Talk:Billy Connolly

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[edit] POV

"Connolly proved how easily he forgets many great lines that other comedians could only hope to think of." Sheer bias.

Yip. Go ahead and change it. - Dudesleeper · Talk 01:12, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
However before you do, that sounds like it might be a quote from somebody, because when BAFTA gave him his lifetime achievement award, Pamela Stephenson said something very similar and I think she was quoting somebody. If the quote can be sourced, then there's no bias or POV issue. 23skidoo 01:27, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
That could be a good call. Here's part three of his BAFTA tribute ceremony, which might be the one in which Stephenson speaks (links to the other parts can easily be found). I'll check tomorrow, unless someone has time to do it before me. - Dudesleeper · Talk 01:58, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
That is the footage to which I refer. 23skidoo 03:53, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Editing

I have removed yet more of the vandalism...may I suggest this page be locked?Gavin Scott 03:24, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Doctorate

my understanding is that people who are awarded honorary doctorates are not allowed to be styled as "Dr."

In the case of an honorary doctorate, the recipient is allowed to place the relevent suffix after their name, in this case it would be "D.Litt.(Hon)"

Have a look at the wikipedia article on "doctorate" for clarification


I think you're probably right. -- Asbestos 09:45, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC)
I second that. The first line should be changed to Billy Connolly CBE or to be consistant the CBE should be dropped since not all Wikipedia biographical articles include initial references to honorariums except perhaps knighthoods. Referring to the comment above, I think it might be OK to leave the Dr. in there if the person used it as part of their working name (whether entitled to or not). Here in Canada, a country singer named Stompin' Tom Connors often bills himself as Dr. Stompin' Tom Connors after he also received an honorary law degree a few years back. To the best of my knowledge Connolly has never used the title professionally. 23skidoo 17:59, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Connolly doses not use the "Dr" title but it is a singulat honour, as is the CBE, that reflects the fact that this is not just another comedian but someone who is highly regarded in his own country. I have placed the "Dr" in inverted commas to indicate that it is not an official title - but is an honorary award. I know of no prohibition on holders of honorary doctorates from being addressed as "Dr". I think that Billy Connolly should appear in the second paragraph. Tiles 07:56, 20 Nov 2004 (UTC)
I don't think that putting "Dr" in quotes is the standard way of signifying an honorary doctorate. It looks a lot like a scare-quote, or, like "Dr Stompin' Tom Connors" above, like it's just a name he goes by. He is a doctor, so it shouldn't be in inverted commas, but it's honorary, so I don't think it should be there. I think the first use of the name should just be "William Connolly, CBE," or, since the man is known as Billy, and that is the title of the page, "William "Billy" Connolly, CBE." -- Asbestos 11:13, 20 Nov 2004 (UTC)
I've reverted to the standard which is to use the version that would be most recognisable for the person concerned. Most people would relate to Billy Connolly.
Convention: Use the most common name of a person or thing that does not conflict with the names of other people or things.
Rationale and specifics: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (common names)
I've also dropped the CBE and will check date of the honour for inclusion under "Awards" Tiles 07:39, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC)
That page refers to the article's title, which in this case is, correctly "Billy Connolly." I don't think it refers to the first usage of the name in the article. See for instance Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Mike Myers or Jimi Hendrix. -- Asbestos 17:24, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Point taken. Edit made Tiles 06:32, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)

After the recent edits, the reference to his CBE seems to have disappeared. 23skidoo 17:53, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] 'Official' introduction to America

The reason I use the term "officially" regarding Whoopi Goldberg introducing Connolly to American audiences in 1990 (with the Brooklyn Academy of Music performance) is that this is time in which it is generally felt that Connolly's American career began. Connolly himself says this in Erect for 30 Years. Prior to this Connolly had made some attempts at making US appearances, including talk show appearances on Joan Rivers and Letterman, but to little success. I remember when many dates of his 1987 "Wreck on Tour" were cancelled for lack of ticket sales. As Erect for 30 Years indicates, it is Goldberg's efforts that resulted in Connolly coming to the attention of the general public in the US as well as contemporaries such as Robin Williams. Soon after that, he did Head of the Class and started to appear in major American productions. So I think it is accurate to use the term "officially" in this context, tough perhaps I should add more about why this is so. If the consensus is to remove the qualifier, it's no biggie. 23skidoo 15:09, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

