Pamela Stephenson tells of the day she thought husband Billy Connelly, might die | Daily Mail Online comments When Billy Connolly was still reeling from the bombshell double diagnosis - both on the same day that he had prostate cancer and Parkinson's, he privately wondered whether it was time to give up his comedy and acting career. But when he confided his thoughts to his wife, Pamela Stephenson, she lost no time in talking him out of it. 'It would have been really bad for him to burrow away and not want to come out of his hole,' she says now. Billy received a bombshell diagnosis of Parkinson's and Prostate cancer earlier this year that shook his world 'So I told him, "Look, I'll support you 100 per cent if you want to do that, but I'm not sure you'll love your life if you do, because you're happiest when you're performing." It was the right thing to say to him, and I pushed him into doing some concerts. He's bounced back better than almost anyone could and he's doing really well.' RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share This is the first time she's talked about the emotional effect Billy's illness has had on their close-knit family.

They have three daughters together, Daisy, Amy and Scarlett, and Billy has a son Jamie and a daughter Cara by his first marriage. It started when Billy began having the odd memory loss – searching for words – and he was also having trouble hearing, but he shrugged these symptoms off for months. But when Pam finally persuaded him to see a doctor last September, it proved to be what he later described as 'a funny week'. On the Monday he was prescribed a hearing aid. On the Tuesday he was given pills for a touch of heartburn. And on Wednesday he was told he had Parkinson's – but only after an earlier call to say that a routine check-up had shown he had prostate cancer. Pamela with Mel Smith, Rowen Atkinson and Griff Rhys Jones in Not The Nine O'Clock News in 1980 'He had all these diagnoses in one go because he'd ignored the symptoms and refused to go to the doctor,' she explains. 'It was the hearing loss that worried me the most at that early stage. He was a nightmare, with me saying, "Billy, you've got to get a check-up," and him saying, "Get off my back." And of course he was on tour a lot at the time.

Finally he had some time off and I dragged him kicking and screaming to the doctor.' Pamela recalls the moment he got the dreaded phone call at the couple's home in New York. 'I was physically holding onto him at that point to reassure him and support him. That's what marriage is about: you have your ups and downs and you have to see each other through them. I also understand the psychology of illness, and I knew it was not going to be easy on me either. Let's face it, he was a terrible patient!' she says ruefully. 'But you can't blame someone for that when they're going through something that you're not.' As a result Pamela has felt the need to be the family rock on whom everyone could lean. 'It was important to be strong for Billy and our family, very much so.' Yet even her background in clinical psychology didn't make it any easier for her to look into the treatment when it was so close to home in her husband's case. 'It's sort of scary and you fall into the trap of seeing horrible things that you don't want to read,' she admits.

Billy and Pamela Stephenson, after the birth of their third child, Scarlett Connolly, 1988 'That's all you see at first; then you have to take a deep breath and go back and read it again and pick out the positive things. 'I knew the hearing loss in particular was affecting his ability to perform on stage because he couldn't hear the audience feedback, which is important for a comedian. All those years on the circuit sitting on huge stacks of loudspeakers was bound to cause some damage. So persuading Billy to wear a hearing aid was more of a hurdle than anything else. It made a tremendous difference to his quality of life and he's been performing better than he has for years.' By October, Billy's prostate had been surgically removed and he was given the all-clear. He was told his Parkinson's was a mild, slow-moving form, and no medication was needed. But, Pamela now reveals, the crisis wasn't over: after the prostate operation he developed a life-threatening blood clot on his upper thigh that at first his medical team failed to spot. 'I knew it was a clot but the doctors weren't listening to me,' she says.

'Eventually I spoke to an intern on the phone, who said, "Just get him to the hospital right away!" I threw him into a taxi; he was in agony and crying with pain as the driver drove up the highway from our home. The road was in a very bad condition, so the taxi was bumping over it, and Billy was saying, "Uh-oh, he drives just like you, Pamsy!" I said, "Billy, I'm saving your life here, stop going on about my driving!" Even though he was going through so much pain, he never stopped being his hilarious, curmudgeonly, adorable self. Fortunately I don't take it personally; I just think it's funny that he'd choose that moment to run down my driving.' The hospital dealt with the clot and he was discharged. But soon after, when he was back at work and filming his ITV documentary about how we deal with death, Billy Connolly's Big Send-Off, which was aired in May, Pamela says the blood clot was still a problem. Luckily their middle daughter Amy, 28, had been invited to work as a researcher on the show. 'Thank God Amy was with him.

