Jimmy Savile became one of the most notorious paedophiles in British history after the TV presenter was exposed shortly after his death.
As Steve Coogan is set to play the once-beloved star in a BBC production this evening, we take a look at what happened to Jimmy Savile in life and in death.
Savile was one of the biggest TV stars in the UK from the 1960s to the 1990s, and he was known for TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It.
But after his death in October 2011, at aged 84, an ITV documentary revealed decades of horrific sexual abuse in which Savile had used his involvement in organisations such as charities, hospitals, prisons and the BBC, to abuse hundreds of vulnerable young girls and boys.
The documentary lead to further allegations of sexual abuse and several public inquiries.
It is by now estimated that Savile preyed on as many as 500 vulnerable victims. Some were as young as two years old.
The first recorded incidence of his abuse occurred in Manchester in 1955, when he was the manager of a dance hall.
There was also investigations into his conduct in NHS hospitals, including Leeds General Infirmary – where he worked as a porter – and Stoke Mandeville hospital, where he volunteered.
It is alleged that while there he sexually assaulted more than 60 staff and patients aged between 5 and 75 at these hospitals.
Records state that his abuse in these hospitals started in 1965, and it has even been claimed that he had sex with corpses at the Leeds General Infirmary mortuary.
While many of his victims reported his abuse, no conviction was reached during his lifetime.
Savile was knighted and received a papal knighthood in 1990.
There were two police investigations that considered reports about Savile while he was still alive, the earliest known being in 1958.
And he was last interviewed under caution by Surrey police investigating an alleged indecent assault at Duncroft school, Surrey, in 2009 – two years before he died.
But the CPS deemed there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute.
Savile died on October 29 2011, two days before he would have turned 85.
In October 2012 ITV aired Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, in which the broadcaster revealed Savile’s horrific crimes.
The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation in October 2012.
By January 2013, 450 people had come forward, they said.
Nearly three-quarters of them were under 18, while 28 of them were children under 10 years old.
Thirty-four rapes were reported across 28 police forces.
The scandal sparked Operation Yewtree, led to the arrest of 19 people.
Savile’s closed satin gold coffin was displayed at the Queens Hotel in Leeds, with the last cigar he smoked and his two This Is Your Life books.
Around 4,000 people visited to pay tribute, while his funeral took place at Leeds Cathedral on November 9 2011.
He was buried at Woodlands Cemetery in Scarborough, where, in accordance with his will, his coffin was inclined at 45 degrees to fulfil his wish to “see the sea”.
The coffin was encased in concrete “as a security measure”.
After his horrendous abuse came to light his family announced they would be taking down his headstone.
