Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the
Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One").
Known for his
idiosyncratic
An idiosyncrasy is an unusual feature of a person (though there are also other uses, see below). It can also mean an odd habit. The term is often used to express eccentricity or peculiarity. A synonym may be "quirk".
Etymology
The term "idiosyncr ...
and often
improvised
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
observational comedy Observational comedy is a form of humor based on the commonplace aspects of everyday life. It is one of the main types of humor in stand-up comedy. In an observational comedy act, the comedian makes an observation about something which is common eno ...
, frequently including strong language, Connolly has topped many UK polls as the greatest stand-up comedian of all time. In 2022 he received the
BAFTA Fellowship
The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in recognition of "outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image". The award is t ...
for lifetime achievement from the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
.
Connolly's
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...
, in the early 1960s, was that of a
welder
In a broad sense, a welder is anyone, amateur or professional, who uses welding equipment, perhaps especially one who uses such equipment fairly often. In a narrower sense, a welder is a tradesperson who specializes in fusing materials togethe ...
(specifically a
boilermaker) in the Glasgow shipyards, but he gave it up towards the end of the decade to pursue a career as a
folk singer. He first sang in the
folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...
band
The Humblebums with
Gerry Rafferty and Tam Harvey, with whom he stayed until 1974, before beginning singing as a solo artist. In the early 1970s, Connolly made the transition from folk singer with a comedic persona to fully-fledged comedian, for which he is now best known. In 1972, he made his theatrical debut, at the Cottage Theatre in
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...
, with a
revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...
called ''Connolly's Glasgow Flourish''.
He also played the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
. In 1972, Connolly's first solo album, ''Billy Connolly Live!'', was produced, with a mixture of comedic songs and short monologues. In 1975 he topped the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
with "
D.I.V.O.R.C.E."
As an actor, Connolly has appeared in various films, including ''
Indecent Proposal'' (1993), ''
Pocahontas
Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...
'' (1995), ''
Muppet Treasure Island
''Muppet Treasure Island'' is a 1996 American musical swashbuckler comedy film directed by Brian Henson. It is the fifth theatrical film in ''The Muppets'' franchise.
Adapted from the 1883 novel ''Treasure Island'' by Robert Louis Stevenson, ...
'' (1996), ''
Mrs Brown'' (1997) (for which he was nominated for the
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role), ''
The Boondock Saints
''The Boondock Saints'' is a 1999 American Vigilante film, vigilante Action film#Action-thriller, action thriller film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as fraternal twin brothers Connor and ...
'' (1999), ''
The Last Samurai'' (2003), ''
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'' (2004), ''
The X-Files: I Want to Believe'' (2008), ''
Brave'' (2012), and ''
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies'' (2014). On his 75th birthday in 2017, three portraits of Connolly were made by leading artists
Jack Vettriano
Jack Vettriano (born Jack Hoggan, 17 November 1951) is a Scottish painter. His 1992 painting '' The Singing Butler'' became a best-selling image in Britain.
Early life
Jack Vettriano was born and grew up in the industrial seaside town of Met ...
,
John Byrne, and
Rachel Maclean. These were later turned into part of Glasgow's official mural trail. In October that year, he was knighted at
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
by
Prince William, for services to entertainment and charity.
Connolly announced his retirement from comedy in 2018, and in recent years he has established himself as an artist. In 2020, he unveiled the fifth release from his ''Born On A Rainy Day'' collection in London, followed by another installment later that year. During the filming of the ITV documentary ''Billy Connolly: It's Been a Pleasure'', he described how art had given him "a new lease of life".
Early life
Connolly was born on 24 November 1942 at 69 Dover Street,
"on the
linoleum
Linoleum, sometimes shortened to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), pine resin, ground cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canva ...
, three floors up",
[Connolly, Billy, '' World Tour of Scotland'' (1994)] in
Anderston,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
. This section of Dover Street, between Breadalbane and Claremont streets, was demolished in the 1970s.
Connolly refers to this in his 1983 song "I Wish I Was in Glasgow" with the lines "I would take you there and show you but they've pulled the building down" and "they
bulldozed
A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks ...
it all to make a road". The flat had only two rooms: a kitchen-living room, with a recess where the children slept, and another room for their parents. The family bathed in the kitchen sink, and there was no hot water.
