Max Clifford
Clifford at the Institute of Fundraising National Convention in 2011
Born	Maxwell Frank Clifford[1] (1943-04-06) 6 April 1943 (age 69) Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England[1]
Occupation	Publicist
Years active	1970–present
Spouse	Elizabeth Porter (m. 1967–2003) «start: (1967-06-03)–end+1: (2003-03-09)»"Marriage: Elizabeth Porter to Max Clifford" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Max_Clifford) (her death); 1 child Jo Westwood (m. 2010) «start: (2010-04-03)»"Marriage: Jo Westwood to Max Clifford" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Max_Clifford)

Maxwell Frank Clifford (born 6 April 1943) is an English publicist, considered the highest-profile and best-known publicist in the United Kingdom.^[2] Although his client range is varied, he is a controversial figure for often representing unpopular clients (such as those accused or convicted of crimes) and acting as an agent to people selling "kiss-and-tell" stories to tabloid newspapers.

A traditional Labour supporter, Clifford openly vowed to bring down the government of John Major because he personally felt that the National Health Service was mismanaged, having dealt with the NHS in attempting to obtain treatment for his daughter, who has juvenile idiopathic arthritis. While he is primarily known for helping to bring damaging allegations to light, he insists that today most of his work is concerned with concealment of stories.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Maxwell Frank Clifford was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey in 1943.^[1][3] His parents were Frank Clifford, an electrician, and Lilian (née Boffee).^[3] Born into a poor family, Clifford was the youngest of four children^[4] (eldest sister, two brothers) by nearly 10 years to his next sibling. The family survived their father's regular bouts of unemployment, gambling and alcoholism through handouts from their grandmother and latterly from his sister's employment as PA to the London Vice President of Morgan Guarantee Trust Bank.^[1]

Leaving school at 15 with no qualifications, and after being sacked within four months of his first job at Ely's department store in Wimbledon, Clifford's brother Bernard used his print union connections to gain Clifford a job as editorial assistant on the Eagle comic. When the publication moved premises, Clifford took redundancy and bought his first house and gained work with the South London Press company to train as a journalist.^[1]

Early work as a publicist[link]

After working in newspapers for a few years, writing an occasional record/music column and running a disco, Clifford replied to an advertisement and joined as the second member of the EMI press office in 1962,^[4] under Chief Press Officer Syd Gillingham. As the youngest and the only trained journalist in a team of four, Clifford claims he was given the job of promoting an unknown and unwanted group called The Beatles early in their career, including of their first tour of the United States.^[1]

After Gillingham left EMI, he asked Clifford to join him at Chris Hutchins' PR agency.^[1] Among the artists they represented were Paul and Barry Ryan, who introduced Clifford to their stepfather, impresario Harold Davidson who handled the UK affairs of Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.^[1]

In 1970 aged 27, and after Gillingham retired, Clifford left Hutchins and started his own agency named Max Clifford Associates.^[1] Based in the offices of Joe Cocker's manager, he started off by representing Sinatra, Cocker, Paul and Barry Ryan, Don Partridge, and Marvin Gaye. He later also represented Muhammad Ali and Marlon Brando.^[1]

Freddie Starr[link]

On 13 March 1986, The Sun carried as its main headline: "FREDDIE STARR ATE MY HAMSTER" - one of the most famous British tabloid newspaper headlines of all time. According to the story invented by Clifford, Starr had been staying at the home of Vince McCaffrey (who was co-writing Starr's biography at the time), and his 23-year-old girlfriend Lea La Salle in Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire when the incident took place. Starr was alleged to have returned home from a performance at a Manchester nightclub in the small hours of the morning and demanded that La Salle make him a sandwich. When she refused, he went into the kitchen and put her pet hamster, 'Supersonic', between two slices of bread and proceeded to eat it.^[1]

Clifford counter spun the story the next day, when he flew with a journalist from The Sun to Starr's home in Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire with another hamster the newspaper had called Sandwich, which was photographed with claimed vegetarian Starr. Starr now admits in interviews that this story was untrue, but brought him much-needed publicity for his forthcoming tour.^[1]

