Why is it that the mere mention of the name Rolf Harris is enough to put a smile on the face of the most cynical of listeners? A talented musician, singer, entertainer and artist, Rolf has delighted several generations, both on record and television, with an absurd sense of fun that rivals his contemporaries The Goons and Monty Python.

Born in Bassendean, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, on 30 March 1930, Rolf was named after acclaimed Australian author Rolf Boldrewood, who wrote the great Australian novel Robbery Under Arms. A champion swimmer in his youth, Rolf attended Perth Modern School before going on to the University of Western Australia and then Teachers Training College.

At the age of 22, Rolf moved to England to attend the City and Guilds Art School in Kennington, South London. Whilst in London he met and married Alwen Hughes and together they welcomed to the world a daughter, Bindi Harris, in 1964. By the time he returned to Perth in 1959, he had already exhibited his paintings at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

Whilst working on Perth TV station TVW-7's first locally-produced show Spotlight, Rolf recorded his first single Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport. The single featured the first use of the wobble-board - a simple piece of hardboard - and was an enormous success, both in Britain and back home in Australia, where it topped the charts around the country.

This was the start of a shining career for the young man from Bassendean, and soon he was appearing on numerous British TV shows both as a singer and a quick-sketch painter. Appearing on such shows as David Nixon's Comedy Bandbox and Jokers Wild, and later with his own shows, Hey Presto, It's Rolf in 1966 and The Rolf Harris Show the following year, Rolf would amaze and amuse audiences by painting caricatures and scenes with broad brushstrokes while exhorting the audience to identify what it was he was painting with the catchphrase "Can you tell what is it yet?"

At the same time, Rolf's recording fame went from strength to strength and it was over this period that he enjoyed such hits as Sun Arise, Two Little Boys, Jake The Peg (an amusing concert favourite thanks to his adept use of a third "leg") and the Australian Christmas ditty Six White Boomers (in which Santa's reindeer are replaced by kangaroos for his Australian run).

Rolf's contribution to the entertainment industry was acknowledged in 1977, when he was awarded the Order of the British Empire. It was around this time that his new TV show, Rolf on Saturday - OK? was launched, followed by Rolf's Here - OK? in 1980 and BBC1's hugely popular Cartoon Time, which took him into 1987. Cartoon Time was duly replaced by Rolf's Cartoon Club, which screened on CITV until 1993.

Also memorable are Rolf's acclaimed didgeridoo contribution to Kate Bush's 1982 album The Dreaming and his appearance at the opening ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. In 1989 Rolf was made a Member of The Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day honours.