STAR PROFILE:

Billy Connolly, Mrs Brown, BBC2, Thursday, 10.00pm.

Image: Energetic ergetic funnyman. Best known wn for: Making the world laugh. Early life: William Connolly Jr was born on November er 24, 1942, in Anderston, Glasgow. His parents separated df four years later, l and Billy and his sister Florence were brought up by his father’s sisters. It was an unhappy childhood, and it was revealed in a biography by his wife, Pamela Stephenson, that he was sexually abused by his father. He left school at 15 and took several odd jobs before becoming a welder. Career: Connolly bought a banjo and formed a folk group, the Humblebums, which also included future music star Gerry Rafferty. Their success enabled him to quit his day job. Tours, a Royal Command Performance and two albums followed. The band split when Connolly’s jokes between songs started taking over the act and he set out on his own in 1971. By 1975, when he first appeared on the Michael Parkinson chat show, he was a household name. Since then, he’s gained fans across the globe thanks to a number of successful stand-up tours. Away from comedy, he’s written plays and acted, appearing in numerous films including Mrs Brown, StillCrazy and TheHobbit. Love life: Married Iris Pressagh in 1969. The couple divorced in 1985. He married Pamela Stephenson four years later. Don’t mention: Hecklers. He curtailed some stand-up shows on his 2012 UK tour. Quote: “Life for me is great. I’m a very wealthy person, I’m married to a very beautiful woman and I get laid with monotonous regularity.”