The story was one of the first examples where, rather than PR agents managing what went into the media or confirming a journalist's storyline, Clifford created a fast-selling story which he sold to the media, and its counter line follow-up. As a result, it brought Clifford to the British public's attention.^[1] Clifford and Starr ended their connection shortly afterwards, and Clifford later used background material to fuel the media storylines around Starr's later revelations during his divorce of wife battering, alcoholism, and drug taking.^[1]

Pamella Bordes[link]

Clifford was approached by a friendly madam of a brothel who had provided Clifford's client with various services, worried about publicity from an investigative reporter from the News of the World. Clifford asked the madam to reveal details of her girls and clients, and found that one prostitute, Pamella Bordes, was simultaneously dating: Andrew Neil (then editor of The Sunday Times); Donald Trelford (then editor of The Observer); Conservative minister for sport Colin Moynihan and billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.^[5][6][7] Clifford rang News of the World editor Patsy Chapman and drip-fed her the story of Bordes through the investigative reporter she was using on the madam. The story, published in March 1989 under the headline "CALL GIRL WORKS IN COMMONS", created a near Christine Keeler-like image for Bordes when it went to press, since it was discovered she had a House of Commons security pass arranged by MPs David Shaw and Henry Bellingham. Clifford claims Bordes was never his client, and that he earned his fee for "writing" the story, which ultimately served the purpose of avoiding the madam any adverse publicity or court case.^[1]

Mohamed Fayed[link]

The controversial then boss of Harrods Mohamed Fayed retained Max Clifford Associates in July 2000 to 'polish up' his image.^[8] After having paid the politician Neil Hamilton to ask questions in the House of Commons in the now notorious 'cash-for-questions' scandal, Fayed and Hamilton became high profile enemies when the latter revealed the fact during a court case. Shortly after Fayed retained Clifford, Hamilton and his wife Christine were both arrested on rape charges which were later found to be false. Clifford subsequently paid the Hamiltons an undisclosed sum in damages on behalf of the third party accuser.^[9]

Fabricated rape claims[link]

In 2005 Clifford paid an undisclosed sum in libel damages to Neil Hamilton after he had represented Nadine Milroy-Sloan, who was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice after fabricating rape allegations against Hamilton. Clifford did not face any criminal charges over the case. ^[10] However, the judge in the case pointed out that Clifford had offered the offender £80,000 in connection with the claims ^[11]

Clients[link]

Clifford has since represented various clients, including: David Copperfield; Mohamed Al-Fayed; Simon Cowell; brain-damaged boxer Michael Watson; Liverpool left-wing politician Derek Hatton, for whom Clifford created an affair in order to change his image;^[1] former MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson; Norfolk farmer Tony Martin, who was imprisoned for fatally shooting a burglar; Rebecca Loos, when she negotiated with the press about her alleged affair with England football captain David Beckham;^[1] Cheryl Cole; Celebrity Big Brother 2007 winner Shilpa Shetty; and Jade Goody, in the period of the reality star's cervical cancer and death.

Clifford represents Gillian McKeith, saying of her doctorate in nutrition potentially being misconstrued as a medical degree by viewers of her advertisements: "personally, I wish it had never been mentioned. She never needed it, and it's done nothing but cause her embarrassment."^[12]

Reporter Louis Theroux followed Clifford in the BBC Two 2002 programme When Louis Met... Max Clifford. During filming, it appeared that Clifford was trying to set up Theroux during a PR stunt in Sainsbury's. It backfired after Clifford was heard on his microphone lying, unaware it was still on. Clifford is regarded as being one of the shrewdest practitioners of his trade, and in July 2005 he told reporters that he would not represent Michael Jackson after he was found innocent of child abuse charges, saying: "It would be the hardest job in PR after [representing] Saddam Hussein".^[13]

Gay clients[link]

