"Now then, now then boys and girls!"
I have never liked putting bad news onto Blogs but sometimes you need to, if for no other reason than to applaud someone who has passed away who had a great affect or had some significance in peoples lives. That person, I am sorry to say is the great Sir Jimmy Savile.
Jimmy Savile or, to give him his full (and well deserved) title Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE, KSCG, was a unique personality. Born the youngest into a litter of seven children of a bookmakers clerk, Jimmy had a rough time as a 'Bevin Boy' a coal miner who was conscripted during WWII to work down the Yorkshire mines at South Kirkby colliery. It was here that Jimmy had a bad accident, so bad that doctors feared he would not walk again, never mind work again. Jimmy was made of tougher stuff and amazed the medical profession by making a complete and full recovery.
It was in the late forties, after the war, that Jimmy started playing records in dance halls, not bad when you consider that this was the era of live music, Jimmy played the 78's on two old turntables, the first to be using them in this manner, this made him the very first "Disc Jockey" and was the start of a life long carreer in music and entertainment.
Jimmy was the first presenter of what was to become the most iconic music programme of the 20th century, Top of the Pops. many years later, Jimmy was invited back to host and end the very last TOTP and ended the show saying "It's number 1 and still, Top of the Pops!". It wasn't "The pops" that made Jimmy Savile a mega star though, it was a childrens programme called 'Jim'll Fix It!' in which Jimmy gave children of all ages (adults included) to do something they have only dreamt of. At it's height, Jim'll Fix It was getting 20 thousand letters per week! The show ran from 1975 until 1994 and made many dreams come true.
Not content with being a mega star, Jimmy ran countless marathons and raised more than 40 million pounds for charities as well as working "hands on" in hospitals, including Broadmoor high security hospital.
Jimmy Savile was awarded a knighthood by Her majesty the Queen as well as receiving a Papal knighthood.
Although a shrewd business man, he lived a frugal lifestyle, very rarely buying himself new clothing and living in the house he shared for years with his beloved mother whom he reffered to as "The Duchess".
Jimmy Savile passed away two days before his 85th birthday at his home in Roundhay, Leeds. Tributes pured in from the great and the good and in true Blogmeister tradition, here is a link to some of the best of the tributes paid to this very rare and strange and eccentric "Bloke"
http://www.jamaicantreasures.com
Email lisa@jamaicantreasures.com
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