Billy Connolly was born November 24, 1942, in Glasgow. He left school at 15 and served as a shipyard worker, a paratrooper in the Territorial Army, and a welder, a job which included a stint building an oil rig in Nigeria.
Extracts from the accompanying The Greatest Scot television programme are being added to these biographical notes as the programme is broadcast between November 9 and 13. If you live outside the UK, you will not be able to see these, but you may enjoy other videos about some of the subjects which are available via links in the text. Here is a recent interview with Billy Connolly talking about some of his charitable interests.
After his return home, Connolly used his savings to support himself while learning to play folk music on the banjo and guitar.
He became a regular on the Glasgow folk scene, instantly recognizable with his wild hair and beard. In 1965 he formed the Humblebums with guitarist Tam Harvey.
Gerry Rafferty joined sometime later and the group built a following with their live performances, which spotlighted Connolly's humorous banter in between the songs .
As Rafferty's songs became the Humblebums' primary musical focus, tensions among the members escalated; Harvey departed, and Connolly and Rafferty recorded two albums in 1969 and 1970 before disagreements over Connolly's concert comedy split them up in 1971.
Connolly soon began performing around Scotland and northern England, concentrating more on comedy but still mixing occasional folk songs into his act.
In 1972, he released his first album Live and saw the debut of The Great Northern Welly Boot Show, a musical play he co-authored with poet Tom Buchan based on his experiences in the shipyards of Glasgow. The show was a huge hit in Edinburgh and London, and Polydor signed Connolly to a recording contract.
In 1974, his Solo Concert album sparked protests from the Christian community over a rowdy routine in which Connolly described the Last Supper as if it had taken place in Glasgow; all the publicity helped rather than hindered his career and he was quickly becoming one of Scotland's favourite entertainers.
His 1974 follow-up album, Cop Yer Whack for This, became his biggest hit yet, going gold in the U.K. and his comic take on Tammy Wynette's D.I.V.O.R.C.E. became a surprise number one hit single in 1975.
That same year, Connolly made a star-making appearance on Michael Parkinson's TV chat show. He consolidated his success with a rigorous touring schedule over the next few years and continued to release comedy recordings on a regular basis into the ‘80s.
His first marriage dissolved in 1981 and he later married Pamela Stephenson, then a comedienne, now a psychotherapist. Taking up residence in London with Stephenson, Connolly continued his comedy career while taking on more theatrical and television roles.
Toward the late '80s, his appearances on American television became more frequent, which helped Connolly land a gig replacing Howard Hesseman on the high school honour-student comedy Head of the Class in 1990.
The series was cancelled after one season but Connolly had been noticed. By 1992, he was back on American television starring in the sitcom Billy.
It too was cancelled after a short run, and after appearing in the film Indecent Proposal, Connolly returned to the U.K. In 1994, he presented the acclaimed TV series World Tour of Scotland, which explored the flavour of contemporary Scottish culture. It proved so successful that Connolly hosted two further exploration-themed BBC series: 1995's A Scot in the Arctic, in which he spent a week on a remote northern Canadian island, and 1996's World Tour of Australia.
Lent a new respectability, Connolly appeared in BBC Scotland's historical dramas Deacon Brodie (1996) and Her Majesty Mrs. Brown (1997).
Connolly is still performing in regular stand-up tours across the U.K. and has continued his work as a character actor in American films.