Clifford has given assistance to clients who wish to conceal their sexual orientation from the public. Clifford claimed that he has been approached twice by major football clubs to help make players present a "straight" image.^[14] In an interview with Pink News reported on 5 August 2009, Clifford said that if a gay football player came out, his career would be over: “To my knowledge there is only one top-flight professional gay footballer who came out - Justin Fashanu. He ended up committing suicide. I have been advising a top premiership star who is bisexual. If it came out that he had gay tendencies, his career would be over in two minutes. Should it be? No, but if you go on the terraces and hear the way fans are, and also, that kind of general attitude that goes with football, it’s almost like going back to the dark ages.”^[15] Clifford has said so far none of his clients have been outed.^[1]

In December 2009, he told The Independent on Sunday that he has represented two high-profile gay Premier League footballers in the past five years and has advised them to stay in the closet because football "remains in the dark ages, steeped in homophobia".^[16]

The Major government[link]

In light of Clifford's view of the deteriorating state of the NHS, and the moral difference with members of the John Major government, Clifford worked to expose stories to help the Labour Party in to power. Although not instrumental in exposing David Mellor's affair with Antonia de Sancha, Clifford's battle in representing de Sancha against the contrived post-spin story of the "family man Mellor" handled by counter PR Tim Bell ultimately derailed Major's 'Back to Basics' agenda. Clifford invented the story which claimed Mellor made love in Chelsea F.C. football kit, though he was blocked from mentioning it in his memoirs.^[17] Clifford also helped to expose Jeffrey Archer's perjury in the 1980s during his candidacy for the post of Mayor of London.^[1]

In 2005, Clifford paid damages to settle defamation proceedings brought by Neil and Christine Hamilton after he represented a woman who was later found to have falsely accused the Hamiltons of sexual assault.^[9]

The Blair government[link]

Although a supporter of the Labour party, Clifford's approach in dealing with the Blair government was similar to that which he employed with Major's preceding Conservative government. The first instance of this was the story of Welsh Assembly leader Ron Davies. Then Clifford was accused by David Blunkett at the beginning of November 2005 of having a role in his second resignation. This derived from claims made on behalf of a much younger woman, who had become involved with Blunkett, over Blunkett's business interests, which were published in The Times. Later that week Clifford was accused of arranging a distraction from the assault made by his friend Rebekah Wade on her husband, EastEnders actor Ross Kemp, via the "coincidence" of the other "Mitchell brother", Steve McFadden being in a similar incident with an ex-partner. Clifford denied all responsibility.

On 26 April 2006, Clifford represented John Prescott's diary secretary Tracey Temple, in selling her story for "an awful lot more" than £100,000 to the Mail on Sunday. The story was about the two year affair between Prescott and Temple which took place between 2002 and 2004.^[18]

On 4 May 2006, Clifford announced his intention to expose politicians who fail to abide by the standards expected of them in public office. He called his team of undercover investigators "a dedicated and loyal bunch".^[1]

Unpaid work and death threats[link]

Clifford sometimes works for no payment. A contestant on the BBC gameshow The Weakest Link who was a prostitute turned to Clifford for help with tabloid harassment: he did not charge her because he claimed he felt sorry for her. He also worked without fee for Martyn and Kay Tott, who tried to get £3m from Camelot on the winning lottery ticket they bought and mislaid.^[1]

Clifford has received death threats demanding that he sever links with the five men who were suspected of the killing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. He says he has never represented them, but had merely put them in touch with ITV interviewer Martin Bashir. He also received death threats when he represented O.J. Simpson during his trial.^[1]

Jade Goody[link]

He has recently worked as a publicist for Jade Goody. The media publicising the dangers of cervical cancer after Goody's diagnosis with the disease is credited with improving the uptake of cervical smears in the UK.^[19]

Carter Ruck and 'Starsuckers'[link]

