SIR BIG YIN
Comedy legend recognised after 50 years in showbiz JK, Sande and mummy Murray celebrate awards
Legendary comic Billy Connolly given gong in Queen’s Birthday Honours List, while JK Rowling receives Order of the Companions of Honour and Emeli Sande an MBE
This celebrates a truly great Scot, the irrepressible Big Yin DAVID MUNDELL
ARISE Sir Big Yin! Scots comedy legend Billy Connolly was last night celebrating being knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
The comic and actor was recognised for his services to entertainment and charity over a glittering 50-year career.
He was among a number of Scots – including Harry Potter author JK Rowling, pop star Emeli Sande and tennis coach Judy Murray – to be honoured.
Connolly’s accolade – handed out in the centenary year of the Order of the British Empire – comes 14 years after he was made a CBE.
And it marks another high point in a notable year for Sir 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 Glasgow.
Connolly revealed 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 last night: “This celebrates a truly great Scot, the irrepressible Big Yin, who has entertained millions, but also his dedicated charity fundraising.”
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.
She 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. Fellow author David Walliams was also celebrating as he received an OBE but he revealed: “Nobody is happier than my mum.”
The TV star and writer 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 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 the River Thames, raising more than £2million for the charity.
Twenty years after he was knighted, pop legend Sir Paul McCartney is upgraded to a