question Two: Am I doing my thing and getting plenty? Answer: Yes. Now if I'm a bit lucky, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't spread it about a bit, maybe, and make somebody else a bit lucky.

[comment by Ted Beston, the producer of his radio show] "Right from the start, we got on well together. If there was something I didn't agree with, or he didn't agree with, we'd sort it out. And at the end, we'd decide that *he* was right." [interviewed a few days before he died] I've got to be nearly a hundred with nothing basically wrong with me apart from being a bit odd... but I've been a bit odd all my life. All my life I was governed by fun. Single fella, no expenses, every day is Christmas Day, every night's New Years Eve. It's all fun. It was fun when I started and it's fun today, and there's nothing wrong with a bit of fun. I had to look after the welfare of hundreds of youngsters. I was protecting my young patrons from drugs and other immoral influences. Some of the hairy things I've done would get me 10 years inside. The people who work for me call me the Godfather. And nobody messes with the Godfather. He is the boss. The big man.

I had a lively couple of years, with the tabloids sniffing about, asking round the corner shops - everything - thinking there must be something the authorities knew that they didn't. Whereas in actual fact I've got to be the most boring geezer in the world because I ain't got no past. And so, if nothing else, it was a ginormous relief when I got the knighthood, because it got me off the hook. What people need in life, especially young people, they need the four r's, they need to be able to read, write, reckon up and the difference between right and wrong. That's what it's all about. If you've got those things to start with, then you can do anything on that foundation. When you are single it's because of some reason that you like being single. Jesus didn't find any problem with it. I don't find any problem with it. A lot of the time, people say 'What? You're still single, you've never got married? Why didn't you get married?' The answer is I haven't the faintest idea. People have tried to walk over me all my life. Finish up with a broken leg... that's all right.

I never brought any harm to anybody. I never badmouthed anybody. It sounds a bit yucky but it's my nature, it's my lifestyle. And I never thought there was a profit in being bad. There might be a profit for a few days, a few weeks, even a few years, but sooner or later you get your comeuppance. I mean, I know a million bad people but I've no desire to be one, only because it's not my nature. [on Margaret Thatcher ] I knew the real woman and the real woman was something else. The times I spent up there [Chequers] - Denis, me and her, shoes off in front of the fire. [when asked by Louis Theroux how he was feeling] Regularly. [asked by Angus Deayton if he'd been a wrestler] I still am. I'm feared in every girls' school in this country. Hospitals have rules with patients and things like that. Well, because I'm dyslexic when I want to be, I don't understand rules. Women know too much. I'm all for girls that don't know too much.

[on Gary Glitter ] Now Gary, all he did was to take his computer into PC World to get it repaired. They went into the hard drive, saw all these dodgy pictures and told the police and the police then 'Oh we've got a famous person ... Oh my goodness, yeah we'll have them'. But Gary has not sold 'em, has not tried to sell 'em, not tried to show them in public or anything like that. It were for his own gratification. Whether it was right or wrong is, of course, it's up to him as a person. But they didn't do anything wrong but they are then demonised. If you said to that copper, what's Gary Glitter done wrong? Well nothing really. He's just sat at home watching dodgy films. [on his father, a bookmaker's clerk] He was honest and he was skint. I don't even bet on traffic lights. [on Meet Ricky Gervais (2000)] Here is the man with the shortest series in the world. My life from start to finish has been fun. Not fun at anybody else's expense, not fun causing trouble or bother or this or that.

Straightforward fun and it's stood me well and I've managed to actually make a living out of having a bit of fun and I can recommend it. Life is just a breeze. You wake up if you're lucky, you don't want to upset anybody, you don't want anything from anybody, except you just want to share the fact that they're here, because life is people. And when I go outside whatever door I'm in, I'm in the middle of 60 million friends, and it's a great way to live. If you see a situation in a public place that could be a danger to children, tell somebody about it and see if something can't be done about it. I have tended to specialize in poorly people in hospital beds. That's my general sort of specialization. There are all sorts of other people worthy of it but there's all sorts of other people doing things that I do. I happen to be in the pop business. You cannot go through the pop business without knowing lots of young ladies. But the newspapers will juice it up no end, you see, and if they juice it up no end that's the way that they work.

