Jimmy Savile

And the more I think about it how bloody angry I am [Angry]

On a slightly lighter, but not off-thread note, did anyone hear Giles Brandreth reading memoirs on the radio after lunch, talking about various no-longer-with-us kings of camp and revealing how a showbiz personality (was it Frankie Howard?) tried to ... well seduce, I suppose, is the word... him. GB was an adult at the time and, having been locked in the flat (!) responded by going to stand and stare out of the window while FH put his trousers back on. I think in his case temporary embarrassment was the only effect. As a slightly camp but straight man himself, he must have had a number of such experiences, and is probably being discrete about the still-alive. Oh and another dead comedian suddenly appearing naked and trying to encourage him into the hot tub !!! What images.

Jess - Yes, I listened to it - interesting but not surprising! A lighthearted view of a deeper undercurrent running through showbiz.

My sources tell me that more and more women are coming forward and making statements about their experiences with JS. The carpet is being lifted.

Bob Monkhouse's autobiography says the same about Frankie Howerd. He was an absolute pest apparently.

Yes, I heard that radio programme, and also the bit where Giles Brandreth said he has spoken to somone else (it may have been Max Bygraves, but don't hold me to that) who said that they had exactly the same experience with FH over 30 years before! He also made the point that FH seemed to often try it on with married men, almost as if that would soften the blow of refusal.

this could be the same piece (scroll down to the Frankie Howerd picture

The Tuesday, February 14, 1978 entry is quite funny too. (The Duke of Edinburgh is mentioned interestingly)

Some mothers have positively offered their young daughters to stars. I am thinking of Mandy Smith, who was 14 when Bill Wyman first exploited her, with her mother's willing connivance. Bizarrely, her mother later married Wyman's son. What a bunch.
Josephine Burge was 15 when her mother allowed Oliver Reed, who was 26 years older, to take her on holiday to Barbados.
I doubt whether this was true of any of the girls targeted by Saville - they seemed to have no idea when they met him of his true motives.

I was approached by a man when I was 13 and asked for directions. He said he was a doctor and offered me a lift in his car. I said I would just tell my friend who was still in the library, and the man drove away. I didn't tell my mother because I was too embarrassed to repeat the questions he had asked me. I wasn't really bothered, but I have since wondered if I could have prevented him from preying on other girls.

When I missed my end of year geography exam, I had to resit it at one of the sister schools. This was in the bursars office. I was 16 at the time.
I took out my geography books and put them on the table.
Bursar asks what the hell are you doing?
Cheeky me says, sorry I have to look up the answers, don't know anything .
He did not say anything. A few minutes later he walked past me, and from behind stuck his hands up my bra.

I was horrified. Ofcourse I did not dare tell my parents. I told all my friends
though, boys and girls. We were a close knit group, and the boys had plenty of cowboy talk about beating him up. That support helped a lot.

And to Crimson, Ella, Jingle , Butty, Ana, hope I have not forgotten anybody ,
much love to you all.

For those who do not like bad language ,please look away now.
I hope all those fucking bastards rot in hell.
Not even those who are already dead.
Those who are still alive! And perpetrating as we speak.

I too have experience of a family member being abused by an uncle as a child, also a friend whose abuse has caused her great distress which she hasn't resolved. Women are afraid to come forward because they are terrified that they won't be believed and in the past they weren't!
I am afraid that the case with J.S. may be the tip of the iceberg. I wouldn't be surprised if numerous women have suffered abuse from famous actors, pop, stars and sportsmen. I just hope that with these disclosures about J.S. they can pluck up the courage to come forward now before these men are dead and beyond punishment.

johanna - I heartily endorse your sentiments - and your language!

With you Johanna! Castration with rusty scissors too.

I have just started to watch the programme. I don't know if I will watch it all.

I think you're right Nonny I don't think it will end here.

Apparently the plaque outside Jimmy Savile's home in Scarborough has been removed after graffiti appeared during the night. is someone watching over that monstrous grave, I wonder.

