Windswept & Interesting: My Autobiography

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I never wrote anything down, never prepared ‘a show’. It’s heart stopping to go onstage without having much of a clue what you're going to say, but that’s what I’ve always done.” Billy Connolly is an eternal optimist. Even his health problems with hearing loss, prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease, have not kept him down long. With the help and support of his second wife, Pamela Stephenson, he has overcome so much, and is no longer a heavy drinker with violent tendencies – but a much-loved family man, and revered comedian, musician and actor around the English-speaking world. 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. A lovely autobiographical tale from none other than Sir William Connolly himself it is a dictated book rather than a written book, the program that was supposed to change the spoken word into writing decided that a Glaswegian accent was not understandable for machine, and I do sympathise because the first time I met a person from Glasgow while studying in Lancaster England he spoke to me and I am sure I found Chewbacca better understandable when I heard him first.

Billy's routines always felt spontaneous. He improvised, embellished and digressed as he went: a two-minute anecdote could become a 20-minute routine by the next night of a tour. And he brought a beautiful sense of the absurd to his shows as he riffed on holidays, alcohol, the crucifixion, or naked bungee jumping. O'Toole, Emer (22 June 2017). "Sir Billy Connolly to receive honorary degree from University of Strathclyde". The Sunday Post . Retrieved 28 November 2017. He said: "My aunts constantly told me I was stupid, which still affects me today pretty badly. It’s just a belief that I’m not quite as good as anyone else. It gets worse as you get older. I’m a happy man now but I still have the scars of that." He has described his sister as his "great defender". In the 2017 Birthday Honours, Connolly was made a Knight Bachelor for "services to entertainment and charity". [99] In 1991, HBO released Billy Connolly: Pale Blue Scottish Person, a standup performance recorded at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, California. [34]

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The Celtic Foundation Overview". Celticfc.net. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015 . Retrieved 1 December 2011. Billy Connolly – Who Do You Think You Are – A tale of far distant exploits of the ancestors of one of Britain's best loved comedians..." The Genealogist. 2 October 2014 . Retrieved 29 December 2018. Billy has wandered to every corner of the earth and believes that being a Rambling Man is about more than just travelling - it's a state of mind. Rambling Men and Women are free spirits who live on their wits, are interested in people and endlessly curious about the world. They love to play music, make art or tell stories along the way but, above all, they have a longing in their heart for the open road.

a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.72. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. It was an appearance on Michael Parkinson's chat show in 1975 - and one outrageous story in particular - that catapulted Billy from cult hero to national star. TV shows, documentaries, international fame and award-winning Hollywood movies followed. Billy's pitch-perfect stand-up comedy kept coming too - for over 50 years, in fact - until a double diagnosis of cancer and Parkinson's disease brought his remarkable live performances to an end. Since then he has continued making TV shows, creating extraordinary drawings... and writing.Another very enjoyable autobiography from a comedian – this time a British National Treasure: Sir William Connolly – aka The Big Yin. Connolly married Iris Pressagh in 1969. They separated in 1981 and divorced in 1985. In 1981 he began living with Pamela Stephenson; they were married in Fiji on 20 December 1989. [1] "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." [7] Connolly has two children from his first marriage and three from his second. He became a grandfather in 2001, when his daughter Cara gave birth to Walter. [7] Below is a partial list of Connolly's solo musical and comedic recordings. For his releases with the Humblebums, see here. In the mid-1960s, Flo was on holiday in Dunoon with her husband and two children. "My mother said, 'I saw Florence walking along, and I followed her.'" [16] "I said, 'Did you speak to her?' 'Oh, no, I didn't,' she said. I thought, 'Oh, my god. It's like being a ghost while you're still alive.' Walking behind your own child. Having a look. I couldn't bear that." [16] Connolly, who lives in the US, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2013 and retired from live performances five years later.