She recognised what was happening and they got him back to hospital to deal with the clot. He's had all his check-ups and he's in great shape now.' She describes herself as 'a glass half-full person, while Billy's a bit the other way, so we have a good balance. The Parkinson's is mild but Billy still worries about it,' she admits. 'It's actually bigger in his mind than it is in reality; he's always watching for symptoms.' Pamela Stephenson at the Comic Strip - a late-night club that young comedians Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Alexei Sayle, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders Pamela says she isn't nostalgic of her days at the Comic Strip as she says that it was a competitive industry Now she jokes that at least all her wifely efforts have 'saved' Billy for his bed scene with Shirley MacLaine in the movie Wild Oats. It's currently being filmed on Gran Canaria and Shirley is the one sowing the wild oats with silver fox Billy.

'He sent me an email about his scene with Shirley – and also mentioned in passing that Demi Moore, his other co-star in the film, is even more beautiful than before Ashton Kutcher left her! But Billy had a bed scene with Sharon Stone too in Beautiful Joe back in 2000, so I'm fairly used to him jumping into bed with other women – on screen of course,' Pamela laughs. 'Am I ever jealous? Of course, humans always get jealous; if your husband is going off to do a movie with Sharon Stone and there's a bedroom scene in it, you think, "Hmm, you'd better behave yourself, boyo." Just because you're married it doesn't mean you're not going to be attracted to other people – and hopefully you can talk about that. It's what you do with that attraction that's important. But it would be much harder for a spouse who hadn't been in the business, who didn't understand acting and how things are.' New Zealand-born Pamela first burst onto the British comedy scene in 1979 in ground-breaking BBC2 sketch show Not The 9 O'Clock News alongside Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones.

She went on to join the Comic Strip, a late-night club that young comedians Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Alexei Sayle, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders set up in 1980. The Comic Strip transferred to TV for Channel 4's launch night in 1982. Pamela with Billy in July 1983 But Pamela grew disillusioned with the comedy scene and headed in a different direction. She made her West End debut in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates Of Penzance instead, pursued a Hollywood career in which she became the only girl to sleep with Clark Kent's alter ego in Superman III, and joined US comedy show Saturday Night Live but left after one series because of its drug-taking culture at that time. These days Pamela doesn't look back nostalgically at her Comic Strip days. She's saddened by the shock news of Rik Mayall's death at 56, but says she barely got to know him on the few occasions where they appeared on the same stage; in that competitive environment, she recalls, friendships just didn't flourish.

'Doing stand-up was like a war with everyone playing this game of "I can be funnier than you." You had to come in like a boxer with lots of chutzpah and try to scare the pants off people. I remember envying Rik and the other boys for being guys, because the Comic Strip was really hard: I was one of the few women doing it and the audience sounded like they were out for blood, so the boys would take their trousers down on stage and other stuff that I couldn't possibly do.' As for the very few females on stage, it seems there was precious little solidarity there either. 'French and Saunders said mean things about me so I didn't want to talk to them. I don't remember exactly what they said, and it's all water under the bridge now, but I can understand why – because we were all fighting for space and at each other's throats,' explains Pamela. She retrained as a clinical psychologist in California, using her knowledge of showbusiness to write her thesis on the harmful effects of fame, and later presented TV show Shrink Rap, a series of probing psychological interviews with Hollywood stars such as Tony Curtis and Robin Williams.

'Billy was so proud of me getting my doctorate; he said he liked the atmosphere of calm study that I brought to the house. Of course he also meant, "As opposed to when you were a comedian and tearing around like a crazy person!" Frankly it was hard to have two comedians in the house.' But showbusiness is still in her blood. In 2010, at the age of 61, she triumphed against all the ageist odds by reaching the final of Strictly Come Dancing, which turned her into the poster girl for the sexy older lady but left her with unfinished dance business. 'I never got to perform my tango in the final!' she mock-wails. Hence her new project: the world premiere at next month's Edinburgh Festival of her 75-minute Brazilian dance-drama Brazouka, which she wrote and is co-producing with Arlene Phillips – who she met through Strictly – as choreographer.