I think you mean "first" or "first to successfully...". Offically means "Of or relating to an office or a post of authority; Authorized by a proper authority". Andy Mabbett 15:18, 2 September 2005 (UTC)
I think you're taking the use of the word too literally. "Rock Around the Clock" is also "officially" the song that kicked off the rock and roll era, too. Nothing to do with an office. It may be an improper use by the Rules of Hoyle, but English does that. 23skidoo 16:51, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of Big Yin nickname

The article says that "Big Yin" is a reference to his height, yet I was under the impression the nickname originated from the fact that he refers to Jesus as "Big Yin" in his famous Crucifixion monologue. Can anyone confirm the origin of the nickname? 23skidoo 08:01, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I heard in the semi-biographic video "Erect for 30 years" (or something along those lines) that he was known as 'Big Yin' simply because of the fame he has harvested during his career. 86.132.221.94 19:58, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Mr 86.132.221.94 is right. "Big Yin" is a formalisation of "Biggin", a perfectly common nickname in Scotland, used for anybody who could be considered 'big', either for physical reasons (height) or social ones (fame, popularity, general standing). I am going to make the edit accordingly. 83.19.18.138 00:03, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

In the parts of Glasgow where Billy lived and grew up, any man above, say, six feet tall or in a position of authority, would be referred to as the "big yin" or the "big man". A small man, say 5 foot 6 inches would be called "wee man" or the "wee yin". An in-between man would be addressed as "Jimmy" and all women would be addressed as "hen". Connolly's nickname came from his height. Tiles 01:56, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Parkinson

Does anyone have the definitive answer as to how many times Connolly has appeared on Parkinson? It's listed as six in the Television Guest Appearances section (to which I'm about to add his 1975 debut (year only)). Were there other appearances between his debut and the next one in 1978?

[edit] Discography

I found it strange to see that the discography only had one album listed, so I have added a bunch more. I'm pretty certain this list is not complete, so if anyone knows of other releases (not just greatest hits compilations, but original albums), please add them. 23skidoo 17:33, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Shaving of the Beard

It's stated in the article that Connolly shaved his beard off for a 1990 film, but I'm pretty certain he actually shaved it off earlier, in like 1988 or 1989, not long before his HBO special with Whoopi Goldberg. I do know he was "beardless" for at least a year before joining Head of the Class. Does anyone know exactly when "The Shaving" occured? Also, what was the commercial Connolly made around this time when he wore a fake version of his beard and tore it off? I think it was for a beer but I can't remember which one. 23skidoo 05:47, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Answering my own question, the beer was Caliber. 23skidoo 18:07, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Citations

There are several quotes attributed to Connolly in this article that need citations, such as his amusing comment regarding his physical for the Territorial Army. 23skidoo 18:07, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Images

Both images show the older, more recent Connolly. There should also be an image of him in his younger days, perhaps a record cover or some such. 23skidoo 14:16, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Strong language

Billy Connolly is well-known (infamous, even) for his profligate use of the word "fuck". However, I have seen videos of older performances (early-mid 80s) in which he does not use this word very often. "An Audience with Billy Connolly" is one example - I think he only said "fuck" once or twice during that appearance. "Billy Bites Yer Bum" (available on DVD) is another.