Connolly was born to
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
parents, William Connolly and Mary McLean, both of whom were of partly Irish descent.
In 1946, when he was four years old, Connolly's mother left her children while their father was serving as an engineer in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
.
"I've never felt abandoned by her," Connolly explained in 2009.
"My mother was a teenager. My father was in Burma, fighting a bloody war. The Germans were dropping all sorts of crap on the town. We lived at the docks, so that's where all the bombs were happening. She was a teenager with two kids in a slum. A guy comes along and says, 'I love you. Come with me.' Given the choice, I think ''I'd'' have gone with him. It looks as though it might all end next Wednesday, from where you're standing. I don't have an ounce of feelings that she abandoned me. She tried to survive."
Connolly and his older sister, Florence (named after their maternal grandmother, and eighteen months his senior),
were cared for by his father's two sisters, Margaret and Mona Connolly, in their cramped
tenement
A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
in Stewartville Street,
Partick
Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...
. "My aunts constantly told me I was stupid, which still affects me today pretty badly. It's just a belief that I'm not quite as good as anyone else. It gets worse as you get older. I'm a happy man now but I still have the scars of that."
Regarding his sister, Connolly has called her his "great defender".
"To this day," he explained in 2009,
"Guys say, 'God, your sister... We didn't dare beat you up – your sister was a nightmare'. She used to get after them."
In the mid-1960s, Flo was on holiday in
Dunoon
Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well a ...
with her husband and two children. "My mother said, 'I saw Florence walking along, and I followed her.'"
"I said, 'Did you speak to her?' 'Oh, no, I didn't,' she said. I thought, 'Oh, my god. It's like being a ghost while you're still alive.' Walking behind your own child. Having a look. I couldn't bear that."
The aunts resented the children for the fact that they had to sacrifice their young lives to look after them. It was Mona who was troubled the most by having to care for her niece and nephew. "It was very big of her to take on the responsibility, but having said that, I wish people wouldn't do that. I wish people wouldn't be very big for five minutes and rotten for twenty years. Just keep your 'big' and keep your 'rotten' and get out of my life, because, quite frankly, I would rather have gone to a
children's home Residential child care communities or children's homes are a type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home. There are two different approaches towards residential care: The fam ...
and be with a lot of other kids being treated the same. To this day, I'm still working on the things she did to me."
Connolly credits one of
John Bradshaw's publications with helping him deal with his past demons. "He reckons that if this trauma happened to you when you were five or six then, emotionally, that part of you remains five or six. And what you have to do is carry that five- or six-year-old around with you and try and emotionally help that other part of you. It sounds a bit airy-fairy, but I think he's something of a genius, Mr. Bradshaw."
His father returned from the war a stranger to his children shortly after the move to Partick. He never spoke to them about their mother's departure.
Connolly's biography, ''Billy'', written by wife
Pamela Stephenson, documented years of
physical
Physical may refer to:
*Physical examination
In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...
and
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
by his father, which began when he was ten and lasted until he was about 15.
"Sometimes, when father hit me, I flew over the settee backwards in a sitting position. It was fabulous. Just like real flying, except you didn't get a cup of tea or a safety belt or anything."
In 1949, Mona gave birth to a son, Michael, by a "local man". He was presented as a brother to Billy and Flo, and nobody questioned it.
Connolly's bedroom had double windows, which directly faced
St Peter's Primary School across the street.
Now
defunct
Defunct (no longer in use or active) may refer to:
* ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014
* Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems
See also
*
* :Former entities
* End-of-life product
* Obsolescence
Obsolescence is t ...
, the school has been converted into living accommodation. "The school was very violent indeed. At first, in the infant school, the nuns were very violent. And then over here at St Peter's, they were just strapping you all the time. I had a psychopath in here, called McDonald — Miss McDonald. "Big Rosie", they called her. There was a guy with glasses in my class and she called him "four eyes", and she was a teacher!"