And of course in the pop business you have a lot of girlfriends but I ain't never married them. I think all children should be eaten at birth. [on why he spent so much time in hospitals] People have said to me, "Here, what about all this hospital work? Surely this has to be a publicity gimmick?" Five minutes in a hospital is a gimmick if you've got the newspapers there, if you've got the television there. Five minutes is a gimmick. Five years is not a gimmick. See also Sir Jimmy Savile | British entertainer | Britannica.com British entertainer Originally published in the Britannica Book of the Year. Presented as archival content. Alternative Title: Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile Sir Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile born Leeds , England Sir Jimmy Savile (Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile), (born Oct. 31, 1926, Leeds, Eng.—died Oct. 29, 2011, Leeds), British entertainer who was a flamboyant radio and television personality, known as much for his platinum-dyed hair, gaudy tracksuits, and enormous cigar as he was for his zany comedic style.

After working in the coal mines as a boy, Savile became a disc jockey, initially at a dance club in Leeds, then on Radio Luxembourg, the “pirate” Radio Caroline, and from 1968 on BBC Radio 1. His TV work included Top of the Pops, on which he appeared frequently from its premiere on Jan. 1, 1964, to its demise in July 2006, and the children’s show Jim’ll Fix It, on which he starred for some 20 years in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. Savile was made OBE (1971) and was knighted (1990) in recognition of his charity work; he also received a knighthood (1982) from the Vatican. In 2012, a year after his death, Savile became the centre of a sexual-abuse scandal after the British television channel ITV aired a documentary that detailed allegations that he had molested or raped numerous underage girls. Various investigations were launched as hundreds of possible victims came forward.

Sir Jimmy Savile - Telegraph Obituaries Sir Jimmy Savile Sir Jimmy Savile, who has died aged 84, was a disc jockey, television presenter and charity fundraiser who became an eccentric adornment to British public life. Link to this video 4:02PM BST 29 Oct 2011 For almost 30 years, as the presenter of Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It, Savile was an ubiquitous and distinctive face on television — an improbable figure with a helmet of platinum hair, dressed in a lurid track suit and bedecked in ostentatious jewellery. As he waggled an outsize cigar, he would utter a series of catchphrases (“Howzabout that then”, “Now then, now then…”) which were usually punctuated by a bizarre yodel, and were a gift to even the most limited of television and nightclub impressionists.

His trademark mixture of gurning and garrulity, pioneered on Top of the Pops, inspired an entirely new genre of television presentation — what one observer called the “attention-seeking, nutty-prankster school” — but Savile also saw himself in a more serious role as the King Solomon of pop, dispensing words of wisdom and advice to young musicians. “I never forgot they were the talent and we were just presenters,” he explained. Savile was chosen to host what turned out be the world’s longest-running television music show in 1963. The producer, Johnny Stewart, had heard him host The Teen And Twenty Disc Club on Radio Luxembourg, and although the head of variety at the BBC, Bill Cotton, had reservations, Stewart thought he was the perfect man for the job. Savile also claimed credit for thinking up the new show’s title. Initially scheduled for a modest six-week run, Top Of The Pops was broadcast live from a converted church in Dickenson Road, Longsight, a run-down area of Manchester. The first edition went out on New Year’s Day 1964, with chart stars miming to their singles live in the studio.

From the outset Savile strove to make the show his own, and became its longest-serving host. Although he shrank from presenting every programme, fearing overexposure, Savile quickly established himself as the face of the show. With his stripy Dada-like outfits, wobbly spiel and clownish persona — he once dyed his hair tartan — nothing quite like him had been seen on television before. He soon became, as one of the show’s chroniclers noted, “charmingly certifiable”. Related Articles Sir Jimmy Savile dies aged 84 29 Oct 2011 Savile’s arsenal of sartorial and verbal oddities was also vividly deployed when he presented Jim’ll Fix It, which ran from 1975 until 1994, and in which he played the role of benevolent uncle, granting wishes to the nation’s children. Savile’s ability to make dreams come true made him a powerful and mysterious figure. At the height of the programme’s popularity, up to 20,000 children a week would write in, asking Jim to “fix it” for them to sing with their favourite pop group, meet the Prime Minister or play for Liverpool.