On 23 October 2009, the makers of the documentary film Starsuckers reported that they had received an email from the law firm Carter Ruck, acting on behalf of Clifford and threatening them with an injunction over their film.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Clifford married Elizabeth Louise Porter at St Barnabas Church in Southfields, London on 3 June 1967. Elizabeth died in Sutton, Greater London^[21] on 8 March 2003, nine months after being diagnosed with lung cancer; the couple had been together for 40 years.^[22] Their only child, daughter Louise (born 1 June 1971), has lived with juvenile idiopathic arthritis since childhood. They live in Hersham, Surrey.^{[citation needed]}

On 4 April 2010, Clifford married his former PA Jo Westwood; guests included Des O'Connor, Bobby Davro and Theo Paphitis.^[23]

On 17 April 2008, Clifford announced on ITV1's This Morning show that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer six months previously. After treatment, his cancer went into remission 12 months later.^[24]

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Clifford ran and took part in discreet weekly adult birthday parties for his friends and clients in South London.^[25] This brought him into contact with various madams and prostitutes, a connection which still serves him well in his business to satisfy the often bizarre needs of his clients, as well as an early warning system of interesting behaviour of various persons.^[1]

A life-long fan of Jaguar cars, after owning a Bentley Arnage T,^[26] he now drives a Rolls-Royce Ghost.^{[citation needed]}

Motivation[link]

Clifford says what motivates him is much more than just money - he says he cannot stand hypocrisy in public life, and reserves a particular disgust for lying politicians, and watched with growing anger what he thought happened to the health service over the past 20 years.^[1] For this reason, and because of his working class background, Clifford is a traditional Labour supporter who worked to bring down the government of Major because he felt that the National Health Service was being mismanaged.^[1]

Charity works[link]

Clifford developed epilepsy at the age of 46 as a result of early life brain scarring^[27] and was banned from driving for 12 months as a result. He does a considerable amount of fund-raising and media work for a children's hospice at the Royal Marsden Hospital of which he is a patron. He also handled the publicity for the Daniels family and helped set up the Rhys Daniels Trust from resultant media fees to combat Batten's Disease.^[1] Clifford is also a patron of the Chertsey, Surrey based radio station Hospital Radio Wey. As of Summer 2010 he is the Vice President of Young Epilepsy.

Tips for fame[link]

In a show for Fame TV in December 2006, Clifford gave his tips on gaining fame in the world today as:^[28]

1. Appear on a reality series
2. Enter a talent contest
3. Be abysmal on a talent show
4. Gain fame by association
5. Date a celebrity
6. Flaunt your body
7. Date a Royal Family member
8. Make a home sex video
9. Be a success on MySpace
10. Be in the right place at the right time

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Bio at Speakers UK
• Monthly column at Surrey Life magazine
• Rhys Daniels Trust
• Hospital Radio Wey
• The National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy
• Works by or about Max Clifford in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Max Clifford collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Max Clifford: Behind the headlines, BBC News, 11 August 2001

Freddie Starr (born Frederick Leslie Fowell on 9 January 1943)^{[citation needed]} is an English comedian who became famous in the early 1970s. He is also an impressionist and singer, with a chart album After the Laughter and UK Top 10 single, "It's You", in March 1974 to his credit.^[1]

Early career[link]

Under his real name, he appeared as a teenager in the film Violent Playground in 1958. In the early 1960s, Starr was the lead singer of the Merseybeat pop group The Midnighters. The group was promoted by the manager of the Beatles, Brian Epstein, and was recorded on the Decca label by Joe Meek, the record producer of the single "Telstar". During this period Starr performed in nightclubs in Hamburg and was an acquaintance of the Beatles.

Still relatively unknown to television audiences, Starr was "discovered" through the talent show, Opportunity Knocks where he appeared as part of comedy/beat act Freddie Starr and The Delmonts.^[2] He appeared on the 1970 Royal Variety Performance. From 1972, he was one of the main performers in the television series Who Do You Do,^[3] and also a regular in Joker's Wild. He went on to star in his own series.