Can anyone say whether Connolly has increased the "fuck quotient" in his more recent performances? Or did he simply tone down his act on those earlier occasions, knowing that they were being filmed for television? (20 or 25 years ago, the word "fuck" was rarely heard on British TV - needless to say, it is a lot more common now.) 217.34.39.123 10:34, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Connolly has actually discussed this a few times but I can't recall the exact reasons at the moment. If you listen to the mid-70s LP Get Right Intae Him he's bleeped twice, once for saying "Effin' C" in DIVORCE and again for using the F-word in another routine (though he is able to use the word "shit" on the same recording without being bleeped). I think by the late 80s restrictions on language had been lifted and he was able to be a bit more free with his words, though obviously he still tones it down for TV appearances. 23skidoo 11:55, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The South Bank Show

Has anyone here recorded the Connolly-featured The South Bank Show? It was recently shown on the Australian-made Ovation Channel in the States, and I'd recorded it but had to ditch my faulty DVR and get a new one, hence I lost the show. There was several pieces of information in it (and snippet of interviews with Danny Kyle) that could have been used in the article, but now I'll have to wait until it's repeated in order to take notes (unless anyone has it and is willing to do it instead). - Dudesleeper 10:02, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

It has since been shown again, so I'll update accordingly at a later date. - Dudesleeper 21:38, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What about his wardrobe? the teeshirt cape?

I've seen him wear it atleast twice, a black pair of pants and some tshirt with a tail? what is that?

He wore it throughout one of his 1990s tours (and probably beyond). Maybe he feels the tail gives him room to maneuver when doing visual re-enactments (such as the horizontal escalators at airports, for example), rather than having a tucked-in T-shirt or the like. - Dudesleeper 21:37, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] religion

I imagine that Connolly came from a Catholic family. I'm not sure though. In the context of the son of an Irish immigrant living in Scotland, this is important information and should be mentioned.

At his London, Ontario show recently, he said religion should have been abandoned by the world a long time ago.

[edit] politics

It seems to me that we need a couple of sentences about Connolly's political opinions, becaus ethey come out in his work. Johncmullen1960 08:31, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "North America" vs USA

"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. Goldberg introduced Connolly, and his performance has been cited as the moment that officially launched his career in the States."

The above paragraph fudges Connolly's career in the USA with his career in North America as a whole. Was he well known in Canada prior to 1990? 217.155.20.163 00:08, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

He toured both Canada and the USA from the 1970s onward. His "Wreck-on-Tour" travelled throughout the continent in 1987, plus his records were widely available. (Ironically his records were easier to fine in North American stores before he hit it big over here. Since 1990 his material has been virtually impossible to find.) 23skidoo 00:22, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The beard

When did Connolly grow back his beard? I want to say 1995 because it was around the time a bearded Connolly appeared on Pearl, but it might have been earlier. 23skidoo 18:33, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Page protected

Due to persistent vandalism by anonymous IPs over the last few days, I've semi-protected the article page, which means new and anonymous editors cannot change it. 23skidoo 03:33, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Excellent work, sir. [Can hear Connolly berating the fuckwits as he types.] - Dudesleeper 04:09, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
Obviously this isn't intended as a permanent situation. We'll revisit it in a little while; the protection can also be removed by anyone with admin-level membership or higher. 23skidoo 14:22, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Irish-Scots

Just to make the verification police happy, could someone add a citation from one of the Connolly biographies indicating his dad came from Ireland? I don't have easy access to my books right now. Thanks. 23skidoo 22:56, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

If trying to enforce WP:V and WP:BLP makes me a member of the verification police, then I suppose that must be me! In general this article is woefully badly-referenced. Adding some verfiable quotes would improve the article, something we should all be in favour of. --Guinnog 23:00, 19 January 2007 (UTC)
On his programme "World tour of...." when he was in Ireland he stated this, sorry I havent got a copy I can upload/download onto youtube--Vintagekits 23:21, 19 January 2007 (UTC)
That wouldn't be a good reference in any case. I am quite happy to believe that his father was born in Ireland (though it still needs a reference), but does Connolly consider himself "Irish-Scots"? Or did a reputable source comment on it? I did wonder about removing it I admit, but it looked an unsafe thing to say. Remember that according to WP:BLP, if there is any doubt we should remove unverified info on sight. --Guinnog 23:39, 19 January 2007 (UTC)
BLP, though, was primarily designed to prevent libellous material from getting into articles such as the infamous article that false accused a noted individual of being involved in JFK's assassination. I don't see this particular piece of information coming anywhere close. The VHS release Live 1994 has Connolly say re: Ireland "my family came from there." 23skidoo 23:47, 19 January 2007 (UTC)
Source added, end of--Vintagekits 00:24, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Assessment