Savile’s role as cheery national benefactor was further reflected in his tireless charity work. It was once estimated that he had personally raised more than £40 million for various charitable causes, and that up to 90 per cent of his own income was given away, although Savile never disclosed the extent of his charitable donations. He took part in more than 200 marathons and innumerable “fun runs” for charity, without ever bothering to train: “I just turn up and run.” He completed the London Marathon in 2005. He worked as a volunteer porter at the Leeds Royal Infirmary, and enjoyed a particularly close relationship with the Stoke Mandeville hospital near Aylesbury, raising £12 million to contribute to the rebuilding of the hospital’s National Spinal Injuries Centre, which opened in 1983. He also worked as a volunteer at Broadmoor, the hospital for the criminally insane, where he was given his own room, and referred to the staff and patients at the hospital as “my people” and himself as “the Godfather”.

Savile once described his role at the hospital as honorary entertainments officer: “I ask them, what do you want to go round strangling crumpet for?” But his flippancy belied a shrewd understanding of inmates’ problems and how best to win their trust. In 1988 he was chosen to head a Department of Health task force to advise on the running of the hospital when it suffered a crisis of management and a nursing dispute. By some accounts, he ended up virtually running the place. James Wilson Vincent Savile was born in Leeds on October 31 1926, the youngest of seven children in a Roman Catholic family. His father, Vincent, was a bookmaker’s clerk. Savile would later claim that the family were so impoverished that his Christmas present was to be taken simply to look at the toys in a Leeds department store; he never expected to be given one himself. At the age of two Jimmy fell desperately ill, probably with pneumonia, although he was never sure of the exact diagnosis – “in those days if you were poor you just died”. In anticipation of his demise, the doctor left a signed death certificate on the sideboard.

Jimmy’s mother, Agnes, hurried to Leeds Cathedral to pray, and by the time she returned home the child had started showing signs of recovery. His sister Joan always believed it to be a miracle. He attended the local school, St Anne’s Roman Catholic School, where he was taught “the 4 Rs: reading, ‘riting, reckoning up and the difference between right from wrong”. He left school at 14 and began work as an office boy. At the outbreak of war, he hoped to go into the RAF, but instead was sent to work in the mines as a Bevin Boy under the Emergency Powers Act, earning £1.1s a week for six shifts. He might have remained there for the rest of his life but for an accident that was to prove strangely fortuitous. An explosion intended to dislodge a rock face almost killed him, and he was told he would never walk properly again. A passion for music and a talent for entrepreneurship provided a fresh start.

With a collection of swing records and a turntable, Savile began putting on shows at local parties and pubs, and in 1948 he organised what he would later claim was Britain’s first disco, in an upstairs room in Leeds owned by the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds, where customers were charged a shilling each to dance to records by Glenn Miller and Harry James. This led to Savile’s becoming a Mecca dance-hall manager, and by the late 1950s he was responsible for the entertainment at 45 Mecca ballrooms across the country. At that time, Musicians’ Union regulations stipulated that entertainment in dance-halls should be provided by live bands, with records played only in the interval between performances. Realising that the records were invariably more popular than the band, Savile would circumvent the rules by paying the musicians not to perform. His policy of what he described as “zero tolerance” towards drunks and troublemakers revealed him in a somewhat less benevolent light. In later years, he admitted that they would be taken to the boiler-room, tied up and left for a few hours to reflect on their misdemeanours.

At various times Savile also worked as a professional cyclist and professional wrestler. But he first came to broader public attention in the early 1960s as a Radio Luxembourg disc-jockey. Then, in 1964, he presented the first ever edition of Top of the Pops on BBC Television. He would go on to host 300 episodes over the next 20 years. It was here that Savile developed his uniform of track suit and jewellery, and the exaggerated vocal mannerisms that were to be become his trademarks. The yodel was to prove a particularly useful device in the event of Savile’s script falling short; he could fill any embarrassing silences by the expedient of making a lot of noise without saying anything much at all, while furiously waggling his cigar. Savile’s popularity as a disc-jockey lent him an apparently oracular power, and he worked as a consultant for a number of a companies advising on teenage trends and tastes. He also found himself in great demand for personal appearances. He described himself as “a self-punter”: he had no manager or agent and would negotiate all his own contracts.

