Billy connolly

William Connolly, Jr. was born on November 24, 1942 in Anderston, a town in Glasgow (Scotland). Coming from a very humble family, he was not a great student, and decided to drop out of school to become a welder. After that he joined a parachute regiment of the British Army.

When he discovered his passion for folk music, he learned to play the banjo, taking over the banjo in Humbleburns, a marching band. He used to joke around between songs, and found that it was relatively easy for him to make the audience laugh. This is how he ended up becoming a comedian, and gained some notoriety in Great Britain, especially after becoming part of the cast of the television program Parkinson , in the early 70s. He is known by the nickname “Big Yin” (the Big One ). He was also successful as a supporting role in the series Top of the Class , whose character ended up starring in a spin-off titled Billy .

In movies he could be seen in a small role in An Indecent Proposal and as Billy Bones, the buccaneer who lives at Jim Hawkins’ Inn, in The Muppets on Treasure Island .

But internationally, Billy Connolly made a splash especially with John Madden ‘s Her Majesty Mrs. Brown , where he played a far-fetched historical figure, the Scottish servant John Brown, who helped Queen Victoria ( Judi Dench ) to recover from the deep pain she felt at the death of her husband, and resume her activities at court, which sparked a scandal. For the film, Judi Dench won the Golden Globe for Best Actress and was nominated for an Oscar (the film was also a finalist in the Best Makeup category), while Connolly was a BAFTA nominee).

Since then, American cinema has called him regularly for titles such as The Chosen Ones , Beautiful Joe , The Last Samurai , The Flower of Evil , etc. More recently, he has been seen playing a priest in X-Files: Believing Is the Key , and as King of Lilliput in Gulliver’s Travels , alongside Jack Black .

Divorced from Iris Pressagh, with whom he had two children, he joined New Zealand actress and comedian Pamela Stephenson , an impersonator of Joan Collins and Cyndi Lauper on Saturday Night Live, who cultivates a type of humor along the same lines as his. He has had three other children with her.