Billy (Hardcover)

The first half of the biography is somewhat anthropological in tone. Not surprisingly, a post-war Glasgow upbringing is somewhat alien to the antipodean author and Stephenson errs towards Angela's Ashes intonation as she describes her husband's tenement childhood (Scots readers may also find her regular translation of seemingly self-explanatory Scots phrases--which Connolly would use--obtuse). In contrast her examination of her experience of living with the comedian and his life from that point on is much better. Anecdotes which Connolly uses in his live shows pepper the text and laughs are raised as he tells of the time he was mistaken as a drug dealer on Speyside, of his cheeky friendships with cinema's elite and even through the more difficult times; the difficulty of balancing an almost manic humour with a troubled life. Pages turn quickly as we grow to understand more of what makes the man tick.

Certainly fans of Billy Connolly will enjoy this book. It is not perfect but it is certainly entertaining and should fill a gap in the market until Billy--with his half-remembered stories and off-centre view of the world--decides to let us into his head as well as his history. There's surely one ideal way to do this and that's by writing his story himself. --Helen Lamont

Review
"Billy Connolly is quite simply the most successful popular British stand-up comedian of modern times" The Guardian

We all know Billy Connolly from his years at the top of the comedy food chain and his legendary TV appearances on the likes of Parkinson. Few, however, can claim to know him as well as Pamela Stephenson, Connolly's wife, the erstwhile Antipodean comedienne and practising clinical psychologist who puts it all down on paper in this enjoyable although often harrowing biography. Conditions ranged from bleak to brutal in the reeking Glaswegian tenements where Connolly spent his childhood; his father was away at war when his mother left him and his sister Florence to be looked after by his two aunts. School memories are peppered with examples of the cruel corporal punishment that anyone educated in less liberal times can remember with a wince, and home life fared little better for the 'Big Yin'. The mental and physical violence meted out by his unhinged aunt was eventually replaced by his father's sexual abuse which he endured for five years from the age of ten. Salvation came at the hands of rock 'n' roll, and he went to work in the shipyards of the River Clyde. The merciless ribbing of his fellow shipyard workers was the perfect place for Connolly to sharpen his legendary wit, and coincided with the developing social conscience that would inform his comedy over the years. A gallery of great photographs enhance the text in this award-winning biography, ranging from the fuzzy images of the 1940s through some unfortunate '70s sartorial errors to a clearly delighted Connolly opening the new Glasgow Celtic grandstand in 1999. A bit wearing on the occasions when Stephenson forgets to remove her psychologist's hat, it's nonetheless the compelling story of a survivor, a true hero for many, who went from welder to world-renowned entertainer without ever forgetting where he came from. (Kirkus UK)

Clinical psychologist and former comedian Stephenson balances wifely affection with professional analysis in her biography of Billy Connolly, who survived abandonment as well as physical and sexual abuse to become a noted musician, comedian, and actor. The narrative alternates between the couple's current life in Los Angeles and Billy's early years in Glasgow, where he was born in 1942 as his father was about to leave for the battlefields of Burma. The Connollys were Catholics who had left Ireland to make a better life in Scotland, but they still could only afford a squalid tenement apartment with two rooms and a communal washroom. When Billy was three and older sister Florence not yet five, their mother walked out, leaving the kids alone in a cold apartment without food. His father's two unmarried sisters eventually took them in, but one of the aunts regularly beat and belittled Billy. Things only got worse when his father came back from the war and began sexually abusing the boy. School was no better; teachers were free with physical punishment and verbal abuse. In his teens, Billy began playing the banjo and singing and eventually left his job as a welder at the Clyde shipyards. He overcame a horrendous childhood to become famous, first in Scotland as a musician and comic, then in London, and now in the US. As Stephenson notes, "Billy's real story is an utterly triumphant one." Known for his outrageous wit and costumes, he initially had difficulty coping with fame. His first marriage failed, he took drugs and drank heavily. Stephenson, who met him while she was acting on British TV, details all the low moments as well as the highs: his doctorate from Glasgow University in 2001, his acclaimed role in the movie Mrs. Brown, and his friendships with stars like Judi Dench, Michael Caine, and Dustin Hoffman. A loving case study, meticulously researched, best on the early years before the accolades began to accumulate. (Kirkus Reviews)

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