A favoured ploy in his early days was never to quote a fee, but simply to tell his clients to pay “whatever you think I’m worth”. The remuneration was invariably generous. In later years he refused to appear anywhere for less than £10,000, arguing that a large fee would ensure that the event was properly organised. But it was Jim’ll Fix It that made Savile a national institution. Over the course of 19 years, the programme received more than three million requests. Savile always claimed that the key to his success on Jim’ll Fix It was that he actually disliked children, although in later years he maintained that he had offered this explanation to allay any untoward suspicions that he liked them too much. Rumours of under-age sex circulated for some years, although the fact that no allegations of impropriety ever appeared in print seemed to confirm Savile’s own insistence that he had “no past, no nothing”. But he was always careful to guard against the possibilities of any misunderstandings, and the predatory intentions of parents or the press. When children knocked on his door for autographs, he would refuse to open it, instead passing the signed photographs and scraps of paper back through the letter box.

In later years he even refused to have a computer in his home, explaining that he did not want anybody thinking he was downloading child pornography. Savile never married — claiming variously that the bad marital experiences of his siblings had discouraged him from matrimony, and that he was “married to the whole bleeding country, and it’s marvellous”. In his early years as a dance-hall disc-jockey, Savile displayed an indefatigable enthusiasm for the opposite sex, employing a faux-gallant approach to seduction which would involve him ostentatiously kissing a woman’s hand, turning it over and planting a kiss on the palm, then slowly running his eyes up the arm until meeting his intended victim’s eyes. “It worked like a charm,” remembered one assistant. But he professed never to have been in love, nor to have spent so much as a night with a woman. “My logic,” he once explained, “has always been to sip at the cup of life and never gulp at it.” Women, he maintained, were “lovely if you sip at them. They will enjoy you enormously, you will enjoy them enormously. Then you go to bed on your own and you wake up not disillusioned.

You wake up with no brain damage.” His closest relationship was with his mother, Agnes, whom Savile called “the Duchess”. Following the death of his father in 1953, Savile continued to live with his mother, first in a terraced house in Leeds and then in a flat at Scarborough, keeping a caravan parked nearby where he would entertain lady friends. Agnes was his constant companion, at film premieres and on holidays at the Imperial Hotel in Torquay, where her favourite pastime was playing the one-armed bandits in amusement arcades. Despite their closeness, Savile always maintained that she never watched him on television or congratulated him on his achievements, and lived in constant fear of the police knocking at the door: “She thought I was stealing all the money.” After her death in 1973, Savile sequestered himself with her body for five days, which he subsequently claimed were the “best five days of my life … She looked marvellous. She belonged to me. It’s wonderful, is death.” In later years he felt obliged to explain that he had not buried her sooner “because the ground was icy”.

He continued to keep her room exactly as it was, and would have her clothes dry-cleaned once a year. For 25 years between 1973 and 1998 Savile was the patron of the ACROSS Trust, a charity that takes the sick and dying to Lourdes. By persuading the Green Shield trading stamp firm to donate 60p to charity for every complete book of stamps, he raised many thousands of pounds for good causes. Savile was appointed OBE in 1971 and knighted for services to charity and the entertainment business in 1990. It was also in 1990 that he received the honour of Knight Commander of St Gregory the Great from the Vatican. He relished his association with pillars of the establishment.

He referred to the Duke of Edinburgh, with cosy familiarity, as “the Boss”, and once reportedly asked the Queen Mother: “Will you send me to the Tower if I said you were beautiful?” He also formed an improbable friendship with Margaret Thatcher, and was a frequent visitor to Chequers for Christmas and the New Year during her tenure — although he claimed to have no political allegiance and explained that he and Mrs Thatcher had “marvellous arguments”. Savile spent copiously on jewellery and holiday cruises, and owned a succession of Rolls-Royces, which he seldom drove, but otherwise led a spartan, almost ascetic life. He maintained a series of residences throughout Britain although he seldom spent more than two consecutive nights in any of them, using them as mere stopovers in his endless round of engagements. Cleaners would come in once a week and leave a basket of food, but Savile claimed that if he was catering for himself his favoured meal was a tin of baked beans microwaved in the same pint mug which he would also use to wash his hair. He dressed only in tracksuits, and claimed to have just one formal suit, for wearing to the Athenaeum Club, of which he was a member.