'Doing stand-up was like a war with everyone playing this game of "I can be funnier than you." I was one of the few women doing it and the audience sounded like they were out for blood, so the boys would take their trousers down on stage and other stuff that I couldn't possibly do.' Brazouka celebrates the Afro-Brazilian dance of lambazouk. She predicts it's going to be bigger than salsa because it's the one dance where women can ask men to dance without losing face. 'It's sensual and fun without being sleazy because it's not a meat-market dance – and it's so brilliant for women of all ages and sizes,' says Pamela, very conscious that she's put a few pounds back on since losing 2st on Strictly. It's 33 years since she was last at Edinburgh, doing a stand-up comedy routine in 1981, and Pamela, now 64, is nervous about taking a new show to the world's biggest arts festival. Yet, after all that's happened with Billy's illnesses recently, she admits she really needs some Latin American fun in her life. 'I discovered on Strictly that dancing could turn around the way I was feeling.

You go through awful things and then something like dance helps you reconnect with the joy of life,' she says. 'And Billy thinks my show's amazing too. He calls the male members of the cast my "Brylcreem Lotharios"! I'll probably practise psychology again at some point, but basically I was sitting on my a*** after Strictly, and my body needed to move.' Although she isn't officially performing in Brazouka, bar a surprise appearance somewhere in the evening, you can't keep a good Strictly star down. And she's even thought of a role for Shirley MacLaine. 'Billy's coming to see Brazouka – maybe he and Shirley can do their bedroom scene in the middle of Princes Street to help promote the show,' she jokes. Brazouka, Assembly Hall, Edinburgh, 31 July-25 August, 5.30pm. 0131 623 3030.

Billy Connolly - Biography - IMDb Billy Connolly Biography Showing all 50 items Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trade Mark (6) | Trivia (15) | Personal Quotes (22) Overview (4) 6' (1.83 m) Mini Bio (1) Billy Connolly was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. He left school to work in the shipyards becoming a welder and joined 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 in the UK after appearing on Parkinson (1971) in the early seventies. Billy has released many recordings and videos of his concert performances over the years. He has expanded his repertoire to include acting, appearing in a number of television dramas and films, most 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 one of the UK's top comedian. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous Spouse (2) ( 20 December 1989 - present) (3 children) Iris Pressagh Tangential storytelling in stand-up comedy performances, often featuring multilayered digressions from original story. Banjo playing Use of bad language in his stand-up routines Long hair Glaswegian accent Trivia (15) Known for his long, messy hair, goatee and lots of bad language in his stand-up show. American audiences are generally unfamiliar with Connolly's musical accomplishments, since he all but eliminated the songs from his act before he became popular in North America. An exception to this were his guest appearances on Pearl (1996) in which he sang one of his old songs, "I Wish I Was in Glasgow", in a duet with Malcolm McDowell .

Three Daughters with Pamela Stephenson : Daisy (born 31 December 1983), Amy (born 7 July 1986) and Scarlett (born 28 July 1988). Two children with his previous wife, Iris Pressagh: Son Jamie (born 1969) and Daughter Cara (born 1973). Married Pamela Stephenson in Fiji on 20 December 1989. July 2001: Received an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Entertainment. He is a long time supporter of Glasgow Celtic Football Club. He is a former reserve soldier in Britain's elite parachute regiment, serving with 15 Para (now a disbanded battalion). In September 2005, he announced that he is returning to live in his native Scotland, after residing in the United States for some years. Diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and Parkinson's Disease [September 16, 2013].

Fulham, London, England [May 2009] Received the Outstanding Contribution to Television and Film Award at the 2012 British Academy Scotland Awards. To date (2016), Billy holds the record for the most guest appearances on the popular British TV talk show Parkinson (1971), with a reported 15 spots. Billy's Parkinson's Disease was initially diagnosed under informal circumstances in that he was approached by a doctor in his L.A. hotel lobby after an appearance on Conan O'Brien's show in 2012. After the doctor introduced himself as a fan, he then remarked that Billy's shuffling gait resembled that of someone with the possible early onset of the disease and advised him to get a medical checkup. In October 2004, during an 18-night stint at London's Hammersmith Apollo, Connolly was criticised for making jokes about the hostage Kenneth Bigley. Shortly after Connolly joked about the future killing of the hostage and touched on the subject of Bigley's young Thai wife, Bigley was beheaded in Iraq. Connolly claims he was misquoted.

