ARISE SIR BIG YIN
Connolly’s top year just got a whole lot better Walliams gets OBE with ‘nobody happier than Mum’
BILLY Connolly was yesterday a big Yin-ner in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List after being awarded a knighthood.
The comedian and actor, known as the Big Yin, becomes a Sir in recognition of his services to entertainment and charity.
The accolade – handed out in the centenary year of the Order of the British Empire – comes 14 years after he was made a CBE.
The gong represents a high point in a notable year for Billy, as he turns 75 in November.
He has already been the subject of an ITV special celebrating his career and had three giant murals erected in his honour in his native city of Glasgow.
Connolly disclosed in 2013 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and prostate cancer on the same day but has since been given the all-clear from cancer.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: “This celebrates a truly great Scot, the irrepressible Big Yin, who has entertained millions, but also his dedicated charity fundraising.”
David Walliams has received an OBE but revealed: “Nobody is happier than my mum.”
The TV star and author has been recognised for his services to charity and the arts.
Walliams, 45, added: “I am lucky to have worked with brilliant people in my career and charity work, so this is recognition for them, too.”
He became a household name with comedy partner Matt Lucas thanks to BBC sketch show Little Britain and more recently as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent. His books, including his 2008 debut The Boy In The Dress, have frequently topped best-seller lists.
Walliams has raised millions for Sport Relief. In 2006, he swam the English Channel — and in 2011, he swam 140 miles down London’s River Thames, raising more than £2million for the charity. Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who was made an OBE in 2001, now becomes a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, in light of her services to literature and philanthropy.
Ms Rowling said: “I’m deeply honoured to be nominated and to be included in the company of the other Companions of Honour.”
The award comes days before fans of her boy wizard creation mark 20 years since Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone was first published.
And 20 years after he was knighted, music legend Sir Paul McCartney is upgraded to a Companion of Honour for services to music. Macca, 75 tomorrow, said: “I’m very happy about this
It celebrates a truly, great Scot, who has entertained millions DAVID MUNDELL SCOTTISH SECRETARY
news coming on my birthday weekend and Father’s Day – it makes it colossal.”
Delia Smith, 75, already a CBE for her services to cookery is also made a Companion of Honour.
Author of The Snowman Raymond Briggs, 83, is awarded an OBE For services to Literature. Broadcaster Gloria Hunniford, 77, was also honoured with an OBE for services to breast cancer charities.
In 2004, she lost her daughter Caron, who was also a TV presenter, to the disease. Natasha Kaplinsky has been made an OBE for services to Holocaust commemoration. The broadcaster has spent 15 months interviewing 112 British survivors.
Ms Kaplinsky, 44, said: “This is a huge honour and gives me an opportunity to talk about the people that I’ve met throughout this project.” Her interviews will be exhibited in an education centre in London and used in nationwide schemes.
Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire, 52, and Miranda actress Patricia Hodge, 70, receive OBEs for services to drama.