"Freddie Starr ate my hamster"[link]

Freddie Starr was the subject of one of the most famous British tabloid newspaper headlines. On 13 March 1986 The Sun carried as its main headline: FREDDIE STARR ATE MY HAMSTER. According to the text of the story, Starr had been staying at the home of Vince McCaffrey and his 23-year-old girlfriend Lea La Salle in Birchwood, Cheshire when the incident took place. Starr was claimed to have returned home from a performance at a Manchester nightclub in the early hours of the morning and demanded that Lea La Salle make him a sandwich. When she refused, he went into the kitchen and put her pet hamster Supersonic between two slices of bread and proceeded to eat it.

Freddie Starr gives his side of the story in his 2001 autobiography Unwrapped. He says that the only time that he ever stayed at Vince McCaffrey's house was in 1979 and that the incident was a complete fabrication. Starr writes in the book: "I have never eaten or even nibbled a live hamster, gerbil, guinea pig, mouse, shrew, vole or any other small mammal". The man behind the hamster story was the British publicist Max Clifford. When asked in a television interview with Esther Rantzen some years later whether Starr really had eaten a hamster, his reply was "Of course not". Clifford was unapologetic, insisting that the story had given a huge boost to Starr's career. In May 2006 the BBC nominated "FREDDIE STARR ATE MY HAMSTER" as one of the top British newspaper headlines of all time.^[4] Starr's frustration at being linked perpetually to the hamster story was expressed in a newspaper interview:

Starr says that the story came about after he made an offhand joke about eating a hamster in a sandwich.^[5]

Later career[link]

In 1994 Freddie Starr was again the subject of tabloid newspaper attention in Britain. Thousands of pounds worth of jewellery went missing from Starr's home where a man named Robin Coxhead worked as a gardener and Coxhead was suspected of stealing it. When questioned by the police, Coxhead claimed to have given oral sex to Starr over a period of five years, and that the jewellery had been given to him as a reward. The case went to court and Coxhead was discredited when he was unable to state whether Starr's penis was circumcised or not. Coxhead was found guilty and sentenced to 15 months in prison in 1995.^[6]

Starr is a keen supporter of Everton and at the height of his television celebrity he appeared on ITVs coverage of the build up to the 1984 F A cup final, in which Everton defeated Elton John's Watford 2-0, when he appeared on the lawn outside the hotel where the Everton team were staying on the morning of the game and gave an impromptu comedy performance to the players who watched from the windows of their rooms.

Apart from the occasional guest appearance, Starr has not been seen regularly on British television since the late 1990s. ITV's The Freddie Starr Show, broadcast between 1996 and 1998, was his last major work for the medium.^[7] His appearances on LWT's An Audience with Freddie Starr in 1996 and Another Audience with Freddie Starr in 1997 were critically acclaimed, although Starr admits in his autobiography that his television appearances often failed to capture the chaotic atmosphere of his live performances.

In 1994 he was the owner of Miinnehoma, the winning horse in the 1994 Grand National race.^[8][9] Starr was not present on the day due to television commitments elsewhere, but gave an unusual post race interview live on television to presenter Des Lynam via a mobile phone, with the television viewers only able to hear Lynam's responses to what Starr was saying.

In 1999, he presented the game show Beat the Crusher. In 2004 he appeared on television as one of the celebrities in the second series of the ITV1 reality show, Celebrity Fit Club, where he was made team captain, but was demoted three weeks later for not taking the role seriously.