This article could be rated a B article if the [x] links were placed in citation form. In addition, more verability citations need to be added to this article. Real96 23:30, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Evil Scotsman

An unregistered user made a change claiming that Connolly is erroneously credited with recording Evil Scotsman. Having heard the recording, I'm 99% percent sure it's Connolly since I'm familiar with his singing. However, it's possible it could be an impersonator. Nonetheless the IP did not offer any source to indicate that Connolly did not record the song, so I removed the edit for now. So, let's get the facts straight -- did Connolly record "Evil Scotsman" or not, and if he didn't, then who did? 23skidoo 15:02, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Scratch and Oscar as Scratch

If genuine, wait until it appears in IMDB and restore. Otherwise: hoax. Tubusy 20:29, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Infobox

I replaced the actor infobox with the comedian infobox, but it needs info added to it. Daisy-berkowitz 17:44, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Catholic?

User:86.41.217.170 has added the category Scottish Roman Catholics to the article on the basis of this reference. While it's a fascinating article, the actual bit where they discuss religion goes: "ANDREW DENTON: You are Catholic. BILLY CONNOLLY: I was a Catholic." I'd say this is evidence against Connolly belonging to this category. --John 19:12, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Twice

Why does this article say everything twice - once under 'background' and once under 'career'? 199.71.183.2 20:47, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Because people comment about it on the talk page rather than correcting the article. - Dudesleeper · Talk 21:23, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Short collaboration with Mike Oldfield in 1992 ?

Hello, is this the same Billy Conolly which is credited as a kind of narrator ("MC Billy Conolly") on Mike Oldfield's CD-Single called "The Bell" (a spin-off of "Tubular Bells II") ? Can anyone confirm or falsify this ? Alrik Fassbauer 17:52, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Boondock Saints

There is no mention of his performance in The Boondock Saints - a great movie with Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Norman Redus. Questionable language but interesting revenge concept - made me want to organize other little old ladies to help out. Loved his performance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.8.179.104 (talk) 04:11, August 25, 2007 (UTC)

It's mentioned in his filmography. Not every performance of his can be mentioned in the prose. The article's long as it is. - Dudesleeper · Talk 11:50, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Evil Scotsman redux

I wonder if a note shouldn't be added to the article about the fact Evil Scotsman isn't actually by Connolly, given the fact it is often cited as such and Wikipedia articles are often the first in line in the Google search engine, so if someone is looking for the particular song, they could see it isn't him. BTW in response to the edit summary, Connolly uses the word "c*ck" on occasion; I have a video of one of his shows in which he says the word, so the language in Evil Scotsman isn't too far removed from what Connolly actually does. Was the song intentionally a parody of Connolly or does the guy just happen to sound exactly like Billy in every way? 23skidoo 05:04, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nationality

Connolly is Scottish.However this is not his nationality. He is British for nationality purposes and that is a fact. Edits back to "Scottish" should be treated as vandalism from now on. Paul210 09:34, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Its not a fact. Its an opinion. Treating a particular POV as vandalism should only be done by consensus. Can you show where this consensus has been formed? MurphiaMan 11:02, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Why is there any need to list his nationality anyway? Celebrities of a similar stature do not have their nationality listed. I propose the deletion of 'nationality' from the infobox on this basis Paul210 09:13, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Removing information isn't exactly helpful. - Dudesleeper · Talk 17:31, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Maybe so, but, for example, Barbra Streisand does not need to be labelled as American.Why this argument about Connolly in particular? It just seems like a childish edit war for no good reason.Surely there are more useful edits that could be done on this site. Paul210 18:16, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Why are you constantly changing this back to Scottish? And what do you mean it's not a fact it's an opinion he is British? Of course it is a fact he's British, that is the nationality of anyone from any constituent country of the United Kingdom! And looking at your page DudeSleeper you say you have scottish relatives so i'm sensing some bias here considering YOU are the one and only one who keeps reverting this back to Scottish. Now for god's sake grow up and keep this as British for nationality and stop being so childish and engaging in this tit-for-tat nonsense man.Levi.WhittenConnolly 00:22, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

