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Billy Connolly is a Actor British born on 24 november 1942 at Glasgow (United-kingdom)

Billy Connolly

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Birth name William Connolly
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 24 november 1942 (81 years) at Glasgow (United-kingdom)
Awards Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

William "Billy" Connolly, CBE (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, 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 to pursue a career as a folk singer in The Humblebums alongside friend Gerry Rafferty until 1971 and subsequently as a soloist. In the early 1970s, he made the transition from folk-singer with a comedic persona to fully-fledged comedian. Best known to many as a stand up comedian, he appears in several lists of the greatest comedians ever.

Connolly is also an actor and has appeared in such films as Water (1985); Indecent Proposal (1993); Pocahontas (1995); Muppet Treasure Island (1996); Mrs. Brown (1997); The Boondock Saints (1999); The Man Who Sued God (2001); The Last Samurai (2003); Timeline (2003); Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004); Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006); Open Season (2006); The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008); Open Season 2 (2008); Brave (2012) and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). Connolly reprised his role as Noah "Il Duce" MacManus in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009). He also played "Wilf" in "Quartet" (2012), directed by Dustin Hoffman.

Biography

Connolly has been married to his second wife, comedian and psychologist Pamela Stephenson, since 1989. He is father to five children: two (Jamie and Cara) from his first marriage, to Iris Pressagh, and three (Scarlett, Amy and Daisy) from his second. Connolly and Stephenson won custody of Jamie and Cara in 1983, due to the fact that "[Pressagh] was unable to care for herself, let alone children". Pressagh moved to Spain and became estranged from her children. She died in 2010. Connolly became a grandfather in 2001, when Cara gave birth to Walter.

In the book Billy, and in a December 2008 online interview, Connolly states that he was sexually abused by his father between the ages of 10 and 15. He believes this was a result of the Catholic Church not allowing his father to divorce after his mother left the family. Because of this, Connolly has a "deep distrust and dislike of the Catholic church and any other organization that brainwashes people". On his religious views, Connolly called himself an atheist.

In September 2013 Connolly underwent minor surgery for early-stage prostate cancer. The announcement also stated that he is being treated for the initial symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Connolly admitted earlier in 2013 that he had started to forget his lines during performances.

Connolly appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? on 2 October 2014, when his family's Indian ancestry was revealed.

He is a fan of Glasgow-based Celtic F.C. and has a seat for life at the club's Celtic Park stadium, an honour bestowed only on him and Rod Stewart.

Political views
Connolly has stated in the past that he disapproves of Scottish independence, although he also disapproves of entertainers telling people how to vote, but admitted that 2012 had been "a very interesting time for Scotland".

He questions the expense of independence, and whether average Scots would benefit from another level of government. "But Scots are very capable of making up their mind without my tuppence worth."

In April 2014, despite previously vowing not to step into the 'morass' of the debate over the breakup of the Union, Connolly gave the clearest indication yet of his opposition to Scottish independence. In an interview with the Radio Times, he stated, "I think it's time for people to get together, not split apart. The more people stay together, the happier they'll be." He also wrote, referring to the Darien scheme, "You must remember that the Union saved Scotland. Scotland was bankrupt and the English opened us up to their American and Canadian markets, from which we just flowered."