Russell Harty Death
Russell passed away on June 8, 1988 at the age of 53 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK. Russell's cause of death was hepatitis B.
When did Russell Harty die?
June 8, 1988How did Russell Harty die? What was the cause of death?
Hepatitis BHow old was Russell Harty when died?
53Where did Russell Harty die? What was the location of death?
Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Russell Harty Birthday and Date of Death
Russell Harty was born on September 5, 1934 and died on June 8, 1988. Russell was 53 years old at the time of death.
Birthday: September 5, 1934
Date of Death: June 8, 1988
Age at Death: 53
Russell Harty - Biography
Russell Harty (5 September 1934 – 8 June 1988) was a British television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows.
He got his first break in 1970 presenting the arts programme Aquarius, that was intended to be London Weekend Television's response to the BBC's Omnibus. One programme involving a "meeting of cultures" saw Harty travelling to Italy in 1974 to engineer an encounter between the entertainer Gracie Fields and the composer William Walton, two fellow Lancastrians now living on the neighbouring islands of Capri and Ischia. A documentary on Salvador Dalí ("Hello Dalí") directed by Bruce Gowers, won an Emmy. Another award-winning documentary was Finnan Games about a Scottish community, Glenfinnan, where "Bonnie Prince Charlie" raised his standard to begin the Jacobite rising of 1745, and its Highland Games.
In 1988, Harty became ill with hepatitis B and started treatment at the St James's University Hospital, Leeds. The Sun started a campaign of allegations about his private life, claiming that the disease was "transmitted the same way as AIDS" and that Harty was using the services of "teenage rent boys", while the newspaper sent photographers in a flat across the hospital to train their lens at his room.
He died on 8 June 1988 from liver failure caused by the hepatitis infection. At the funeral, Alan Bennett commented in his eulogy that "the gutter press finished [Harty] off". He was buried in the churchyard of St Alkelda, Giggleswick.
