right|thumb|Billy Connolly 2006
'''William „Billy“ Connolly''', CBE (* schottischer Moderator und Schauspieler. In seiner Heimat ist er außerdem unter dem Spitznamen '''„The Big Yin“''' („Der Große“, seiner Körpergröße wegen) bekannt.

== Kindheit und Jugend ==
Billy Connolly wurde als Sohn irischer Einwanderer in 60er Jahren gab er den Schweißerberuf schließlich auf, um sich der Musik zu widmen.

== Karriere ==
=== Folk Musik ===
Gemeinsam mit Tam Harvey gründete Billy Connolly eine Band namens ''The Humblebums'', in der später auch Gerry Rafferty Mitglied war. Connolly sang, spielte Banjo und Gitarre und unterhielt das Publikum zwischen den Stücken mit Witzen und Anekdoten. Als sich die Band auflöste wurde er zum Solokünstler und Komiker. Durch Auftritte in der Fernsehshow ''Parkinson'' wurde Billy auch außerhalb Schottlands bekannt. 

Seine frühen Alben waren eine Mischung aus Comedy und komischen sowie ernsthafteren Musikeinlagen. 1975 konnte er mit dem Comedy-Titel ''D.I.V.O.R.C.E.'' einen Nummer-Eins-Hit in England landen. Nach und nach nahm der Comedyteil zu und der Musikteil ab, so dass das Programm seit den 80ern so gut wie keine Musikeinlagen mehr enthält. Trotzdem nimmt er immer noch Musik auf und sang z. B. im Film ''Lemony Snicket - Rätselhafte Ereignisse''.

=== Stand-up Comedy ===
Am besten ist Billy Connolly als Stand-Up Comedian bekannt. Sein Markenzeichen ist neben seinem Erscheinungsbild und seinem breiten Glasgower Dialekt seine Beobachtungsgabe und der freie Gebrauch von Flüchen, sowie seine vor allem in den 70er und 80er Jahren unkonventionelle Themenwahl (von Fäkalthemen über Krankheit, die Arbeiterklasse und Blasphemie). 
Eines seiner bekanntesten Programme, "The Crucifixion" (Die Kreuzigung), vergleicht das letzte Abendmahl mit einer feuchtfröhlichen Nacht in Glasgow und wurde von vielen Radiostationen der damaligen Zeit boykottiert.

=== Schauspieler ===
In den 70er Jahren begann Billy Connolly seine dritte Karriere als Schauspieler, womit er erstmals als Hauptdarsteller der Sitcom ''Head of the Class'' 1990 erfolgreich war, gefolgt von einer weiteren Show namens ''Billy''. 

Seitdem ist er nicht nur als Komödiant, sondern auch als Charakterschauspieler in diversen Filmen erfolgreich. Von den Kritikern am besten aufgenommen wurde seine Rolle im Film ''Ihre Majestät Mrs. Brown'', in dem er mit Dame Judi Dench zu sehen war. Für seine Rolle erhielt er Nominierungen für den BAFTA und den Screen Actors Guild Awards.

=== Sonstiges ===
In den letzten Jahren filmte Billy Connolly eine Reihe von Reiseberichten unter dem Namen ''Billy Connolly's World Tour of...'', die seriöse Berichte über Geschichte, Kultur und Einheimische des jeweiligen Landes mit Ausschnitten zum jeweiligen Thema aus seinem Bühnenprogramm kombinieren. 

{{Infobox Comedian
| name              = Billy Connolly
| image             = Billy 1.jpg
| imagesize         = 150px
| caption           = Connolly in 2005
| pseudonym         = 
| birth_date        = 
| birth_place       = Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland
|nationality        = Scottish<!---Please see talk page and discuss before changing to any other nationality-->
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| medium            = Stand-up, television, film, music
| active            = 1960s–present
| genre             = Folk
| subject           = 
| influences        = Chic Murray
| influenced        = 
| spouse            = Iris Pressagh (1969–1985)<br />Pamela Stephenson (1989–present)
| notable_work      =
| signature         = 
| website           = [http://www.billyconnolly.com BillyConnolly.com]
| footnotes         = 
| academyawards     =
| emmyawards        =
| goldenglobeawards =
| tonyawards        =
| baftaawards       =
| cesarawards       =
| goyaawards        =
| afiawards         =
| filmfareawards    =
| olivierawards     =
| britishcomedyawards =
}}

