Health and Death
On 9 August 1997, Savile underwent a three-hour quadruple heart-bypass operation at Killingbeck Hospital in Leeds, having known he needed the surgery for at least four years after attending regular check-ups. Before his death, he arranged for a bench, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, to be dedicated to his memory, with the words 'Jimmy Savile – but not just yet!' as an inscription.
Savile was found dead at his home in Roundhay, Leeds, on 29 October 2011, two days before his 85th birthday. He had been in hospital with pneumonia, and his death was not suspicious.
His 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. His funeral took place at Leeds Cathedral on 9 November 2011, and he was buried at Woodlands Cemetery in Scarborough. As specified in 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".
An auction of Savile's possessions was conducted at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds on 30 July 2012, with the money raised going to charity. His silver Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible was sold for £130,000 to an internet bidder. The vehicle's number plate, JS 247, featured the original medium wave wavelength used by BBC Radio 1 (247 metres).
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Famous quotes containing the words health and/or death:
“Men’s hearts are cold. They are indifferent. Not all the coal that is dug warms the world. It remains indifferent to the lives of those who risk their life and health down in the blackness of the earth; who crawl through dark, choking crevices with only a bit of lamp on their caps to light their silent way; whose backs are bent with toil, whose very bones ache, whose happiness is sleep, and whose peace is death.”
—Mother Jones (1830–1930)
“when it comes to my death let it be slow,
let it be pantomime, this last peep show,
so that I may squat at the edge trying on
my black necessary trousseau.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)