Jimmy Savile

Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and '' Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known in the United Kingdom for his eccentric image and his charitable work. After his death, hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse made against him were investigated, leading the police to conclude that he had been a predatory sex offender and possibly one of Britain's most prolific. quoting the head of the NSPCC ("It's now looking possible that Jimmy Savile was one fthe most prolific sex offenders the NSPCC has ever come across") and police ("We are dealing with alleged abuse on an unprecedented scale. The profile of this operation has empowered a staggering number of victims to come forward ... Police previously said Savile's alleged catalogue of sex abuse could have spanned six decades"). There had been allegations during his lifetime, but they were dismissed and accusers ignored or disbelieved. Savile took legal action against some accusers.

As a teenager during the Second World War, Savile worked in coal mines as a Bevin Boy and reportedly sustained spinal injuries. He began a career playing records in, and later managing, dance halls, and was said to have been the first disc jockey to use twin turntables to keep music in constant play. In his 20s, he was a professional wrestler. His media career started as a disc jockey at Radio Luxembourg in 1958 and on Tyne Tees Television in 1960, and he developed a reputation for eccentricity and flamboyance. A significant part of his career and public life involved working with children and young people, including visiting schools and hospital wards. At the BBC, he presented the first edition of ''Top of the Pops'' in 1964 and broadcast on Radio 1 from 1968. From 1975 until 1994, he presented ''Jim'll Fix It'', an early Saturday evening television programme which arranged for the wishes of viewers, mainly children, to come true. During his lifetime, he was known for fund-raising and supporting charities and hospitals, in particular Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Leeds General Infirmary and Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire. In 2009, he was described by ''The Guardian'' as a "prodigious philanthropist" and was honoured for his charity work. He was awarded the OBE in 1971 and was knighted in 1990. In 2006, he introduced the last edition of ''Top of the Pops''. Savile died in 2011. He was praised in obituaries for his personal qualities and his work raising an estimated £40 million for charities.

In October 2012, almost a year after his death, an ITV documentary examined claims of sexual abuse by Savile. This led to extensive 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 spanning six decades, describing him as a "predatory sex offender", and later stated that they were pursuing more than 400 lines of inquiry based on the testimony of 300 potential victims via 14 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 June 2014, investigations into Savile's activities at 28 NHS hospitals, including Leeds General Infirmary and Broadmoor psychiatric hospital, concluded that he had sexually assaulted staff and patients aged between 5 and 75 over several decades. Following the sexual abuse scandal, some of his honours were posthumously revoked, and episodes of ''Top of the Pops'' presented by Savile have not been repeated.

Early life

Savile, born at Consort Terrace, in the Burley area of Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, was the youngest of seven children (his elder siblings were Mary, Marjory, Vincent, John, Joan, and Christina) in a Roman Catholic family. His parents were Vincent Joseph Marie Savile (1886–1953), a bookmaker's clerk and insurance agent, and his wife, Agnes Monica Kelly (1886–1972). His paternal grandmother was Scottish.

Savile grew up during the Great Depression, and later claimed, "I was forged in the crucible of want." He described his father as "scrupulously honest but scrupulously broke."

Savile's mother believed he owed his life to the intercession of Margaret Sinclair, a Scottish nun, after he recovered quickly from illness, possibly pneumonia, at the age of two when his mother prayed at Leeds Cathedral after picking up a pamphlet about Sinclair. Savile went to St Anne's Roman Catholic School in Leeds. After leaving school at the age of 14 he worked in an office. At the age of 18 during the Second World War he was conscripted to work as a Bevin Boy and worked in coal mines, where he reportedly suffered spinal injuries from a shot-firer's explosion, and he spent a long period recuperating, wearing a steel corset and for three years walking with the aid of sticks. Following his colliery work, Savile became a scrap metal dealer. Savile started playing records in dance halls in the early 1940s, and claimed to be the first DJ. According to his autobiography, he was the first to use two turntables and a microphone at the Grand Records Ball at the Guardbridge Hotel in 1947, although his claim to have been the first is untrue; twin turntables were illustrated in the ''BBC Handbook'' in 1929 and advertised for sale in ''Gramophone'' magazine in 1931.

He became a semi-professional sportsman, competing in the 1951 Tour of Britain cycle race and working as a professional wrestler. He said:

Savile lived in Salford from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, the later period with Ray Teret

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