Editing Rolf Harris (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Rolf Harris (27 January 1945).jpeg|thumb|upright|right|At 14, he swam the fastest time, swimming from scratch, in the "Swim through Bassendean" handicap race, 27 January 1945.<ref>On Saturday, 27 January 1945, Harris swam in the main race of the day at a swimming competition held to raise funds for the Bassendean Child Development Centre. He came a close second in the featured handicap race, the "Swim through Bassendean". Swimming from scratch, he swam the fastest time ([http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44995399 Swimming Picnic], ''The West Australian'', (Monday, 29 January 1945), p.2.)</ref>]]
Harris was born on 30 March 1930 in [[Bassendean, Western Australia|Bassendean]], a suburb of [[Perth]], Western Australia,<ref name=StateLibrary>{{cite web|url=http://m.slwa.wa.gov.au/media/rolf_harris|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419053123/http://m.slwa.wa.gov.au/media/rolf_harris|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 April 2013|title=Rolf Harris|publisher=State Library of Western Australia|date=25 October 2011|access-date=10 May 2015}}</ref> to Agnes Margaret (née Robbins) and Cromwell ("Crom") Harris, who had both emigrated from [[Cardiff]], Wales. He grew up in [[Wembley, Western Australia|Wembley]], Perth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31070739 |title=Birth Notice, ''The West Australian'', (Monday, 31 March 1930), p.1 |newspaper=West Australian |date=31 March 1930 |publisher=Trove.nla.gov.au |access-date=25 May 2012}}</ref> He was named after [[Thomas Alexander Browne|Rolf Boldrewood]], the pseudonym of an Australian writer whom his mother admired.<ref name=StateLibrary/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Longridge|first1=Chris|title=How Rolf Harris became famous|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10919491/How-Rolf-Harris-became-famous.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10919491/How-Rolf-Harris-became-famous.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date= 30 June 2014|access-date=2 August 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> After his later fame, Harris was often referred to within Australia as "the boy from Bassendean".<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/people/Transcripts/s1072655.htm|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=23 March 2004 |title=George Negus Tonight – People, Episode 26 "Rolf Harris"|access-date=9 June 2012}}</ref> As a child he owned a dog called Buster Fleabags, about whom he later wrote a book (for the UK [[Quick Reads Initiative]]).<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.quickreads.org.uk/content/buster-fleabags |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317062331/http://www.quickreads.org.uk/content/buster-fleabags |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 March 2011 |publisher=Quick Reads |title=Buster Fleabags by Rolf Harris |access-date=29 January 2012}}</ref>

Harris attended Bassendean State School and [[Perth Modern School]] in [[Subiaco, Western Australia|Subiaco]], later gaining a Bachelor of Arts from the [[University of Western Australia]] and a Diploma of Education from [[Claremont Teachers' College]] (now [[Edith Cowan University]]).<ref name="Amelia2006-01-01">Hill, Amelia. (1 January 2006). "[https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/jan/01/art.australia Wizard of Oz]". ''[[The Observer]]''; retrieved 19 April 2013.</ref><ref>Phillips, Yasmine. (11 September 2011). [http://www.perthnow.com.au/rolf-harris-reveals-the-secret-to-his-success/story-fn6mh6b5-1226134204818 "Rolf Harris reveals the secret to his success"], perthnow.com; retrieved 19 April 2013.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=May 2023}} While he was just 16, and still a student at Perth Modern School, his self-portrait in oils was one of the 80 works (out of 200 submitted) accepted to be hung in the [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]] as an entry in the 1947 [[Archibald Prize]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59471255|title=26 January 1947: AT HOME IN WATER & OILS|work=nla.gov.au|date=26 January 1947 |access-date=21 February 2015}}</ref> He painted a portrait of the then [[Lieutenant Governor of Western Australia]], Sir [[James Mitchell (Australian politician)|James Mitchell]], for the 1948 Archibald Prize.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49569681|title=Youth Paints Picture of West Aus. Knight|newspaper=[[The Barrier Miner]]|location=Broken Hill, NSW|date=8 September 1947|access-date=5 November 2012|page=5|publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He won the 1949 [[Claude Hotchin]] prize for oil colours with his landscape "On a May Morning, [[Guildford, Western Australia|Guildford]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47687462|title=Awards to Artists|newspaper=[[The West Australian]]|location=Perth|date=3 December 1949 |access-date=20 January 2013|page=16|publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

As an adolescent and young adult Harris was a champion swimmer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44997120|date=10 February 1945|title=SWIM THROUGH PERTH. REVIVAL TOMORROW. Handicaps ...|work=nla.gov.au|access-date=21 February 2015}}</ref> In 1946, he was the Australian Junior {{convert|110|yd|m|abbr=off}} Backstroke Champion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50323781|title=04 Feb 1946 – JUNIOR BACKSTROKE CHAMPION.|work=nla.gov.au|date=4 February 1946 |access-date=21 February 2015}}</ref> He was also the Western Australian state champion over a variety of distances and strokes during the period from 1948 to 1952.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26657126|date=9 December 1949|title=Swim Stars Get 'Tuned Up'|work=nla.gov.au|access-date=21 February 2015}}</ref>