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Original poster

To wonder what people really thought of Jimmy Savile when he was alive?

549 replies

BarmyBrunhilde · 11/04/2022 21:42

I'm a millennial, and was only really vaguely aware of who he was really, so watching the recent Netflix documentary I was fairly bemused to see how popular he seemed to be. Obviously he was beloved by the establishment, including the royals, Thatcher etc but he seemed to have massive following among the public.

Everyone now seems to say 'oh yes I always knew he was creepy' but I have to wonder - for those who grow up in the 60s-80s how was he really seen? In the documentary it seems like he had always had crowds of screaming and adoring fans, and they generally seemed none the wiser? It seemed like industry people and his poor victims were the only ones who really had any idea.

OP posts:
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6
notanothertakeaway · 12/04/2022 09:06

I loved Jim'll Fix it.

A friend told me that people who lived near JS in Glencoe didn't like him

Narcoanonymoose · 12/04/2022 09:10

I grew up in Leeds, born late 60s, so a child of the 70s. Didn't like him but not because I sensed something creepy about him, just found him a bit tedious with lame jokes and an attention seeking appearance. Funnily enough my dad met him in Leeds General Infirmary when he was ill. Savile visited the ward and shook his hand. Actually think it cheered him up a bit Confused

AllOfUsAreDead · 12/04/2022 09:10

[quote suckingonchillidogs]@7spanishangels - ah that's so nice to hear about Cheggers, I loved him!

With Savile I remember he used to claim in interviews that he really didn't like children which I thought was odd as he fronted a kids show. Obviously trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes. I presumed he was an eccentric batchelor who had an unhealthy relationship with his mother who he idolised.

Rolf Harris though, that was a shock. He used to cry at sick animals on Animal Hospital, thought he was lovely![/quote]
Yes Rolf Harris was a shock to me too. Never met him in person though, so dunno how he was in person. Maybe that would have made a difference. Saville wasn't a shock, he just oozed creepiness. But it's easy to see why people didn't see it, he was seen as someone who helped people, who raised money for charity. They are supposed to be good people.

MadKittenWoman · 12/04/2022 09:16

Born in the 60s. Savile always creeped me out, as did Stuart Hall. I loved Gary Glitter (I had some sequins off his trousers) and something in me died when I found out about Rolf Harris.

PearlclutchersInc · 12/04/2022 09:17

I remember Jim'll Fix It and he was just yuck. There were always adults you just didnt like as a child.

If I had to say why I couldnt...just.

RaspberryChouxBuns · 12/04/2022 09:21

Rolf Harris was a total shock to me too, although I was having a very casual conversation with an ex police officer colleague back in 2012 and they told me that Rolf was next so if I had any paintings to sell them quick. I laughed and didn't believe them, next thing I know he's been arrested and put on trial.

One that I'm surprised no one has mentioned on this thread (probably for the best) is Max Clifford. I always knew there was something deeply gross about that person but just put it down to the fact he was a media type who made his money in "kiss n tells" which, because of him, were very popular in the 90s and 00s. When it came out that he was accused of sexual assaults I was not surprised at all. Sicko.

Spidey66 · 12/04/2022 09:26

@longwayoff

Does anyone remember the jaw-dropping kids tv programme, I think it was called mini-pops - prepubescent kids with make up dressed as adults, gyrating and thrusting to the tunes of the day? Utterly repulsive paedophile's dream. I think it was too much for the public and it didn't last long but bloody hell! Who commissioned that and put it together?
God I remember that. At first it was like ''oh aren't they cute, dressed up to look like Madonna/Cher/Cyndi Lauper then the mist descended from our eyes and it was gross.

Not sexist so much as racist-The Black and White Minstrel Show. Hard to believe it only came off air late 70s. Plus all the rascist ''comedies'' like Love Thy Neighbour and Mind Your Language and all those awful, awful comedians on Saturday night TV telling ''jokes'' about the Englishman, Irishman and P*i.

*Disclaimer. This is not a word that is in my vocabulary. It is merely used in this context to demonstrate what was socially acceptable back in the day.

Spidey66 · 12/04/2022 09:27

NB should be 2 asterisks there, to spell out a racial slur which I can't even bring myself to type out in full.

Dolphinnoises · 12/04/2022 09:28

I loved Jim’ll Fix It as a little kid. It was a great concept as a show and from memory the “kid gets experience” bit was very well done. I was quite young and just thought JS was being funny and silly. I think, because of the monster he turned out to be, people who saw nothing odd about him (in the face of the fact it was all in not far from plain sight) keep rather quiet about it these days, whereas people who found him creepy talk about it more. I agree the attitude towards children who had gone through puberty was very fucked up in the 70s and even 80s.

As a school kid of 14 or so I heard the rumour he was helping at the morgue at a hospital and having sex with the corpses (raping / interfering with would have been a better description) but that was the way it was put to me - but I didn’t believe it, because there were all sorts of outlandish rumours about celebrities or about life in general as a teenager and it just sounded like malicious nonsense. I was a naive teen and just thought no one would ever want to do that.

Maggie O’Farrell writes about a near-miss with Saville in I Am, I Am, I Am. It’s clear the nurse knows what’s going on and refuses to leave her.

BorderlineHappy · 12/04/2022 09:35

Born in 73 and I watched Jimll Fix It.
And TOTP.
And I never liked him.
I couldn't tell you why.

