Jimmy Savile Dies

British radio DJ, TV presenter and charity fundraiser Jimmy Savile died at his home in Leeds Oct. 29, two days before his 85th birthday.

Police were called to his home at midday, where they discovered his body. His death is not being treated as suspicious.

Details of how he died haven’t been made public but he was recently treated for pneumonia.

His nephew, Roger Foster, told BBC News that he “passed away quietly in his sleep during the night.”

The veteran broadcaster will be best remembered for the ’70s TV series “Jim’ll Fix It,” which caused thousands of children to write into the show in the hope of having their wishes granted.

The programme ran for more than two decades and often received 20,000 letters per week from children eager to have their dreams come true.

Savile, widely regarded as Britain’s first celebrity DJ, also fronted the original series of “Top of the Pops.”

He was invited back to present the final show in 2006 with former Radio 1 DJ Mike Read, who described Savile as an exceptional character in a world that’s got “grayer, more normal and more dull.”

“He was a one-off. He was the first to go into halls and clubs and play records,” Read told Sky News. “You knew it was Jimmy, he stood out in the crowd. He was pure, pure showbiz.”

Savile started his radio career with a nine-year stint at Radio Luxembourg, where his programmes included “Teen and Twenty Disc Club.”

He left in 1967 and one year later joined Radio One, where his first job was to present “Savile’s Travels.”

Tony Blackburn, another former colleague at Radio 1, said that nobody ever got close to the “real man,” describing Savile’s public persona as “a big, over-the-top personality.”

That public persona included chunky gold jewelery, a huge cigar, his trademark snowy white hair and a number of catch-phrases that were frequently parodied by impressionists.

He was awarded an OBE in 1972, and in 1990 was knighted by the Queen for his charity work.

In 2009 he received an honorary degree from the University of Bedfordshire for his support of the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury.