2012 | Played a retired opera singer opposite Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins, and Maggie Smith in "Quartet," Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut |
2012 | Cast as Dain Ironfoot in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien and directed by Peter Jackson |
2012 | Voiced King Fergus in Disney Pixar animated feature "Brave" |
2010 | Co-starred with Jack Black in a modern-day remake of "Gulliver's Travels" |
2009 | Reprised Il Duce role in "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" |
2008 | Played Father Joseph Crissman in "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," the second feature based on the popular series |
2007 | Played the title role of a domesticated zombie in the Canadian feature film "Fido" |
2006 | Cast in the animated comedy "Open Season" with Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher |
2004 | Portrayed Uncle Monty in "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," based on the best-selling children's books by Daniel Handler |
2003 | Cast opposite Tom Cruise in Edward Zwick's "The Last Samurai" |
2003 | Appeared as Prof. Edward Johnson in director Richard Donner's adaptation of Michael Chrichton's bestseller "Timeline" |
2002 | Cast in crucial role of Barry Kloker in "White Oleander" |
2001 | Joined writer-director Chris Ver Weil's ensemble "Who is Cletis Tout?" |
2000 | Played the mad wig salesman The Scalped in director Barry Levinson's offbeat misfire "An Everlasting Piece" |
2000 | Co-starred with Sharon Stone in writer-director Stephen Metcalffe's little-seen "Beautiful Joe" |
1999 | Essayed the role of Il Duce for writer-director Troy Duffy's "Boondock Saints" |
1998 | Offered fine supporting turn as a gay tennis pro in Stanley Tucci's "The Impostors" |
1997 | Portrayed John Brown, Queen Victoria's (Judi Dench) Scottish servant in the British drama "Mrs. Brown"; earned a BAFTA nomination |
1994 | Launched the 40-date "World Tour of Scotland"; later aired on BBC |
1992 | Reprised role of Billy MacGregor for the short-lived ABC spin-off series "Billy" |
1991 | Headlined the HBO special "Pale Blue Scottish Person" |
1990 | Featured in the HBO special "Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Connolly in Performance"; cited as the moment that officially launched his career in the States |
1990 | Made American TV debut, playing teacher Billy MacGregor on the final season of ABC's "Head of the Class" |
1990 | Co-starred with Liam Neeson in the feature film "The Big Man" |
1986 | Visited Mozambique to appear in a documentary for Comic Relief |
1985 | Performed at the Wembley leg of Live Aid, immediately preceding Elton John |
1979 | Invited by producer Martin Lewis to join the cast of "The Secret Policeman's Ball"; also co-wrote screenplay |
1978 | Appeared in Scottish Opera's production of "Die Fledermaus" |
1977 | Scripted first play "An' Me Wi' A Bad Leg Tae" |
1977 | Launched the U.K. tour "The Billy Connolly Extravaganza" |
1976 | Appeared as the opening act for Elton John's U.S. tour |
1976 | Appeared in the documentary feature "Big Banana Feet" based on his comedy tour |
1975 | Made TV acting debut in the BBC movie "Just Another Saturday" |
1975 | Breakthrough performance on the BBC's "Parkinson" hosted by Michael Parkinson; told a now famous joke about a man who had murdered his wife |
1973 | Breakthrough album, Solo Concert; featured one of Connolly's most famous comedy routines "The Crucifixion" |
1972 | Released first solo album Billy Connolly Live! |
1972 | Co-wrote (with Tom Buchan) the musical play "The Great Northern Welly Boat Show"; won praise at the Edinburgh Fringe |
1971 | Disbanded The Humblebums; began solo career |
| Began performing comedy between songs |
1965 | Formed the two-man folk group The Humblebums with Tam Harvey; later joined by Gerry Rafferty |
| Joined the Parachute regiment of the Territorial Army |
1960 | Began five-year apprenticeship as a welder at the Glasgow shipyards |
1957 | Dropped out of school at age fifteen |
| Raised by his aunts (paternal) when his parents' marriage ended |
