Billy Connolly
- Profession: Comedian and Actor
- Place/Date of Birth: Glasgow, 24 November 2020
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Big Yin’s big laugh - 21/05/03
Glaswegian Billy Connolly has been named Britain’s greatest comedian in an online poll that was organised to coincide with the London Comedy Festival.
Out of 1,700 votes that were cast, Billy scooped 17% beating Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise into second place on 12% and Peter Cook into third with 10%.
Billy numbs the pain! - 07/04/03
Psychologists have found that listening to Billy Connolly’s comedy routines could act as a painkiller...
Academics at Glasgow Caledonian University claim he increases people’s tolerance to pain by up to three times.
They surveyed 100 people to find out if comedy, music or mental arithmetic acted as a painkiller. Tests involved subjects placing their hands in icy water while listening to Connolly, music or in silence.
The amount of time they could keep their hands submerged combined with their assessment of how much they suffered produced the final results.
The study, which was commissioned by the Scottish Network for Chronic Pain Research, will be published later this year.
Lotto rubbish - 03/01/02
Comic Billy Connolly’s television adverts for the revamped Lotto have been voted the most irritating commercial of 2002.
The adverts, in which Connolly sports a purple beard and uses the catchphrase "Don’t live a little, live a Lotto", was intended to stir up enthusiasm for the game when its name was changed from the National Lottery.
Viewers will not see Connolly’s Lotto ads on screen for much longer as all 10 ads that he originally signed up for have been filmed and aired.
Billy is biggest selling book of 2002 - 23/12/02
Pamela Stephenson’s award-winning biography of husband Billy Connolly is the year’s biggest selling book.
The comedienne turned therapist and author toppled JK Rowling from the top of the annual best-seller list she has topped for the three previous years.
Figures compiled by Nielsen BookScan show the book Billy shifted 517,811 copies in paperback since it was published in July.
The book was previously a hit last year when issued in hardback and was named book of the year for 2001.
Bafta tribute to Billy Connolly - 05/12/02
The BBC is to broadcast a Bafta Tribute to Billy Connolly later this month.
Hosted by Michael Parkinson, Billy Connolly - A Bafta Tribute will air on December 27 on BBC1.
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In the late seventies he lived in LA for a few years where there he starred in the sitcom, "Head of the Class." His first marriage, to interior designer Iris Pressagh, lasted twelve years, but fell apart due to his constant touring, they have two children.
When he appeared on the comedy show Not the Nine O’Clock News, he met actress Pamela Stephenson. In 1989, Pamela and Billy married in Fiji, with their three young daughters in attendance.
In 1993, Connolly returned to Scotland to film Down Among The Big Boys in Glasgow, and in 1994 he created a variety-show tour of Scotland, "World Tour of Scotland," which was part music, part comedy, and part information.
The quality of his recent work has also been recognised with several BAFTA awards while his film career has taken off thanks in main to a critically acclaimed role opposite Dame Judy Dench in Mrs Brown. Pamela has also written two biographys of her husband; Billy and Bravemouth, which shockingly detailed the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father.
He continues to tour his stand up comedy whilst also lending himself to both film and TV.
December 2007