Grooming then didn't exist.
We had Bill Wyman and Mandy Smith getting married.
Emma Ridley and Amanda De Cadnet going clubbing at 13.
The countdown to Sam Fox being on Page 3.
It was a disgusting time to be a teenager.

And the reason nobody outed JM was because they where all in on it.
If he got caught,they where all caught.
So they kept their gobs shut.

PermanentTemporary · 12/04/2022 09:37

I think there was far more innocence, ignorance and snobbery/sexism than active conspiracy tbh.

Livpool · 12/04/2022 09:44

I was born in 1980 and wanted to go on Jim'll Fix It but didn't write in as I didn't want to meet him. He creeped me out

Technosaurus · 12/04/2022 09:58

I think it was Popbitch who said that of all the celebrity legal teams and dark practices who would pressure them keep stories out of the press (including royalty, Hollywood A-listers, the Beckhams, right down to Z list kiss-and-tell-stories), the one person they had the most trouble printing anything about while he was alive... was Jimmy Saville.

Mammyloveswine · 12/04/2022 09:59

I can remember he was just wheeled out as a charity fundraiser when i was a kid..thought he was a bit weird in his little shorts but didn't give much thought to him on the whole.

My dad met him when he was a wrestler and he invited him and his pal into his limo then backstage and to his dressing room. My dad was adamant he was perfectly friendly but said he still gave off a weird vibe.

I can remember being utterly shocked at Rolf Harris mind, I LOVED him and loved animal hospital! Still can't quite believe it as he seemed so genuine to me!!

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 12/04/2022 09:59

I was born in he 60s
I was sexually abused by a neighbour, so was my sister We just didn't talk about it - we didn't even tell our parents because I guess we assumed this was what adults did.
No-one took child abuse at all seriously in those days.
My abusive neighbour told us to avoid another neighbour because "he doesn't like children" - I now realise it was probably because that guy had his number as a nonce.

Against that background, Savile was just another cheery entertainer we were supposed to find funny. I didn't have a strong opinion and I didn't really watch him on TV much aside from TOTP - and I thought almost all the TOTP presenters were wankers. As others have said, sexism, racism and misogyny were commonplace - it was a different world.

Technosaurus · 12/04/2022 10:00

But yes, I was born in the 80's and moved to Leeds for uni, so past the zenith of his fame but he was still very active, would get invited to all civic events etc... and there were always 'rumours' about him (the mortuary ones specifically).

FrancescaContini · 12/04/2022 10:02

Also a child of the 1970s: always found him very very creepy, too. I can’t even picture him without feeling queasy.

Ilovedthe70s · 12/04/2022 10:03

I was born in the 60’s, never liked him on the wireless, my dad wouldn’t have his TV shows on so I never watched them. I have for some reason always loathed men in jewellery so turned off TOTP if he was presenting. Can honestly say I never thought he was as heinous as he turned out to be.
Rolf Harris on the other hand always gave me the eebie jeebies.

LynetteScavo · 12/04/2022 10:05

I was desperate to be on Jim 'll Fix It and sent several letters (with pictures to try to impress him) The boy I sat next to in class when I was 9 actually went on the show Envy

To me Jimmy Savil was just another TV presenter who was always on TV, like Rolf Harris or Keith Chegwin. I didn't get creepy vibes as a child. Lots of grown ups seemed weird back then.

A relative lived in Leeds near him, and the only rumour I heard was he didn't let guests use his toilet.

maddening · 12/04/2022 10:07

I really liked Jim'll fix it, but I think the programme could have had any presenter and been popular, it was a great format.

I had no clue that he was nefarious, in his later years he was often doing charity work and seemed a bit eccentric. I didn't understand how he remained so popular though, he was a weird old man in a tracksuit, a bit retro kitch I suppose.

SpringHasEventuallySprung · 12/04/2022 10:09

@notanothertakeaway

I loved Jim'll Fix it.

A friend told me that people who lived near JS in Glencoe didn't like him

We all despised the little weed. Most of us also warned him to stay well away from our children when he was popular as everyone knew there was something strange about him, he acted like a predator. He was well known for groping tourists and walking through the village in a kilt waving at people too. Put it this way, I haven’t met one person who was sad when he died.
CrunchyCarrot · 12/04/2022 10:09

I always found him creepy and never saw what there was to like about him. Rolf Harris was completely different, used to love his show and how he did such fantastic quick art!

TFMinx · 12/04/2022 10:13

My mum met him once as a young teen. She told me that she'd always found him odd on tv, and in real life she had this overwhelming urge to get as far away as possible from him as quickly as possible. He had made eye contact with her and was making a beeline for her as she turned and walked away very quickly. She didn't like him at all after that, but could never put her finger on why other than he was creepy.

CounsellorTroi · 12/04/2022 10:13

I met Dave Lee Travis in the early 80s and got a creepy vibe off him.

EvilPea · 12/04/2022 10:14

He was weird. But was always on tv. Don’t forget there was only 4 channels. So tv choice was limited and things like Jim’ll fix it was good tv, everyone watched it and discussed it at school.

I remember my parents thinking he was odd - mainly because he wasn’t married or had kids. Which meant (in keeping with the 80’s) nonce or gay.
For clarification they were absolutely fine with anyone who was gay, it was the secrecy around him they found odd!

Don’t forget the edited clips you see now on tv are chosen to highlight the point. People knew “he wasn’t right” as he hadn’t gone down the conventional route, it was against a back drop of Sexual innuendos being on the tv all the time, think carry on or st trinians. It was a different time. Pre watershed tv is so much cleaner now, even songs are cleaner.