'''William "Billy" Connolly, Jr.''', CBE (born Scottish <!---Please see talk page and discuss before changing to any other nationality--> comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname ''The Big Yin'' (The Big One).<ref name="Stephenson1">Stephenson, Pamela. ''Billy'', HarperCollins, 2001</ref> 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 a sometime actor, and has appeared in such films as ''Indecent Proposal'' (1993); ''Mrs. Brown'' (1997), for which he was nominated for a BAFTA''; The Boondock Saints'' (1999); ''The Last Samurai'' (2003); ''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'' (2004); and ''The X-Files: I Want to Believe'' (2008).

==Background==
===Birth and early years===
Connolly was born at 65 Dover Street ("on the linoleum, three floors up")<ref name="WToS">''née McLean), a hospital cafeteria worker, and William Connolly, Sr., an instrument technician who was the son of an Irish immigrant.<ref>[http://www.filmreference.com/film/74/Billy-Connolly.html Billy Connolly Biography (1942-)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2001/sep/23/life1.lifemagazine5</ref><ref name="Profile"></ref> In 1946, with their son barely four years old, Connolly's mother abandoned him and his sister while his father was away for the war. He and his sister, Florence ("Flo"), were then looked after by two aunts, Margaret and Mona, his father's sisters. In her biography of him, Connolly's wife, Pamela Stephenson, documented Billy's years of sexual abuse by his father which began when he was ten and lasted until he was fifteen or sixteen.<ref name="BBC 2001">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1559131.stm "Billy Connolly reveals childhood abuse"] - BBC website, September 23, 2001</ref>

"Twice in my life, two birds have flown in and made a huge difference," explained Connolly in 1996.<ref name="World Tour of Australia"/> When he was seven years old, the Connolly family went to Rothesay on holiday. He was sent out to get some tame bird, and we became friends and I got used to the idea: the bird would land on me and I was quite happy. My life had changed forever."<ref name="World Tour of Australia"/> Connolly went on state that the second "bird" was Brett Whiteley, the Australian artist, who he met through Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits in the 1980s.

Connolly was brought up in the Anderston and, later, Stephens Territorial Army Reserve 15th (Scottish) Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (15 PARA), which became part of the 4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (he later commemorated his TA experiences in his song, "Weekend Soldier").

====Origin of ''The Big Yin''====
Connolly's ''The Big Yin'' nickname was first used during his adolescent years to differentiate between himself and his father.<ref name="Stephenson1"/> "My father was a very strong man. Broad and strong. He had an 18½-pub and someone would say, 'Billy Connolly was in.' 'Oh, Big Billy or Wee Billy?' 'The Big Yin.' 'Oh, Wee Billy?' If you were a stranger, you'd think, 'What are these people talking about?'"<ref name="World Tour of Australia">''Billy Connolly's World Tour of Australia'', 1996</ref>

===1960s===
In 1965, after he had completed a five-year apprenticeship as a boilermaker, Connolly accepted a ten-week job building an oil rig in Nigeria. Upon his return to Scotland, he focused on being a folk singer.

On 27 June, 1969, a 26-year-old Connolly married his first wife, Iris Pressagh. In December 1969 his first child, Jamie, was born. He has four more children, all daughters &mdash; one (Cara, born 1973) with Iris, and three with his second wife, Pamela: Daisy (31 December 1983), Amy (7 July 1986), and Scarlett (28 July 1988). 

Connolly's career as a folk singer led to him forming a folk-pop duo called The Humblebums with a fellow musician Tam Harvey.  After recording one album, Harvey left the partnership and was replaced by future rock star Gerry Rafferty. Connolly’s time with Rafferty possibly influenced his future comedy as years later he would recall how Rafferty’s expert prank telephone calls, made while waiting to go on stage, used to make him “scream” with laughter. The Connolly-Rafferty version of The Humblebums recorded two more albums for independent record label Transatlantic Records.  The albums were not big commercial successes but enjoyed cult status and critical acclaim.  Connolly's contributions were primarily straight-forward pop-folk with quirky and whimsical lyrics — but he had not especially focused on comedy at this point.

In 1970, the Humblebums broke up with Rafferty going on to record a solo album for Transatlantic Records: ''Can I Have My Money Back'' (1971).  Connolly returned to being a folk singer.  His live performances featured folk songs with humorous introductions that became increasingly long in duration.