He has declined to clarify what he actually said, claiming that the context was as important as the precise words used. Personal Quotes (22) I'm now a Doctor of Letters. Most of them Fs and Bs. Life for me is great. I'm a very f***in' wealthy person, I'm married to a very beautiful woman and I get laid with monotonous regularity. I think my securities far outweigh my insecurities. I am not nearly as afraid of myself and my imagination as I used to be. In Scotland, there is no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes. Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that who cares?... He's a mile away and you've got his shoes! There are two seasons in Scotland - Winter and July. It's very awkward to be kind of big in your own field. It limits what you're offered. People are swayed by the fact that you're a comedian or a musician or whatever they think you are. When it comes to choosing you, they get a bit shaky about offering you a different type of role. But I've really been very lucky. When you compare me to other comedians, I've been very fortunate.

So you'll get no complaints. I'd never consciously left home to see a zombie movie. They were fine by me, but I had no intention of ever being in one. But I've been learning more about it as I've been doing interviews. I didn't even know there were specialist zombie magazines and clubs. I heard the other day that a radio station had asked people if they'd made preparations for an attack by zombies, and a staggering number of people replied yes! I set out to be a cross between Lenny Bruce and Robert the Bruce -- my main thrust was the body and its functions and malfunctions -- the absurdity of the thing. Without arts programmes there's only reality TV, and reality TV needs the arts to show it what reality is. Gerry Rafferty was a hugely talented songwriter and singer who will be greatly missed. I was privileged to have spent my formative years working with Gerry and there remained a strong bond of friendship between us that lasted until his untimely death. Gerry had extraordinary gifts and his premature passing deprives the world of a true genius. There comes a point when you don't give a shit what anybody thinks. It doesn't happen all at once, but it's lovely when it does.

Criticism used to worry me before, but I can suddenly write it off. It's too late. I don't have the time to spend thinking about it anymore. I need that time to live with. I fucking hate going on holiday anywhere but in my own home. My idea of a nice break is lying in bed being brought cups of tea while watching football, episodes of Law & Order (1990) or one of those reality shows set in a prison. And it fucking terrifies me to be somewhere where Pamela Stephenson's going to be lurking about waiting to guilt-trip me into going on a walk to Japanese gardens, sampling vanilla tea or trying to stay upright on a contraption that doesn't know if it's a kite or a surfboard. Wild horses couldn't persuade me. If she'd had her way, we'd start the day with an hour of power yoga on the shore, followed by a gluten-free breakfast, a scuba dive to see enormous, bitey things, then a tanning session on the beach where the combination of sunscreen and sand turns you into a giant schnitzel.

After lunch there'd be kayaking to a deserted island, then a candlelit dinner in some exotic outdoor location where small bitey things make you even more miserable than the big ones. Jazz makes me want to vomit! I fucking hate sand. I've had it with terrorists of all colors and fucking descriptions. Fucking bringing terror to some innocent person's life. Fuck you. Osama Bin Laden lives in a cave, shits in a fucking bucket. Why are we scared of this prick? Fuck you, Bin Laden! I don't want to influence anybody so I shut up. I think the Scots will come to a good conclusion in the referendum. They'll get what they deserve. [on the death of Robin Williams ] Robin was 'on' all the time. He was a joy to be around, let me tell you. In all the years I knew him I never got tired of him. He was a one-off, so warm, so human. In my quieter moments I do sometimes think I could have done more to help him. It's a lonely life, show business. You spend a lot of time on your own, and if you dwell on these things you can hurt yourself, as Robin proved.

The future doesn't exist and neither does the past. Worrying about it is a waste of time and effort. [on his belief that Robin Williams was trying to say goodbye when they last spoke] On the last phone call he said, 'I love you like a brother' and I said, 'I know you do' and he said, 'Are you sure you know?' and I said, 'Yes'. Robin worried about everything. [on politicians] Don't vote, it just encourages them. Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time? See also Pamela Stephenson - Biography - IMDb Pamela Stephenson Jump to: Overview (2) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trivia (5) | Personal Quotes (3) Overview (2) Pamela Helen Stephenson Mini Bio (1) Pamela Stephenson was born on December 4, 1949 in Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand as Pamela Helen Stephenson. She is an actress and writer, known for Superman III (1983), History of the World: Part I (1981) and Ryan (1973).