Starr gave an interview to the Herald Express, the local newspaper for Torbay in Devon which was published on 20 July 2007. In it he says that his father was violent and broke both his legs, a claim which does not appear in his 2001 autobiography Unwrapped. He says that he was taken away from home for two years at the age of six after his father beat him up. In Unwrapped, Starr gives speech problems as the reason why he spent two years away from home as a child.^[10]

In January 2008, Starr and his wife Donna took part in Celebrity Wife Swap, exchanging with Samantha Fox and her partner Myra.^[11]

In March 2009, Starr appeared in Living with the Dead, a reality television show about people being haunted by ghosts. Freddie claimed his 1930s house was being haunted by an evil entity which he called George. During the show it appeared that he was possessed by this entity. It is later revealed that the entity's name is Roger. During the episode, Freddie says that since he was a boy he was always spiritual and firmly believed in ghosts.^[12]

Starr was due to tour in 2010, but the tour was cancelled when he suffered a major heart attack in April 2010, resulting in quadruple heart bypass surgery.^[13][14] The tour dates were rescheduled for 2011 after he recovered.^[15]

Starr participated in the 2011 series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here, but withdrew due to health reasons.^[16]

In December 2011, Freddie Starr became the official patron of Kidz Foundation Children's Charity, a charity that provides grants to families with long term sick or disabled children.^[17]

Stand-up videos[link]

See also[link]

• Rock Star Ate My Hamster

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Unwrapped - My Autobiography by Freddie Starr with Alan Wightman ISBN 1-85227-961-3

External links[link]

• Official website
• Unofficial Website (backed by Freddie's Management)
• Freddie Starr discography at Discogs
• Freddie Starr at the Internet Movie Database
• Patron of Kidz Foundation Children's Charity

Sir Jimmy Savile OBE, KCSG
Savile in 2006
Born	James Wilson Vincent Savile (1926-10-31)31 October 1926 Leeds, England
Died	29 October 2011(2011-10-29) (aged 84) Roundhay, Leeds, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	DJ, actor, columnist, television and radio personality
Years active	1958–2011
Television	Jim'll Fix It, Top of the Pops
Religion	Roman Catholic

Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE KCSG (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 music chart show Top of the Pops. He was also known for his fundraising and support of various charities, particularly Stoke Mandeville Hospital. He was widely described as a philanthropist and was honoured for his efforts.^[1][2]

Early life[link]

Savile was born in Leeds, the youngest of seven children (Mary, Marjory, Vincent, John, Joan, Christina and James) born to Agnes Monica (née Kelly) and Vincent Joseph Marie Savile, a bookmaker's clerk and insurance agent.^[3] Savile almost died of pneumonia at the age of five months.

He was a Bevin Boy, conscripted during World War II to work as a coal miner at South Kirkby Colliery, West Yorkshire, England. He suffered serious spinal injuries in a mine explosion and spent a long period in recuperation.^[4] 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 had been illustrated in the BBC Handbook in 1929 and were advertised for sale in Gramophone magazine in 1931.^[7])

He became a semi-professional sportsman, competing in the 1951 Tour of Britain cycle race^[8] and working as a professional wrestler.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11] 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.^[12]

Radio[link]

Savile started his radio career working as a Radio Luxembourg DJ from 1958 to 1967. He ran the Teen and Twenty Disc Club (TTDC),^[13] 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.

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 and October 1989, playing top tens from the years 1957 to 1987.

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.

Television[link]

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.^[14]

On New Year's Day, 1964, he presented the first edition of the BBC music chart television programme Top of the Pops from a television studio – a converted church (now demolished) – in Dickenson Road Rusholme, Manchester. 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. When interviewed by the BBC on 20 November 2008 and asked about the revival of Top of The Pops for a Christmas comeback, he commented that he would welcome a "cameo role" in the programme.^[15]

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. 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.

Savile is also remembered for a series of Public Information Films promoting road safety, notably "Clunk Click Every Trip" which was promoted the use of the car 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. 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". After two series, Clunk, Click was replaced by Jim'll Fix It which he presented from 1975 to 1994.

He was interviewed by Dr. Anthony Clare for the radio series In the Psychiatrist's Chair, where Savile appeared to be "a man without feelings."^[16] In 1995 he was interviewed at length by Andrew Neil for the TV series Is This Your Life? (made by Open Media for Channel 4).^[17] 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" was voted one of the top fifty documentaries of all time in a survey by Britain's Channel Four.^[18]

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 showed some of the most popular 'fixits' ever, recreating them with the same people, as well as making new dreams come true.^[19]

Personal life[link]

Savile was famous for his yodel^[20] and his 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 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.^[21] In July 2005 he was named as one of the Radio Times "Top 40 most eccentric TV presenters of all time".

