From welder to folk star, comic genius & knight
BILLY Connolly was born in Glasgow and had a difficult childhood, abused by his father and abandoned by his mother.
He became a welder in the city’s shipyards but left to play in a folk band.
He began to make a reputation with Gerry Rafferty’s group, the Humblebums, but his chats between songs became longer and longer, and soon he tried his hand at comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe.
He had great success with comedy and parody records, and his comic take on Tammy Wynette’s D.I.V.O.R.C.E. became a surprise No1 hit in 1975.
That year, he appeared on the Parkinson show, making him a household name.
He met Pamela Stephenson in 1979 when he made a cameo appearance on the BBC sketch show Not the Nine O’Clock News, where she was one of four regular performers.
They began a romance after he admitted his first marriage to Iris Pressagh was over, and they went on to marry in 1989.
Connolly enjoyed huge sell-out tours in the 80s and began to appear as an actor on TV and in films.
After moving to the US to make several sitcoms he returned to the UK, where in 1994 he hosted the acclaimed BBC1 series World Tour of Scotland. He made several more documentary-style shows over the next two decades.
In 2003, he received a CBE and a BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was knighted by Prince William at Buckingham Palace in October 2017.