In The Brownies

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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. Soon after, Connolly succeeded Howard Hesseman as the star of the sitcom, Head of the Class for its final season. He would also take part on its spin-off series Billy. Connolly joined boxer Frank Bruno and Ozzy Osbourne when singing "The War Song of the Urpneys" in the British animated television series The Dreamstone. [33] 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 hit Village People songs " In the Navy" and " Y.M.C.A." (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", both of which were included on his Get Right Intae Him! album. Connolly has been repeatedly voted Britain's best comedian by television viewers. He is also a folk musician and television presenter.

a b c d e f g h i j k l Ferguson, Brian (27 September 2017). "Billy Connolly inducted into Scottish music 'hall of fame' ". The Observer. Edinburgh, UK . Retrieved 26 April 2010. Billy Connolly: Scottish Independence may be the way to go after Brexit disaster". Evening Times. 21 October 2018 . Retrieved 29 December 2018. Billy Connolly is best ever stand-up comedian, say Digital Spy readers". Digital Spy. 17 November 2011 . Retrieved 24 November 2020. Billy Connolly: Portrait of a Lifetime (BR Docs)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019.

Missing lyrics by Billy Connolly?

Ward, Victoria (14 December 2012). "Elderly should be cared for by their children, Billy Connolly says". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022 . Retrieved 29 December 2018. Connolly was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Glasgow on 11 July, 2001. This particularly bemused his wife, who noted that she had studied for six years to obtain her Ph.D., whereas Billy merely had to turn up and collect his. 2003 saw him presented with a BAFTA Lifetime Achievement award and a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. Connolly formed a folk-pop duo called the Humblebums with Tam Harvey. In 1969, they were joined by Gerry Rafferty, who had approached Connolly after a gig in Paisley. The band signed for independent label, Transatlantic Records, and after recording one album (1969's First Collection of Merry Melodies), Harvey left the trio and Connolly and Rafferty went on to release two more albums: The New Humblebums (1969) and Open up the Door (1970). Connolly's time with Rafferty possibly influenced his future comedy, because 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. Connolly's contributions were primarily straightforward pop-folk with quirky and whimsical lyrics, but he had not especially focused on comedy at this point. One of Connolly's most famous comedy skits is "The Crucifixion", an early 1970s recording 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. Around this same time, a joke told during a television talk show appearance (about a murderer and his bike) became a sensation that, reportedly, people still remember three decades after the appearance. (A transcript of the complete joke can be found here). In 2013, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and had surgery for prostate cancer. [3] In January 2019, Connolly said he was "nearing the end of his life" as his Parkinson's advanced. [4] Career [ change | change source ]

After Harvey left the group, Connolly and Rafferty continued as a duo and the latter two of their three albums featured just that duo. Connolly sang, played five-string banjo, guitar, and autoharp, and at live shows entertained the audience with his humorous introductions to the songs. Billy Connolly retains top spot in C4 poll". Comedy.co.uk. 11 April 2010 . Retrieved 25 January 2015. He performed a cover version of the Beatles' song, " Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" on George Martin's 1998 album, In My Life. In November 1998, Connolly was the subject of a two-hour retrospective entitled, Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years, which included tributes from Dench, Sir Sean Connery, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Eddie Izzard. [38]In the 2017 Birthday Honours, Connolly was made a Knight Bachelor for "services to entertainment and charity". [99]

a b c d e f g h i j k l "The story of Billy Connolly in 11 and a half chapters". The Herald. 21 September 2009 . Retrieved 29 December 2018.

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Connolly was a year too young to work in the shipyards. Instead, he started working for John Smith's Bookshop, on St Vincent Street, delivering books on his bicycle. He became a delivery-van driver with Bilslands' Bakery until he was sixteen, when he was deemed overqualified (due to his J1 and J2 certificates) to become an engineer. [23] Instead, he worked as a boilermaker [24] at Alexander Stephen and Sons shipyard in Linthouse. [23] Sherwin, Adam (16 September 2013). "Billy Connolly undergoes prostate cancer surgery and is diagnosed with Parkinson's – but will keep working". The Independent . Retrieved 12 March 2014. Stanford, Peter (11 March 2020). "Billy Connolly: 'My art is about revealing myself – like being a flasher in a park' ". The Telegraph. Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022 . Retrieved 16 March 2020. His father was William Connolly; his mother, Mary "Mamie" McLean, was from the Clan Maclean of Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull on the west coast of Scotland. Mamie's father, Neil, was a Protestant and her mother, Flora, was a Roman Catholic who "made clandestine arrangements for the children to be baptised as Catholics", even though they were "formally raised as Protestants". [62] His maternal grandparents moved inland to Finnieston Street, Glasgow, in the early 1900s. [65] Walsh, John (16 December 2012). "Yin and Yang: How Billy Connolly calmed down (just don't mention Piers Morgan!)". The Independent . Retrieved 29 December 2018.

a b Simons, Jake Wallis (2 October 2014). "Who Do You Think You Are? Billy Connolly, review: 'life-affirming' ". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022 . Retrieved 29 December 2018. Connolly's bedroom had double windows, which directly faced St Peter's Primary School across the street. [18] Now defunct, the school has been converted into living accommodation. "The school was very violent indeed. At first, in the infant school, the nuns were very violent. And then over here at St Peter's, they were just strapping you all the time. I had a psychopath in here, called McDonald— Miss McDonald. "Big Rosie", they called her. There was a guy with glasses in my class and she called him "four eyes", and she was a teacher!" [21]

O'Toole, Emer (22 June 2017). "Sir Billy Connolly to receive honorary degree from University of Strathclyde". The Sunday Post . Retrieved 28 November 2017. Billy Connolly 'most influential comedian of all time' ". BBC News. 30 January 2012 . Retrieved 24 November 2020.