The head of Transatlantic Records, Nat Joseph, who had signed the Humblebums and had nurtured their career, was concerned that Connolly find a way to develop a distinctive solo career just as his former bandmate Gerry Rafferty was doing.  Joseph saw several of Connolly's performances and noted his comedic skills.  Joseph had successfully nurtured the recording career of another Scottish folk entertainer, Hamish Imlach, and Joseph saw potential in Connolly following a similar path.  He suggested to Connolly that he drop the folk-singing and focus primarily on becoming a comedian.  It was a life-changing suggestion.

===1970s===
In 1972 Joseph produced Connolly's first solo album, ''Billy Connolly Live!'', a mixture of comedic songs and short monologues that hinted at what was to follow.  In late 1973, Joseph produced the breakthrough album that propelled Connolly to British stardom.  Recorded at a small venue, The Tudor Hotel in Airdrie, the record was a double album titled ''Solo Concert''.  Releasing a live double-album by a comedian who was virtually unknown (except to a cult audience in Glasgow) was an unusual gambit by Joseph but his faith in Connolly's talent was justified.  Joseph and his Transatlantic Records marketing team, which included publicist Martin Lewis, successfully promoted the album to chart success on its release in 1974. It featured one of Connolly's most famous comedy routines: "The Crucifixion", in which he likens Christ's Last Supper to a drunken night out in Glasgow. The recording was banned by many radio stations at the time. Building on his cult Scottish following, Transatlantic broke Connolly throughout the UK — an unusual development for a regional comedian.   

In 1975, Transatlantic used the rapidity and extent of Connolly's breakthrough to secure him a booking on Britain's premier TV talk show, the Parkinson''. Connolly made the most of the opportunity and told a bawdy joke about a man who had murdered his wife and buried her bottom-up so he'd have somewhere to park his bike. This ribald humour was unusually forthright on a primetime Saturday night on British television in the mid-1970s and his appearance made a great impact. He became a good friend of the host, Michael Parkinson, and now holds the record for appearances on the programme, having been a guest on fifteen occasions.<ref name="rtimes">''Radio Times'' 15–21 December 2007: Goodnight... and Thank You</ref> 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."<ref name="rtimes"/> 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 road manager at this time was Eddie Tobin.<ref>[http://heritage.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=966&id=1514582006 "Nightclub businessman shot on doorstep" - The Scotsman]</ref>

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 Records label.)  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."

Connolly continued to grow in popularity in the UK.  In 1975 he signed with Polydor Records and the label built on Transatlantic's groundwork.  Connolly continued to release live albums and he also recorded several comedic songs that enjoyed commercial success as novelty singles including parodies of Tammy Wynette's song "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." and the Village People's "In the Navy" (titled "In the Brownies").

In 1979, Connolly was invited by producer Martin Lewis to join the cast of ''The Secret Policeman's Ball'', the third in the series of the ''Secret Policeman's Ball''  fundraising shows for Amnesty International. Connolly was the first comedic performer in the series who was not an alumnus of the ''Oxbridge'' school of middle-class university-educated entertainers and he made the most of his appearance.  His performance was considered to be one of the highlights of the show's comedy album (released by Island Records in December 1979) and feature film (released by ITC Films in 1980).  Appearing in the company of long-established talents such as John Cleese and Peter Cook helped elevate the perception of Connolly as one of Britain's leading comedic talents. Lewis also teamed Connolly with Cleese and Cook to appear in the television commercial for the album.

===1980s===
In 1981, UIP 1982).  The commercial success of the special U.S. version of the ''The Secret Policeman's Other Ball'' film (Miramax Films 1982) introduced Connolly to a wider American audience, who were attracted to the film because of the presence of Monty Python members. His on-screen presence alongside these performers — who were already familiar to Anglophile comedy buffs — helped lay down a marker for Connolly's eventual return to America in his own right eight years later.  

In 1985, he divorced his wife of sixteen years (they had separated four years earlier). He was awarded custody of their two children. That same year, he recorded ''Wembley leg of Live Aid, immediately preceding Elton John.

In 1986 he visited Comic Relief. He also featured in the charity's inaugural live stage show, both as a stand-up and portraying a willing 'victim' in his partner dwarves.

