A new ABC docuseries examines the shocking downfall of entertainer Rolf Harris, once considered a national treasure and then unmasked as a prolific sexual predator before his death in 2023.
Harris was an Australian-born singer, TV personality, painter, and actor, who rose to worldwide fame for family-friendly songs like Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport and Jake the Peg. But his later years were marred by scandal: Harris was convicted in England in 2014 of the sexual assault of four underage girls and spent three years in jail.
Now, a new two-part ABC documentary Rolf Harris: Primetime Predator features interviews with those close to him to discover how, like fellow child-friendly entertainer Jimmy Savile, Harris was able to “hide in plain sight” for so much of his career, his abuse going unchecked.
Former Promoter Speaks Out
In one “chilling” clip from the doco garnering attention online, Harris’ former promoter Chris “Bear” Brosnan opened up about some of the key moments when he realised that a man he once viewed as something of a father figure had a secret sinister side.
Brosnan said “cracks started to appear” in Harris’ facade when he observed the entertainer meeting women backstage. “He’d grab their hand and he’d just start kissing them all the way up their arm, all the way up their arm to their neck, and he would be kissing them on their neck and on their face and he wouldn’t stop. So it was uncomfortable and the woman had no choice but to sort of giggle it off,” he said.
Disturbing Comment in the Car
Brosnan said one private moment with Harris, which occurred when they were in a car in London coming back from a show, was an example of the star “really crossing that line.” Harris saw two schoolgirls walking down the street and said to Brosnan: “Jesus Christ, couldn’t you just f**k the pair of them?”
“And as I’m sitting there, I’m hearing him say it and I literally said, what the f*** are you talking about? Really, what are you f***ing talking about, Rolf? These are just two little girls, man,” Brosnan said.
He said that looking back on that moment, he thought it was Harris’ way of “testing the water with me, to see: Can I bring Bear on board with my s**t?” That disturbing anecdote struck a chord with viewers when the ABC shared the clip on social media overnight.
Social Media Reactions
“That’s exactly what he was doing – testing boundaries to see what he can get away with. All predators do this in plain sight,” one person commented. “100% he was testing the waters with you,” said another. “The testing is how men structure jokes about women,” another claimed. “Test and if it doesn’t work, claim they ‘were just joking’.”
Harris’ Downfall and Death
Harris died in 2023 aged 93, with his cause of death listed as neck cancer and “frailty of old age”. The once cherished entertainer’s star had fallen so dramatically that news of his death was not even made public until almost a fortnight after his passing, when it was confirmed to the press by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead register office.
Harris was survived by his widow Alwen Hughes, who married him in 1958 and stayed with him throughout his conviction and imprisonment. She died the following year aged 92.