At St. Peter's, Connolly decided that he wanted to make people laugh. "I can remember the moment in the school playground. I would have been 7 or 8. And I was sitting in a puddle and people were laughing. I had fallen in it and people found it funny. And it wasn't all that uncomfortable, so I stayed in it longer than I normally would because I really enjoyed the laughing. My life was very unhappy at the time, and laughter wasn't something I heard all the time, so it was a joy. And I realised quickly that if you can have an audience this way, life was rather pleasant."
While at St Peter's, Connolly joined a gang. His arch-enemy was Geordie Sinclair, who lived around the corner.
['' Shrink Rap'': "Billy Connolly", 2009]
Connolly was a
Wolf Cub with the 141st Glasgow Scout Group. He revisits the site of one field trip, Auchengillan scout camp, during his ''
World Tour of Scotland''.
At age 12, Connolly decided he wanted to become a comedian but did not think that he fit the mould, feeling he needed to become more "windswept and interesting". Also at that age, he joined an organisation called The Children of Mary. The group would visit people and say the
Rosary, with a statue of the
Lady of Lourdes in a shoebox. "We were as welcome as
haemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''he ...
."
The group would all kneel around the statue and pray. "You could hear people hurrying prayers because there was a good television programme coming."
In the 1950s, Glasgow's
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
tenements
fell out of favour with the planners, which resulted in new houses being built on the fields and farmlands in the outskirts of the city. Between the ages of fourteen and twenty, Connolly was brought up on a now-demolished
council estate
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
on Kinfauns Drive in the
Drumchapel
Drumchapel ( gd, Druim a' Chapaill), known locally as 'The Drum', is a district in the north-west of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It borders Bearsden (in East Dunbartonshire) to the north-east and Drumry (part of Clydebank, in West Dunbarton ...
district of Glasgow, and would make the daily journey to
St. Gerard's Secondary School (also now defunct) in
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...
, on the southern side of the
River Clyde
The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...
. He rode the bus to Partick, crossed the water by ferry and walked to 80 Vicarfield Street.
"Drumchapel is a housing estate just outside Glasgow. Well, it's ''in'' Glasgow, but just ''outside'' civilisation," he has joked.
"To be quite honest, I quite liked it when I lived there. When I moved to Drumchapel, I was fourteen and there was a
bluebell wood there, and it was in great condition then — I don't think it's in quite so good condition now — but it was lovely then. We had rabbits and pheasants, and I really quite liked it. I just started to dislike it when I got older, into my teens and things. In my late teens, when I was stuck out there, it cost me a lot of money to go anyplace. It was a kind of cowboy town, but I liked that aspect of it, buying stuff out of vans, a
ragman coming in a wee green van."
Connolly revisited this tenement in Drumchapel during filming for ''
The South Bank Show
''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...
'' in 1992. "It eventually started to pall. This dreadful atmosphere came about the place. It's like
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. And once you're out here, there's no getting out of it. You have to buy your way out, or some kind of talent has to take you out, or you have to be very bright and move away to university."
Also at fourteen, Connolly started to become interested in music — mainly
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...
and
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
. At fifteen, he left school with two engineering qualifications, one collected by mistake which belonged to a boy named Connell.
['']Transatlantic Years
__NOTOC__
''Transatlantic Years'' is a double compilation album by Billy Connolly, released in 2001 on Sanctuary Records. It includes material recorded between 1969 and 1974, both with Connolly as a solo act and also as a member of the Humblebu ...
'' liner notes
Connolly was a year too young to work in the shipyards. Instead, he started working for John Smith's Bookshop, on St Vincent Street, delivering books on his bicycle. He became a delivery-van driver with Bilslands' Bakery until he was sixteen, when he was deemed overqualified (due to his J1 and J2 certificates) to become an engineer.
Instead, he worked as a boilermaker
at
Alexander Stephen and Sons
Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Glasgow, on the River Clyde and, initially, on the east coast of Scotland.
History
The co ...
shipyard in
Linthouse
Linthouse is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly south of the River Clyde and lies immediately west of Govan, with other adjacent areas including Shieldhall and the Southern General Hospital to the west, a ...
.
"What an extraordinary feeling," Connolly said, upon returning to the site of the now-demolished shipyard in 1992.