I had a frightening experience when I was twenty-three. I was cycling home from a Scottish Dance class on main roads through Sheffield. It was after ten o'clock at night, but not terribly late. A van driver overtook me. He had the passenger side window down. He slowed down as he over took to keep pace with me and asked if I wanted a lift. I ignored him and carried on cycling. He went ahead but must have done a loop because it happened again. And again. I memorised the registration number.

I was frightened. Especially as I wasn't able to cycle up the steep hill we lived on but had to push the bike up it. We had no telephone so I went to a public phone box round the corner from where we lived and called the police. I was shaking.

The police caught up with him and 'had a chat'. He apparently said it was "just a joke". They let him off and came to tell me this. I was furious!!

And not just because I had been badly frightened and thought he should receive more than a mild reprimand for his behaviour, but because the Yorkshire Ripper was still at large at this time!!!!!!

Crass, stupid, uncaring police behaviour! But that was the attitude. Being terrified out of your wits by a man when a murderer was on the loose was nothing apparently.

Thank goodness attitudes are changing.

Love to all who have suffered abuse.

The good news from that story is that one of the male dancers at the club who also cycled would cycle home with me after that even though he lived on the opposite side of Sheffield from me. Or, if I went by bus because of bad weather, he would see me onto the bus. He was married and so was I so it was pure kindness on his part. I appreciated it then and I still do.

I can imagine how frightening that was Bags. I was followed home one evening for several hundred yards. I could hear the man cross over the road when I did, and as I got nervous and walked faster he did, too. I glanced at him and could only see a man with a baseball cap on. By the time I got to the road I lived on, I started to run and so did he, then as I tore up my path, he shouted 'night, Carol!' It was a neighbour I didn't really know, a man with a wife and three children who had moved in a couple of months before. He seemed to think it was a funny thing to do. I was so angry and upset, and when I recounted the story to my husband, he grinned! The neighbour didn't apologise or explain when I confronted him the next day, but just said 'I thought you knew it was only me!' I said 'you are a jerk. Don't ever do that to anyone again!' I don't think he got it at all.

It's a funny old world, especially the relationship between the sexes. How many women are entirely comfortable going for walks by themselves in remote places, for instance? Why is it women have to fear men for no real reason except that a smallish percentage of them might suddenly decide to rape/kill a complete stranger and you never know who the smallish percent is going to be?

When my daughter and I are walking the dogs in the woods used mainly by dog walkers we always feel nervous if a lone man comes into view WITHOUT A DOG. Sometimes men just seem to loom out of the bushes. Then if we spot a dog, we know we are alright.

And that's not even mentioning all the dodgy male relatives/friends who think they can molest girls/women.

I do feel completely comfortable walking alone in my very isolated mountains. The chance of the very occasional walker I meet (they rarely have dogs with them) being intent on raping an old woman are very slim. I would be much less comfortable walking in a town.
I was incensed when some newspapers, and some policemen, said that Peter Sutcliffe had finally chosen to murder an 'innocent' woman - as though prostitutes deserved their fate. I know that most 'working girls' do not bother to report assault or rape because they know the response they will get. The public face of the police may have changed, but the canteen culture has not moved on very much from the 1950's. (Yes , I do speak from knowledge - a nephew left the force because he could not stand the attitudes of most of his colleagues.) Ask any young black man.

I have to say, I think most of the 'top' stars and celebs are decent people and have respect for their fans. My DD and her friends have met quite a few and they have been 'genuine' enough. We mustn't tar all with the same brush. JS always did seem a bit creepy.

Bags that must have been ^terrifying*! Stupid police too! (in this case)

I agree with petallus. I can't walk in the countryside alone. (apart from the fact that I would never dind my way home)

find - not dind!

I struggled to stay awake during Exposure last night but I was impressed with the witnesses (those who were not represented by actors). They gave a calm and credible account of what happened to them unlike Esther Rantzen who gave a gala performance