When travelling, he would carry only one pair of underpants, which he would wash each night. Savile always insisted that, left to his own devices, he would happily sit in a chair, smoking a cigar and watching Teletext; his peripatetic lifestyle and ferocious activity were merely the consequence of the endless requests for public appearances and good deeds. He claimed to have “thousands” of acquaintances, yet seemed to have few close friends. Away from public view, he could be prickly, impatient with journalists who attempted to get too close or pried too deeply into his affairs. He was a man who distrusted displays of emotion, and eschewed introspection or self-analysis, which he regarded as “soft”. A member of Mensa, Savile prided himself on being “logical”: in his own words, “the essence of boring common sense”. His public persona was his best camouflage.

Long after his television fame had waned, Savile continued to give the impression of being instantly animated by the spotlight, no matter how dim it may have become, a man who regarded it as his duty to brighten everybody’s day, collaring passers-by to whom he was at best a distant memory and regaling them with his jokes and catchphrases, making a beeline for anybody in a wheelchair. A man who divided opinion without ever appearing to care much what anyone thought of him, he was simply an odd chap.

Sir Jimmy Savile, born October 31 1926, died October 29 2011 James Wilson Vincent Savile (1926 - 2011) - Genealogy James Wilson Vincent Savile English disc jockey, television presenter and media personality & Philanthropist Managed by: Agnes Monica Savile, Vincent Joseph Marie Savile Residence: Oct 31 1926 - Leeds, West Yorkshire Death: Oct 29 2011 - Leeds, West Yorkshire Parents: Vincent Joseph M Saville, Agnes M Saville (born Kelly) Siblings: ...lle), Marjorie F Marsden (born Saville), Vincent J Saville, John H Saville, Joan E Johnson (born Saville), Christina W Foster (born Saville) Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile, OBE, KCSG From Wikipedia: (31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English disc jockey, television presenter and media personality, 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.

He was also known for his support of various charities and fundraising efforts, particularly Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and was widely described as a philanthropist.[1][2] He died in October 2011, two days short of his 85th birthday.[3] Early life Savile was born in Leeds, the youngest of seven children, including Mary, Marjory, Vincent, John, Joan, and Christina Savile, born to Agnes Monica (Kelly) and Vincent Joseph Marie Savile, a bookmaker's clerk and insurance agent.[4] He was a Bevin Boy, conscripted during World War II to work as a coal miner at South Kirkby Colliery, West Yorkshire, England. Having started playing records in dance halls in the early 1940s, Savile claimed to be the first ever disc jockey. According to his autobiography, he was the first person to use two turntables and a microphone, at the Grand Records Ball at the Guardbridge Hotel in 1947.[5] Savile is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of twin turntables for continuous play of music,[6] though his claim has been disputed.

Twin turntables were illustrated in the BBC Handbook in 1929, and were advertised for sale in Gramophone magazine in 1931.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9] Savile was a hospital porter at Broadmoor Hospital[10] and Leeds General Infirmary and became a semi-professional sportsman, competing in the 1951 Tour of Britain cycle race[11] and working as a professional wrestler.

He said: If you look at the athletics of it, I've done over 300 professional bike races, 212 marathons and 107 pro fights. [He proudly announces that he lost all of his first 35 fights.] No wrestler wanted to go back home and say a long-haired disc jockey had put him down. So from start to finish I got a good hiding. I've broken every bone in my body. I loved it.[12] Television 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.[13] 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 (now demolished). On 30 July 2006 he also co-hosted the final edition, ending the show with the words "It's number one, it's still Top of the Pops", before being shown turning off the studio lights after the closing credits.