"I spent a great deal of my life in here. From age 16 to... well, I started at 15. I started my apprenticeship at 16 and finished when I was 21. Stayed till I was 22, and moved along. I finished welding when I was 24. When I came here, as an apprentice, there was six ships being built, right where I'm standing. It was an extraordinary place. A hive of activity. Welders, caulkers, platers, burners, joiners, engineers, electricians. I learned how men talked to one another, and how merciless Glasgow humour can be. It has made an indelible mark on me."
His
foreman
__NOTOC__
A foreman, forewoman or foreperson is a supervisor, often in a manual trade or industry.
Foreman may specifically refer to:
*Construction foreman, the worker or tradesman who is in charge of a construction crew
* Jury foreman, a head j ...
was Sammy Boyd, but the two biggest influences on him, according to the book written by his wife Pamela, were Jimmy Lucas and Bobby Dalgleish. Jimmy was one of Billy's trainers in the yard who helped him to hone his skills as a welder and a comedian.
Connolly also joined the
Territorial Army Reserve unit
15th (Scottish) Battalion, the
Parachute Regiment (15 PARA). He later commemorated his experiences in the song "Weekend Soldier".
Career
Origin of "The Big Yin"
Connolly's nickname ''The Big Yin'' was first used during his adolescent years to differentiate between himself and his father.
"My father was a very strong man. Broad and strong. He had an neck collar. Huge, like a bull. He was "Big Billy" and I was "Wee Billy". And then I got bigger than him, and the whole thing got out of control. And then I became ''The Big Yin'' in Scotland. So, we'd go into the
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
and someone would say, 'Billy Connolly was in.' 'Oh? Big Billy or Wee Billy?' 'The Big Yin.' 'Oh, Wee Billy.' If you were a stranger, you'd think, 'What are these people talking about?!'"
['']Billy Connolly's World Tour of Australia
Billy may refer to:
* Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name)
Animals
* Billy (dog), a dog breed
* Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945
* Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
* Billy, a youn ...
'', 1996
1960s
In the early 1960s, Connolly attended the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
for the first time. After spending time on the city's Rose Street, patronising the various drinking establishments, he became enamoured by some long-haired musicians and decided to model himself on them.
In 1965, after he had completed a 5-year apprenticeship as a boilermaker, Connolly accepted a ten-week job building an
oil platform
An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...
in
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...
, Nigeria. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, via
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
, he worked briefly at
John Brown & Company
John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2''.
At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...
but decided to walk out on a
Fair Friday to focus on being a
folk singer.
After watching ''
The Beverly Hillbillies
''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family f ...
'', he bought his first
banjo at the
Barrowland market.
He began to tour with the
folkie crowd, including regular stints at The Scotia bar, on Stockwell Street, guided by folk singer
Danny Kyle
Danny Kyle (12 December 1939 – 5 July 1998) was a Scottish folk singer-songwriter. He was a passionate supporter of traditional music and a constant campaigner for its revival in Scotland. Kyle was an important figure in the Scottish Folk ...
. "I kind of introduced Billy to the folk clubs, such as there were in those days – there were very few in those days. We used to go to places like Saturday Late or the Montrose Street Glasgow Folk Club."
Connolly formed a folk-pop duo called
the Humblebums
The Humblebums were a Scottish folk rock band, based in Glasgow. Its members included Billy Connolly, who later became a renowned stand-up comedian and actor; guitarist Tam Harvey; and singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. The band was active from ...
with Tam Harvey. In 1969, they were joined by
Gerry Rafferty, who had approached Connolly after a gig in
Paisley. The band signed for independent label,
Transatlantic Records
Transatlantic Records was a British independent record label. The company was established in 1961, primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom ...
, and after recording one album (1969's ''First Collection of Merry Melodies''), Harvey left the trio and Connolly and Rafferty went on to release two more albums: ''The New Humblebums'' (1969) and ''Open up the Door'' (1970). Connolly's time with Rafferty possibly influenced his future comedy, because years later he would recall how Rafferty's expert prank telephone calls, made while waiting to go on stage, used to make him "scream" with laughter. Connolly's contributions were primarily straightforward pop-folk with
quirky and
whimsical lyrics, but he had not especially focused on comedy at this point.
