Billy Connolly Biography Sir William Connolly, CBE (born November 24, 1942), is a retired Scottish comedian, actor, artist, musician, and television presenter. He is also known by the Scots as the Big Yin (“the Big One”). Connolly has won several UK polls as the greatest stand-up comedian of all time, known for his distinctive and often improvised observational comedy, which regularly includes foul language. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts awarded him a BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2022. Connolly worked as a welder (particularly, a boilermaker) in the Glasgow shipyards in the early 1960s, but he quit around the end of the decade to pursue a career as a folk singer. He initially sung in the folk rock band The.
Billy Connolly Biography 2024
Billy Connolly was born and reared in the Scottish city of Glasgow. He dropped out of school to work in shipyards as a welder, and around the same time, he joined the Territorial Army (in the parachute regiment). He became interested in folk music and eventually became a skilled banjo player, as well as a member of the band Humblebums with Gerry Rafferty. The jokes he told in between songs ultimately took over his act, and he went full-time. He was already a major figure in Scotland before becoming a household name in the UK after appearing on Parkinson (1971) in the early 1970s. Billy has recorded and published numerous videos of his musical appearances over the years. He has broadened his portfolio to include acting and appearing.
Billy Connolly Biography 2024 Details
| Birth name | William Connolly |
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| Born | 24 November 1942 (age 81)
Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland |
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| Years active | 1965–present |
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| Genres | - Scottish comedy
- blue comedy
- musical comedy
- observational comedy
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| Spouse | Iris Pressagh (m. 1969; div. 1985)
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| Children | 5 |
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| Category | Singers Bio |
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Billy Connolly
Sir William Connolly CBE is a Scottish retired comedian, actor, artist, musician, and television presenter. He is sometimes known by the Scots nickname the Big Yin.
Born: 24 November 1942 (age 81 years), Glasgow, United Kingdom
Children: Jamie Connolly, Cara Connolly, Daisy Connolly, Scarlett Connolly, Amy Connolly
Spouse: Pamela Stephenson (m. 1989), Iris Pressagh (m. 1969–1985)
TV shows: Billy Connolly: In His Own Words, Head of the Class, MORE
Height: 1.83 m
Early life
Connolly was born in Anderston, Glasgow, on November 24, 1942, at 69 Dover Street, “on the linoleum, three floors up”. The portion of Dover Street between Breadalbane and Claremont was demolished in the 1970s. Connolly mentions it 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 it all to make a road”. The flat only featured two rooms: a kitchen-living room with a sleeping area for the children, and another room for their parents. The family had a bath in the kitchen sink, which had no hot water. Connolly was born to Catholic parents, William Connolly and Mary McLean.
Connolly’s mother abandoned her children in 1946, when he was four years old, while their father served as an engineer in the Royal Air Force in Burma. “I’ve never felt abandoned by her,” Connolly stated in 2009. “My mom was an adolescent. My father was in Burma, fighting a horrible battle. The Germans were dumping all kinds of garbage on the town. We lived on the docks, so that’s where all the bombings happened. She was a teenage mother of two living in a slum. A guy approaches and says, ‘I adore you.
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Career
Connolly’s moniker, The Big Yin, was first used throughout his adolescence to distinguish himself from his father. “My father was a very powerful man. Broad and powerful. He had an 18+1⁄2 inch neck collar. Huge, like a bull. He was “Big Billy”, and I was “Wee Billy”. And then I grew bigger than him, and the whole thing spiraled out of control. Then I became The Big Yin in Scotland. So we’d walk into the pub and someone would remark, ‘Billy Connolly was in.’ ‘Oh. Big Billy or Wee Billy? ‘The Big Yin.’ ‘Oh, Wee Billy.’ If you were a stranger, you’d wonder, “What are these people talking about?” Connolly made his debut appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the early 1960s.
Personal life
Connolly married Iris Pressagh in 1969. They separated in 1981 and divorced in 1985. He began living with Pamela Stephenson in 1981, and they married on December 20, 1989, in Fiji. “Marriage to Pam didn’t change me; it saved me,” he later explained. “I was about to die. I was in a downward spiral and enjoying every moment of it. I was not only expecting to die, but also looking forward to it.” Connolly has two kids from his first marriage and three from his second. In 2001, his daughter Cara gave birth to Walter, making him a grandfather. Connolly, who had been a habitual drinker, stopped using alcohol in 1986. “I do not miss drinking. “It took me by surprise,” Connolly said 24 years later.
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Billy Connolly’s profile summary
- Full name: William Connolly
- Nickname: Billy, The Big Yin
- Gender: Male
- Date of birth: 24 November 1942
- Age: 79 (as of 2022)
- Zodiac sign: Sagittarius
- Place of birth: Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland
- Current residence: Key West, Florida, United States
- Nationality: Scottish
- Ethnicity: Irish
- Religion: Christian (Catholic)
- Sexuality: Straight
- Height in feet: 6′ 0″
- Height in centimetres: 183
- Weight in pounds: 165
- Weight in kilograms: 75
- Hair colour: Grey
- Eye colour: Brown
- Mother: Mary McLean
- Father: William Connolly
- Siblings: 2 (Michael Connolly, Florence Connolly)
- Marital status: Married
- Partner: Pamela Stephenson (m. 1989)
- Children: 5 (Jamie Connolly, Cara Connolly, Scarlett Connolly, Daisy Connolly, Amy Connolly)
- School: St. Gerard’s Secondary School
- Profession: Actor, Comedian, Artist, Writer, Musician, and Presenter
- Net worth: $20 Million
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What is Billy Connolly’s Net Worth
Billy Connolly, a Scottish actor, artist, singer, and retired comedian, has a $20 million net worth.
