Billy Connolly was born and brought up in Glasgow, Scotland. He left school to work in the shipyards where he became a welder, joining the Territorial Army (in the Parachute Regiment) at around the same time. He developed an interest in folk music, eventually becoming an accomplished banjo player and a member of the band "Humblebums" with Gerry Rafferty (later of "Baker Street" fame). The jokes he told between songs eventually took over his act and he became a full-time comedian. Already a big star in Scotland he became a household name across the UK after appearing on "Parkinson" (1971) in the early seventies. Billy has released many recordings of his concert performances over the years as well as several videos. He has expanded his repertoire to include acting, appearing in a number of television dramas and films, more recently in the USA. In the 90s he made two documentary series for the BBC about Scotland and Australia respectively and in 1997 he starred in the award winning film Mrs. Brown (1997). He is by some considerable margin UK's top comedian.