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. He is remembered for 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 also fronted 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"). He was interviewed by Dr. Anthony Clare for the radio series In the Psychiatrist's Chair. In April 2000, he was the subject of an in depth documentary by Louis Theroux, in the When Louis Met… documentary series. "When Louis Met...Jimmy" is regarded as one of Theroux's best documentaries[14] and was voted one of the top fifty documentaries of all time in a survey by Britain's Channel Four.[15] Savile visited the Celebrity Big Brother house on 14 and 15 January 2006. During these visits he "fixed it" for some of the housemates to have their wishes granted; 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.[16] Radio Savile started his radio career working as a Radio Luxembourg DJ from 1958 to 1967. Among his programmes was the Teen and Twenty Disc Club (see below). 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 first show to feature old charts.

It began in 1973 as The Double Top Ten Show and ended in 1987 as The Triple Top Ten Show, at which point he left Radio 1 after 19 years, although he could be heard presenting The Vintage Chart Show on BBC World Service between March 1987 to October 1989, playing top tens from 1957–87. From March 1989 to August 1997 he was heard on various stations around the UK (mostly taking the Gold format, such as the West Midlands' Xtra AM and the original Classic Gold network in Yorkshire) where he revived his Radio 1 shows. In 1994, satirist Chris Morris gave a fake obituary on BBC Radio 1 (as a joke), saying that Savile had collapsed and died, which allegedly drew threats of legal action from Savile and forced an apology from Morris. On 25 December 2005, and 1 January 2007, Savile presented shows on the Real Radio network.

The Christmas 2005 show counted down the festive Top 10s of 10, 20 and 30 years previously, while the New Year 2007 show (also taken by Century Radio following its acquisition by GMG) featured Savile recounting anecdotes from his past and playing associated records, mostly from the 1960s although some were from the 1970s. Career and personal life Savile was famous for his yodel[17] and his catchphrases included "How's about that, then?", "Now then, now then, now then", "Goodness gracious", "as it happens" (pronounced "as it 'appens") and "Guys and gals". Savile was frequently spoofed for his distinctive appearance, which almost always consisted of a track suit or shell suit, along with gold jewellery. A range of licensed fancy dress costumes were released with his consent in 2009.

Savile was also very well known as a heavy cigar smoker, and often smoked them for the public eye.[18] 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.[19] He was a member of Mensa.[20] He was named as one of the Radio Times "Top 40 most eccentric TV presenters of all time" in July 2004. A bachelor, 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. Savile was a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists[21] and drove a Rolls-Royce.[22] In November 2007 Savile was mugged by a fan who made off with his glasses whilst in a Leeds hotel. According to Savile, he was walking down a corridor of the Queens Hotel at around midnight after attending a function at the hotel when he became aware of a woman walking beside him.

He assumed the woman was going to hug him but she instead reached for his glasses before sprinting off down the corridor. He later said "I thought it was marvellous, it was just like old times!". Savile promised his 'assailant' a box of chocolates for giving him a "1960s thrill in 2007".[23] Savile was interviewed by the BBC on 20 November 2008 when he was asked about the return of the programme Top of The Pops, revived for a Christmas comeback, to which he said he would welcome a "cameo role" on the programme.[24] He also ran the Teen and Twenty Disc Club (TTDC),[25] membership for life, on Radio Luxembourg. For a small fee listeners received a certificate and a small bracelet with a disc on it, inscribed with the show's name. He stated on the BBC television series Inside Out that the title Teen and Twenty Disc Club had been rejected by the BBC in favour of Top of the Pops as too long; also that he introduced dancing to records, so that he was the originator of the discothèque.

Savile was chieftain of the Lochaber Highland Games for many years, and owned a house in Glencoe. He prerecorded his appearance on the final edition of Top of the Pops in 2006, as it clashed with the games.[26] Honours This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011) In 1971 he was awarded the OBE,[27] which he always subsequently appended to his signature. Awarded 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.[28] The other civilian was former Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones. In 1990 he was knighted for his services in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.[29] The same year he was honoured with a papal knighthood from the Vatican making him a Knight Commander of Saint Gregory the Great (KCSG).