When you say he is "from" a constituent country of the UK, I guess you mean that he was born in the UK and sometimes lives (t)here. Unfortunately birth and home does not define nationality. He certainly has residency in the U.S. and maintains a home there. he may well have a U.S. passport for all I know. He may have dual nationality. He self-identifies as Scottish. I've never heard him say "I'm British" either live nor in the media. But if you have a reference to that then by all means introduce it here and I will accept it. We need to abide by verifiability requirements. We cannot just assume something and change it in WP. We need evidence to change. Bring on the evidence and then we can implement the change. MurphiaMan 06:37, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
Adding my 2 cents, unless there is Wikipedia policy to the contrary, there is no rule saying we have to state a person's chapter-and-verse nationality. Connolly is Scottish. Sean Connery is Scottish. Roger Moore is English. Pierce Brosnan is Irish (don't know why I'm using Bond actors here, it just worked out that way). You can say all of the above (except Brosnan) are British or from the UK, but we should be more specific, so therefore it is perfectly correct to say Scottish, etc. if Wikipedia has a policy saying otherwise, then bring it forward. BTW to refer to the Streisand example, actually she does need to be labelled as American, at least as far as overwhelming precedent goes. Call up any number of biographical articles and you will usually see a nationality given; if there is none given then that's an omission. And, yes, I agree that Americans are usually referred to primarily as "Americans" and not "Californian" or what-have-you (at least not in the context at hand). But the UK does pigeonhole its residents that way. It's the same as someone prior to 1989 being from the Ukraine and self-identifying as Ukrainian, even though technically they were Soviet. You rarely heard anyone self-identify as being Soviet, even those living in Russia itself. 23skidoo 19:52, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
Related to the above, and following another attempt at changing the nationality, I have added embedded notes directing people to this talk page to discuss the matter first. 23skidoo 14:02, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

To settle the above dispute, I have actually found a quote, directly made by Billy that states: “I think that you'll find that Billy Connolly is British.” http://thinkexist.com/quotes/billy_connolly/3.html << Stated on that page. We have a clear indication now to what Connolly regards himself as, so any further editing from here on should be classed as vandalism. I'm going to change nationality to British, although i'm also going to keep Scottish to make the distinction. Levi.WhittenConnolly (talk) 23:44, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

It's a website where members of the public can add their own quotes. And they're unsourced. I assumed good faith with my edit a few minutes ago, but I think it's best to revert until a proper source is proffered. - Dudesleeper Talk 02:23, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
Agreed. Let's find a quote from a reputable source attributed to Connolly. What about Stephenson's biography of him? 23skidoo (talk) 02:49, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Muppet movie death.

It says in the film index that "He believes himself to be the only man to ever die in a Muppet movie." Why is it phrased this way? Shouldn't it be fairly easy to verify if anyone else has died in a muppet movie, to date? bd2412 T 23:54, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Abuse claim

An editor rightly removed an unsourced reference to Connolly being abused as a youth, per WP:BLP. However I believe a source to support this can be found-- possibly in Pamela Stephenson's biography of her husband. I believe she makes the claim there but I have only heard this second hand as I have not read the book. If anyone can substantiate this, and provide a page number, then there's our source, satisfying BLP. 23skidoo (talk) 00:34, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

He mentioned it on The South Bank Show, which I think would be a sufficient-enough reference. - Dudesleeper Talk 12:34, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
He just mentioned his "mad auntie" as the culprit, however. I'll check Stephenson's book later. - Dudesleeper Talk 12:37, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
I agree the South Bank Show is a good referernce, though if we could attach a date to it, that would be even better. 23skidoo (talk) 19:21, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
It's already listed in the references for something else. - Dudesleeper Talk 20:09, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] DVDs/videos synopses

I was thinking about detailing Connolly's DVD and video releases with synopses of his anecdotes. I don't mean transcribing the anecdotes, just summarising them. Thoughts for or against? - 00:41, 13 May 2008 (UTC)