In 1968,
a 26-year-old Connolly married
Springburn
Springburn ( gd, Allt an Fhuairainn) is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households.
Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its ind ...
native and interior designer Iris Pressagh, with whom he had two children. They initially lived on Redlands Road in Glasgow's West End, but when fans began to wait out in the street, they moved to
Drymen
Drymen (; from gd, Druiminn ) is a village in the Stirling district of central Scotland. Once a popular stopping place for cattle drovers, it is now popular with visiting tourists given its location near Loch Lomond. The village is centred aroun ...
near the south-eastern shore of
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of C ...
.
Later that year,
Connolly's mother went to meet him backstage after a Humblebums gig in Dunoon, where she was working in the cafeteria at
Dunoon General Hospital. It was the second and final meeting between them since she had abandoned Connolly.
She had been living in the town with her partner, Willie Adams, with whom she had three daughters and a son.
"I went home to her house and stayed the night, instead of the hotel. The sadness is... She was a very nice woman, but we never got along. We both tried to like each other, and I don't think she liked me very much. I don't regret it, but I'm sad about it. I wish I'd liked her. And I wish she'd liked me."
In 1971, the Humblebums broke up, with Rafferty going on to record his solo album ''
Can I Have My Money Back?
''Can I Have My Money Back?'' is the first solo album by Gerry Rafferty. The distinctive cover design was by John Patrick Byrne and was the start of a long working relationship between Rafferty and the playwright. The LP was well received, but ...
'' Connolly returned to being a folk singer. His live performances featured humorous introductions that became increasingly long. The head of Transatlantic Records,
Nat Joseph, who had signed The Humblebums and had nurtured their career, was concerned that Connolly find a way to develop a distinctive solo career just as his former bandmate, Gerry Rafferty, was doing. Joseph saw several of Connolly's performances and noted his comedic skills. Joseph had nurtured the recording career of another Scottish folk entertainer,
Hamish Imlach
Hamish Imlach (10 February 1940 – 1 January 1996) was a Scottish folk singer. Imlach was born in Calcutta to Scottish parents, although he claimed to have been conceived in Glasgow, Scotland. His commercial success was limited, but he influence ...
, and saw potential in Connolly following a similar path. He suggested to Connolly that he drop the folk-singing and focus primarily on becoming a comedian.
1970s
In 1972, Connolly made his theatrical debut, at the Cottage Theatre in
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...
, with a
revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...
called Connolly's Glasgow Flourish.
He played the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
with poet Tom Buchan, with whom he had written The Great Northern Welly Boot Show, and in costumes designed by the artist and writer
John Byrne, who also designed the covers of the Humblebums' records.
Also in 1972, Nat Joseph produced Connolly's first solo album, ''Billy Connolly Live!'', a mixture of comedic songs and short
monologues that hinted at what was to follow. In late 1973, Joseph produced the breakthrough album that propelled Connolly to British stardom. Recorded at a small venue, The Tudor Hotel in
Airdrie, the record was a double album titled ''Solo Concert''. Releasing a live double-album by a comedian who was virtually unknown (except to a cult audience in Glasgow) was an unusual
gambit
A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage.
The word '' gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe sim ...
by Joseph but his faith in Connolly's talent turned out to be warranted. Joseph and his marketing team, which included publicist
Martin Lewis, promoted the album to chart success on its release in 1974. It featured one of Connolly's most famous comedy routines — "The Crucifixion" — in which he likens Christ's
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
to a drunken night out in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
. The recording was banned by many radio stations at the time.
![Billy Connolly's banana boots](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Billy_Connolly%27s_banana_boots.jpg)
In 1974, he sold out the
Pavilion Theatre in his home town.
In 1975, the rapidity and extent of Connolly's breakthrough was used to secure him a booking on Britain's premier TV chat show, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. Connolly made the most of the opportunity and, ignoring objections from his manager,
told a bawdy joke about a man who had murdered his wife and buried her bottom-up so he'd have somewhere to park his bike. This ribald humour was unusually forthright on a primetime Saturday night on British television in the mid-1970s, and his appearance made a great impact. "When I finished that show, I came back to Glasgow, and I was coming through the airport and the whole airport started to applaud." Connolly became a good friend of the host,
, and now holds the record for appearances on the programme, having been a guest on fifteen occasions.
