Billy+Connolly

**Billy Connolly**

====** Billy Connolly, CBE(born William, Jr. on 24 November 1942) is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenterand actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotand, by the nickname //The Big Yin// (The Big One). His first trade, in the early 1960s, was as a welder(specifically a boilermaker) in the Glasgow shipyards, but he gave it up towards the end of the decade in favour of being a folk singer. In the mid-1970s he changed career again, this time becoming a comedian, a role in which he continues. He is also an actor, and has appeared isuch films as //Indecent Proposal//(1993); //Mrs. Brown//(1997), for which he was nominated for a BAFTA//;The Boondock Saints//(1999);//The Man Who Sued God//(2001); //The Last Samurai//(2003); //Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events// (2004);ld garfeld 2; and //The X-Files: I Want to Believe//(2008) ** ==== **Folk singer   **

 Referring to that debut appearance, he later said: "That programme changed my entire life." Parkinson, in the documentary //Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years//, stated that people still remember Connolly telling the punchline to the 'bike joke' three decades after that TV appearance. When asked about the material, Connolly stated, "Yes, it was incredibly edgy for its time. My manager, on the way over, warned me not to do it, but it was a great joke and the interview was going so well, I thought, oh fuck it! I don't know where I got the courage in those days, but Michael did put confidence in me."[Connolly's UK success spread to other English-speaking countries: Australia, New Zealand and Canada. However, his broad Scottish accent and British cultural references made success in the U.S. improbable. His popularity in Britain endeared him to many other British entertainers including musicians such as Elton John. John at that time was trying to assist British performers whom he personally liked to achieve success in the U.S. (He had released records in the US by veteran British pop singer Cliff Richard on his own Rocket Recordslabel.) John tried to give Connolly a boost in America by using him as the opening act on his 1976 US tour. But the well-intentioned gesture was a failure. Elton John's American fans had no interest in being warmed-up by an unknown comedic performer — especially a Scotsman whose accent was incomprehensible to most Americans. "In Washington, some guy threw a pipe and it hit me right between my eyes", he told Michael Parkinson two years later. "It wasn't my audience. They made me feel about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit ." [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/2664937300_d1bd42ee24.jpg/180px-2664937300_d1bd42ee24.jpg width="139" height="202" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2664937300_d1bd42ee24.jpg"]] Connolly's banana boots, a regular in his act during the 1970s, are now on display in the People's Palace in Glasgow.
 * In 1965, together with Tam Harvey, Connolly started a group called the Humblebums. At their first gig, Connolly reportedly introduced them both to the audience by saying, "My name's Billy Connolly, and I'm humble. This is Tam Harvey, he's a bum." The band would later include Gerry Rafferty. Connolly sang, played five-string banjo, guitar and autoharp, and entertained the audience with his humorous introductions to the songs. **
 * In his //World Tour of Scotland//, Connolly reveals that at a trailer show during the Edinburgh Festival, the Humblebums took to the stage just before the late Yehudi Menuhin. **
 * The trio broke up in 1971, at which point Connolly went solo. His first solo album in 1972, //Billy Connolly Live!// on Transatlantic Records, features Connolly as a singer, songwriter, and musician. **
 * His early albums were a mixture of comedy performances with comedic and serious musical interludes. Among his best known musical performances were "The Welly Boot Song", a parody of the Scottish folk song "The Wark O' The Weavers" which became his theme song for several years; "In the Brownies", a parody of the Village People classics "Y.M.C.A." and "In the Navy" (for which Connolly filmed a music video); "Two Little Boys in Blue", a tongue-in-cheek indictment of police brutality done to the tune of Rolf Harris' "Two Little Boys"; and the ballad "I Wish I Was in Glasgow" which Connolly would later perform in duet with Malcolm McDowell on a guest appearance on the 1990s American sitcom //Pearl// (which starred Rhea Perlman). He also performed the occasional Humblebums-era song such as "Oh, No!" as well as straightforward covers such as a version of Dolly Parton's "Coat of Many Colors" which was included on his //Get Right Intae Him!// album. **
 * In November 1975, his spoof of the Tammy Wynettes ong "D-I-V-O-R-C-E"had a one-week spell as the UK's No. 1 single. Wynette's original was about parents spelling out words of an impending marital split to avoid traumatizing their young child. Connolly's version of the song, on the other hand, played on the fact that many dog owners use the same tactic when they do not wish their pet to become upset about an impending trip to the vet//.His// song is about a couple whose marriage is ruined by a bad vet visit (spelling out "W-O-R-M" or "Q-U-A-R-A-N-T-I-N-E", for example.) **
 * 1970**