Connolly completed his first world tour in 1987, including six nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which was documented in the ''Billy and Albert'' video.

When the Fox Network aired ''Freedomfest: Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Celebration'' in 1988, Connolly was still virtually unknown in the States, but his performance drew attention, particularly from producers, and interest in him grew.

In 1989, Connolly's father died after a stroke, the eighth of his life.<ref name="WToS" /> His mother died four years later of motor neurone disease. She was living in Dunoon at that point.<ref>[http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/biography/story/0,6000,556340,00.html "Billy Connolly: The interview"] - ''The Guardian'', September 23, 2001</ref>

On December 20, 1989, in Fiji, Connolly married Pamela Stephenson, the New Zealand-born comedy actress he had met when making a cameo appearance on the BBC sketch show ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'', in which she was one of four regular performers. He had been living with her since 1981. "Marriage to Pam didn't change me, it saved me," he later said. "I was going to die. I was on a downwards spiral and enjoying every second of it. Not only was I dying, but I was looking forward to it."

Earlier in 1989 Connolly shaved off his trademark shaggy beard for a film role and he remained clean-shaven for several years.

===1990s===
Although Connolly had performed in North America as early as the 1970s, and had appeared in several movies that played in American theatres, he nonetheless remained relatively unknown until 1990 when he was featured in the HBO special ''Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Connolly in Performance'', produced by New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music. Goldberg introduced Connolly, and his performance has been cited as the moment that officially launched his career in the States. Soon after, Connolly succeeded Howard Hesseman as the star of the sitcom ''Head of the Class'' for the 1990–1991 season, but the series was cancelled during his tenure.

The following year saw Connolly and Stephenson move to green cards in the Morrison Visa Lottery. In 1991, Connolly received his first (and, to date, only) leading television role as the star of ''Billy'', another sitcom and a spin-off of ''Head of the Class''. It lasted only a half-season.

On June 4, 1992, Connolly performed his 25th-anniversary concert in Glasgow. Parts of the show, and its build-up, were documented in ''The South Bank Show'', which aired later in the year.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/the-south-bank-show/billy-connolly/episode/270036/summary.html ''The South Bank Show'' episode guide at TV.com]</ref>

Connolly was dealt a blow in 1993 when his close friend and fishing partner, Jimmy Kent, died.

In early January 1994, Connolly began a 40-date ''World Tour of Scotland'', which would be broadcast by the BBC later in the year as a six-part series. It was so well received that the BBC signed him up to do a similar tour two years later, this time in Australia. The eight-part series followed Connolly on his custom-made Harley Davidson trike.

Also in 1996, Connolly recorded a BBC special, entitled ''naked in one scene in each of them, usually in some remote wilderness area where no one is likely to complain, although for Comic Relief he once danced naked around Piccadilly Circus.

1997 saw Connolly star alongside John Brown, a favoured Scottish servant of Queen Victoria. He was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor in a Film.

In 1998, Connolly's best friend, Danny Kyle, died. "He was me dearest, dearest, oldest friend," Connolly explained to an Australian audience on his ''Greatest Hits'' compilation, released in 2001.

In November 1998, Connolly was the subject of a two-hour retrospective entitled ''Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years'', which included tributes from Dame Judi Dench, Sean Connery, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Eddie Izzard. The special was released on DVD in North America in 2004.

The following year, Connolly undertook a four-month, 59-date sellout tour of Australia and New Zealand. Later in the year, he completed a five-week, 25-date sellout run at London's Hammersmith Apollo. In 2000 he travelled to Canada for two weeks on a 13-date tour.

===2000s===
In 2000 Connolly starred in ''Beautiful Joe'' alongside England, Ireland and Wales'', which began in Dublin and ended in Plymouth. It was broadcast the following year.

Also in 2001, Pamela Stephenson's first biography of her husband, ''Billy'', was published. It outlines his career and life, including the sexual abuse by his father that lasted from his tenth to his fourteenth years. Much of the book is about Connolly the celebrity but the account of his early years provides a context for his humour and point of view. A follow-up, ''Bravemouth'', was published in 2003.

Connolly has also written several books, including ''Billy Connolly'' (late 1970s) and ''Gullible's Travels'' (early 1980s), both based upon his stage act, as well as books based upon some of his "World Tour" television series. He has stated that his comedy does not work on the printed page.