He held an honorary doctorate of law (LLD) from the University of Leeds. He was an Honorary fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists (FRCR). He was a Knight of Malta. He was a Freeman of the Borough of Scarborough Charitable worksOne 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 (Physically Handicapped in the Able Bodied community) and helped raise over £40,000,000.[30] He also sponsored medical students at the University of Leeds to perform undergraduate research in the LURE, donating over £60,000 every year.[31] In 2010 the scheme was extended with a commitment of £500,000 over the following five years.[32] 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. DeathPolice and paramedics were called to Savile's house at Roundhay, Leeds,[33] at 12:10 pm on Saturday, 29 October 2011, where they found his body.[3] He was two days short of his 85th birthday.

He had recently been treated in hospital for pneumonia, and police said that they were not treating his death as suspicious.[33] He will be buried in Leeds on 2 November 2011. WorksBooks Jimmy Savile, As it happens, ISBN 0-214-20056-6, Barrie & Jenkins 1974 (autobiography) Jimmy Savile, Love is an Uphill Thing, ISBN 0-340-19925-3, Coronet 1976 (softback edition of As it Happens) Jimmy Savile, God'll Fix It, ISBN 0-264-66457-4, Mowbray, Oxford 1979 Recordings 1962, "Ahab the Arab" with Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. Decca, F11493[34][35] References1.^ Anthea Lipsett. "'Jim Fixes it for medical students The Guardian 14 July 2009". Guardian. . Retrieved 30 October 2011.

2.^ Paul Taylor, Popular Music Since 1955: A Critical Guide To The Literature (Mansell Pub., 1985). ISBN 0720117275 3.^ a b "Veteran Star Sir Jimmy Savile Dies Aged 84". Sky News. 29 October 2011. . Retrieved 29 October 2011. 4.^ Barratt, Nick (17 March 2007). "Family detective: Jimmy Savile – Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph (London). . Retrieved 28 July 2008. 5.^ Miller, Harland (27 April 2004). "Harland Miller on Jimmy Savile: inventor of hip-hop style". The Guardian (London). . Retrieved 28 July 2008. 6.^ Brewster, Bill; Frank Browghton. "DJ Awards-History". djawards.com. Archived from the original on 23 March 2008. . Retrieved 28 July 2008. 7.^ Donovan, Paul (1991). The Radio Companion. London: HarperCollins.

p. 198. ISBN 0246136480. . Retrieved 3 July 2011. 8.^ "Jimmy Savile". DJHistory.com. . Retrieved 16 January 2011. 9.^ "Ilford Recorder Ilford Palais". Ilfordrecorder.co.uk. . Retrieved 20 August 2010. 10.^ Smith, Graham. "Jim's Fix has been to". Retired Magazine. . Retrieved 1 August 2011. 11.^ "Tour of Britain's long ride for respect". 4 May 2007. . Retrieved 18 December 2008. 12.^ "In bed with Jimmy". The Guardian (London). 11 April 2000. . Retrieved 18 December 2008. 13.^ "Sixties Pop and Music Television 1960–64". Sixties City. . Retrieved 17 September 2007. 14.^ "Best Louis Theroux Documentary Film On Earth - Best Things On Earth". Btoe.com. 21 April 2009. .

Retrieved 30 October 2011. 15.^ Channel 4's "50 Greatest Documentaries" 16.^ Oatts, Joanne (26 October 2006). "UKTV brings back 'Jim'll Fix It'". Digital Spy. . Retrieved 26 March 2011. 17.^ Bernadette Strachan, Little White Lies, chapter 21 (Hodder, 2008). ISBN 978-0340-89805-5 18.^ "'Ow's about that, then?". Yorkshire Post. . Retrieved 8 April 2010. 19.^ "Jimmy Savile's famous bench in Scarborough". Scarborough In Pictures. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. . Retrieved 28 July 2008. 20.^ "Meeting of Mensa minds in Wales". news.bbc.co.uk. 17 June 2005. . Retrieved 17 September 2010. 21.^ "Veteran Savile fixes traffic jam". BBC News (BBC).