He was a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists^[22] and drove a Rolls-Royce.^[23] He was also a member of Mensa.^[24] He was chieftain of the Lochaber Highland Games for many years, and owned a house in Glen Coe. His appearance on the final edition of Top of the Pops in 2006 was pre-recorded as it clashed with the games.^[25] While still alive he arranged for a bench, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, to be dedicated to his memory, with the words 'Jimmy Savile – but not just yet!' added as an inscription.^[26][27]

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's personal relationships were rarely the subject of media report or comment during his lifetime. He claimed in his autobiography that he had had many intimate relations with members of the opposite sex, describing his first introduction to women in detail and then adding: ".. there have been trains and, with apologies to the hit parade, boats and planes (I am a member of the 40,000 ft club) and bushes and fields, corridors, doorways, floors, chairs, slag heaps, desks and probably everything except the celebrated chandelier and ironing board."^[28] Savile claimed that the key to his success on Jim'll Fix It had been that he disliked children, although he later admitted to saying this to deflect scrutiny of his personal life. He did not own a computer, explaining that he did not want anybody to think that he was downloading child pornography.^[29]

In November 2007 Savile was robbed 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".^[30]

Charitable works[link]

Aside from his TV and radio work, Savile carried out a considerable amount of charity work and is estimated to have raised some £40 million for charity.^[31]

One of the causes for which he raised money was 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 also raised money for St Francis Ward – a ward for children and teens with spinal cord Injuries.

Savile also worked as a volunteer at Leeds General Infirmary and at Broadmoor Hospital. In 1988 he was appointed chairman of a task force set up to advise on governing Broadmoor. Savile had his own room at both Stoke Mandeville and Broadmoor.^[32]

From 1974 - 1988 he was the honorary president of Phab (Physically Handicapped in the Able Bodied community).^[33]

He also sponsored medical students at the University of Leeds to perform undergraduate research in the Leeds University Research Enterprise scholarship scheme (known as LURE), donating over £60,000 every year.^[34] In 2010 the scheme was extended with a commitment of £500,000 over the following five years.^[35] Following Savile's death in October 2011 it was confirmed that a bequest had been made to allow continued support for the LURE programme.^[36]

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.

Honours[link]

• In 1971 he was awarded the OBE,^[37] 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 three civilians to date to complete the Royal Marine Commando speed march, 30 miles across Dartmoor carrying 30 lb of kit.^[38] The other civilians were former Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones and film maker Chris Terrill.
• In 1990 he was knighted for his services in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.^[39] The same year he was honoured with a Papal knighthood making him a Knight Commander of Saint Gregory the Great (KCSG).^[40]
• He held an honorary doctorate of law (LLD) from the University of Leeds.^[41]
• He was an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists (FRCR).^[42]
• He was a Knight of Malta.^[42]
• He was a Freeman of the Borough of Scarborough^[43]

Death[link]

Savile's coffin on display in the Queen's Hotel, Leeds, 8 November 2011

Police and paramedics were called to Savile's home at Roundhay, Leeds,^[44] at 12:10 pm on 29 October 2011, where they found his body.^[45] 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.^[44] His closed satin gold coffin was displayed at the Queens Hotel in Leeds^[46][47] together with the last cigar he smoked and his two This Is Your Life books.^[48] About 4,000 people visited to pay tribute.^[49] His funeral took place at Leeds Cathedral on 9 November 2011,^[50] and he was buried on 10 November at 12:30 pm at Woodlands Cemetery in the seaside town of Scarborough.^[51][52] As his will had specified, his coffin was inclined at 45 degrees to fulfil his wish to "see the sea".^[52][53] The coffin was later encased in concrete "as a security measure".^[54]

Works[link]

Books

• 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 (single)^[55][56]

References[link]