Referring to that debut appearance, he later said: "That programme changed my entire life." Parkinson, in the documentary, ''Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years'', stated that people still remember Connolly telling the punchline to the 'bike joke' three decades after that TV appearance. When asked about the material, Connolly stated, "Yes, it was incredibly edgy for its time. My manager, on the way over, warned me not to do it, but it was a great joke and the interview was going so well, I thought, 'Oh, fuck that!!' I don't know where I got the courage in those days, but Michael did put confidence in me."
Connolly's success spread to other English-speaking countries: Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. However, his broad Scottish accent and British cultural references made success in the US improbable.
His increased profile led to contact with other celebrities; including musicians such as
. John at that time was trying to assist British performers whom he personally liked to achieve success in the United States (he had released records in the US by veteran British pop singer
label). John tried to give Connolly a boost in America by using him as the opening act on his 1976 US tour, but the well-intentioned gesture was a failure. John's American fans had no interest in being warmed-up by an unknown comedian – especially a Scotsman whose accent they found incomprehensible. "In Washington, some guy threw a
and it hit me right between my eyes", he told Michael Parkinson two years later. "It wasn't my audience. They made me feel about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit." The quip caused fellow guest
to laugh uncontrollably.
Connolly continued to grow in popularity in the UK. In 1975, he signed with
. Connolly continued to release live albums and he also recorded several comedic songs that enjoyed commercial success as novelty singles including parodies of
").
. It was there that, after consuming a sizable amount of
and alcohol, he collapsed on the floor of a recording studio.
'', in which she was one of the four regular performers.
Returning to the stage, Connolly embarked on his Big Wee Tour of Britain, performing 69 dates in 84 days. While backstage in
, he met Stephenson for a second time. He confided in her that he was unhappy and that his current marriage was over. Back at his hotel, where they began an
. "What I saw of him – particularly in that dressing room – was that he was about to die," Stephenson said. "He was very
. He was throwing everything away, desperately trying to feel no pain at all. You know how you get a sense from some people when they are very self-destructive that there is something they are trying to bury? They've got something they are trying to forget, or they are trying to drown their sorrows? He was hurting in a very deep way. I thought, 'If I leave this man, he's going to die.'"
Also in 1979, Connolly was invited by producer Martin Lewis to join the cast of ''
. Connolly was the first comedic performer in the series who was not an alumnus of the
school of middle-class university-educated entertainers and he made the most of his appearance. Appearing in the company of long-established talents such as
helped elevate the perception of Connolly as one of Britain's leading comedic talents. Lewis also teamed Connolly with Cleese and Cook to appear in the television commercial for the album.
''. The commercial success of the special US version of ''The Secret Policeman's Other Ball'' film (
, 1982) introduced Connolly to a wider American audience, who were attracted to the film because of the presence of
members. His on-screen presence alongside these performers – who were already familiar to
comedy buffs – helped lay down a marker for Connolly's eventual return to the US in his own right eight years later.
En route to begin filming ''
, Connolly drank an excessive amount of alcohol on the plane. Upon arriving on the island, he had dinner with the cast and crew, including
.
In 1985, he divorced Iris Pressagh, his wife of sixteen years (they had separated four years earlier), and he was awarded custody of their children Jamie and Cara.
. The uncut, uncensored version was subsequently released on video. In July 1985, Connolly performed at
, whom he introduced on stage.
Although Connolly had performed in North America as early as the 1970s and had appeared in several movies that played in American theatres, he nonetheless remained relatively unknown until 1990 when he was featured in the
. Soon after, Connolly succeeded
'' for its final season. He would also take part on its spin-off series ''
''. Connolly joined boxer
when singing "The War Song of the Urpneys" in the British animated television series ''
''.
In 1991, HBO released ''Billy Connolly: Pale Blue Scottish Person'', a standup performance recorded at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
On 4 June 1992, Connolly performed his 25th-anniversary concert in Glasgow. Parts of the show and its build-up were documented in ''
'', which aired later in the year.
...