18 August 2008. . Retrieved 29 October 2011. 22.^ "Obituary: Sir Jimmy Savile". BBC News. 29 October 2011. . Retrieved 29 October 2011. 23.^ "Sir Jimmy robbed of his glasses". BBC News (BBC). 15 November 2007. . Retrieved 28 July 2008. 24.^ "BBC interview". . 25.^ John Shepherd, Continuum Encyclopedia of Music of the World, Volume 1, Media, Industry and Society, page 468 (Continuum, 2003). ISBN 0-8264-6321-5 26.^ "Sir Jimmy Savile: The medallion man with a heart of gold". The Scotsman. 30 October 2010. . Retrieved 30 October 2010. 27.^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45554. p. 12. 31 December 1971. Retrieved 26 November 2010.

28.^ "Runners for Charlotte take on 30-mile Marine challenge". The Guernsey Press. 13 July 2009. . Retrieved 11 June 2010. 29.^ London Gazette: no. 52173. p. 2. 15 June 1990. Retrieved 26 November 2010. 30.^ 'Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends: "When Louis met Jimmy"', BBC documentary, 13 April 2000 31.^ "Jimmy Savile gives young medics a helping hand – University of Leeds". leeds.ac.uk. . Retrieved 18 December 2010. 32.^ "Sir Jimmy's £500,000 for Leeds trainee doctors – Yorkshire Evening Post". yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk. . Retrieved 18 December 2010. 33.^ a b "DJ and TV presenter Jimmy Savile dies, aged 84". BBC News. 29 October 2011. . Retrieved 29 October 2011. 34.^ "Sounds Of The 60s".

soundsofthe60s.com. . Retrieved 28 July 2008. 35.^ "Brian Poole Interview". Rock N' Roll Britain. . Retrieved 28 July 2008. External linksBBC News Obituary Jimmy Savile at the Internet Movie Database Jimmy Savile Biography and Radio 1 audio clips at Radio Rewind BBC article about the "Clunk Click Every Trip" safety belt advert featuring Jimmy Savile, including video of the advert Persondata Name Savile, Jimmy Alternative names Short description English DJ, actor and media personality Date of birth 31 October 1926 Place of birth Leeds, Yorkshire, England Date of death 29 October 2011 Place of death Leeds, Yorkshire, England Retrieved from " " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ongoing investigations connected with Jimmy Savile's abuse investigation - Sir Jimmy Savile dies aged 84 | Radio Times Sir Jimmy Savile dies aged 84 Jim'll Fix It star dies at his home in Leeds Comments Written By 3:00 PM, 29 October 2011 Veteran DJ, broadcaster and charity campaigner Sir Jimmy Savile has died at his home in Leeds, aged 84.

Best known on television for presenting Jim'll Fix It and Top of the Pops, Savile enjoyed a broadcasting career that spanned six decades. *Read tributes from celebrity fans here* Born in Leeds in 1926, Savile first rose to fame as a pioneering disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg in 1958 before moving to BBC Radio 1 in 1968 where he presented Savile's Travels and the discussion show Speakeasy. In 1973 he began presenting Jimmy Savile's Old Record Club, a show that would run for 19-years on Radio 1. On television, Savile became a household name after presenting the first edition of long-running BBC chart show Top of the Pops in 1964. His association with the programme was so important that he would be invited back to co-present the final edition of the show in July 2006. However, for many, it was for Jim'll Fix It that Savile will be best remembered. Beginning in 1975, the show which made dreams of young people come true ran until 1994 on the BBC.

At the height of its popularity, the programme would attract more than 20,000 letters a week asking for Jim to "fix it for them". Known for his outlandish dress sense, cigar chomping and eccentric demeanour, Savile coined a number of catchphrases throughout the years, including, "How's about that, then?", "Now then, now then, now then", "Goodness gracious" and "Guys and gals". Savile continued to appear on radio and television after leaving the BBC. He hosted radio shows for a number of regional networks in the 1990s and was the subject of a Louis Theroux documentary. He appeared on This is Your Life twice and was introduced to a new generation of fans in 2006 when he took part in Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 4. Off the screen, he was a prolific charity campaigner. In the course of running more than 200 charity marathons and various other activities, it is thought he raised more than £40 million for good causes. Savile received an OBE in 1971 and was knighted by the Queen in 1990. Like this?

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Question: Which knighted Leeds born 'fixer' died in October 2011?
Answer: SIR JIMMY SAVILE