Publisher's Synopsis
In 1952, a young Australian stepped off a ferry in Dover with dreams of being a famous portrait painter like his grandfather. He could paint, play the piano, write songs, ride a bike with no hands and swim 110 metres backstroke in eighty seconds flat. If Rolf Harris seems to have been with us forever, that's because he has. After nearly fifty years on stage and screen, he is one of the most loved, respected and enduring figures in British showbusiness. He was there at the very beginning of television in the UK and is still there now. And although he calls himself 'a lucky amateur', millions would disagree. We have grown up watching him draw cartoons, paint big pictures, wobble his board and talk to animals and their owners. Now, in his long overdue autobiography, Rolf Harris charts his rise from the dusty streets of Bassendean in Western Australia, to becoming a household name on both sides of the world. Along the way there are triumphs and disasters, revelations and regrets. He has worked with the likes of Tony Hancock and Woody Allen, jousted with John Lennon and had the Beatles singing 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport' with their own lyrics.;Thirty years later he was voted the most popular act ever at Glastonbury and had 86,000 people screaming his name. Re-born as a rock singer and award-winning television presenter, one newspaper labelled Rolf Harris, the 'Ultimate Renaissance Man'. In reality, he is proof positive that if you live long enough, you get more than one bite at the cherry.