She has been married to Billy Connolly since December 20, 1989. They have three children. She was previously married to Nicholas Ball . Spouse (2) Married to Scottish actor/comedian Billy Connolly . Three children with Connolly: Daisy (b. 1983), Amy (b. 1986), Scarlett (b. 1988). Married Billy Connolly in Fiji on 20 December 1989. Sister, Leslie Stephenson, is an opera singer in Switzerland. Has since retired from acting and obtained a doctorate in Psychology. Personal Quotes (3) Billy Connolly hates my "Brazilian hooker" beach look. Port Louis [in Mauritius] turned out to be a sizable city boasting a new colonial-style shopping centre on the old quay. We strolled into the Blue Penny Museum, which had some fascinating old photographs of the early days of European settlement in Mauritius. And then it was back to the hotel for one last secluded, starlit dinner. This was a rare occasion of outdoor privacy for us, and it almost brought out the inner Romeo in my pale-blue Scottish person.

There was no jazz to complain about, only the lapping of the Indian Ocean and a warm sea breeze, eliminating the mosquito threat. It was a sweet finale to a surprisingly lovely break. [In 2013] My great, great grandfather Samuel Stephenson had built a ship here - the "Rosalie" - at the beginning of the 19th century, just after the British forces won Mauritius (then called Isle de France) from the French. He sailed her to what were then the Dutch East Indies and ran opium to China, before running aground near Bali and falling foul of pirates. I took a trip about an hour south of the hotel to check out Ville Noire near Mahébourg, where ships were once built. Traversing the old bridge, I was thrilled finally to see Captain Stephenson's old stomping ground. Those early European sailors had founded a nicely sheltered shipping base here. I imagined Samuel walking across that same bridge of Ville Noire, in the taverns, and even feasting on dodo.

See also Pamela Stephenson's unflinching autobiography | Newcastle Herald Pamela Stephenson's unflinching autobiography ROSEMARIE MILSOM 10 Nov 2012, 4 a.m. Kicked out of home as a teenager, Pamela Stephenson’s unlikely path to success is recounted in unflinching detail in her unconventional autobiography. Pamela Stephenson's unflinching autobiography MATTER-OF-FACT: The Pamela Stephenson of today adopts a Los Angeles attitude towards cosmetic enhancements. PICTURE: EDWINA PICKLES GROWING UP: A teenage Stephenson off Takapuna Beach, Auckland, New Zealand. SNAPSHOTS: From left, Stephenson, a keen adventurer, in Palau, in 2011; getting married to Billy in Fiji in 1989; with her children Amy, Daisy and Scarlett on a ski trip in Deer Valley, Utah, 1998; in Papua New Guinea for a New Zealand TV show this year.

SNAPSHOTS: From left, Stephenson, a keen adventurer, in Palau, in 2011; getting married to Billy in Fiji in 1989; with her children Amy, Daisy and Scarlett on a ski trip in Deer Valley, Utah, 1998; in Papua New Guinea for a New Zealand TV show this year. SNAPSHOTS: From left, Stephenson, a keen adventurer, in Palau, in 2011; getting married to Billy in Fiji in 1989; with her children Amy, Daisy and Scarlett on a ski trip in Deer Valley, Utah, 1998; in Papua New Guinea for a New Zealand TV show this year. SNAPSHOTS: From left, Stephenson, a keen adventurer, in Palau, in 2011; getting married to Billy in Fiji in 1989; with her children Amy, Daisy and Scarlett on a ski trip in Deer Valley, Utah, 1998; in Papua New Guinea for a New Zealand TV show this year. ON HER OWN: Stephenson on holiday in Bali in 1980.

exit Pamela Stephenson begins her autobiography as only Pamela Stephenson could. ‘‘I broke a tit,’’ she reveals in the first chapter, entitled ‘‘Vicodin, Valium and Veuve Clicquot’’. What follows is a witty, irreverent and self-effacing account of a dancing accident just before last Christmas in a Manhattan jive club that caused her saline-filled right breast implant to rupture. The ‘‘aesthetic emergency’’ required surgery and Stephenson decided on an overhaul as well as a new implant. She opted for a tummy tuck and the removal of her double chin and under-eye bags. ‘‘One of the ugliest things about me,’’ writes the 62-year-old, ‘‘is my refusal to age gracefully ... I’m as vain as vain can be and would totally sell my soul to the devil to be a babe forever. Thank God for Botox, lipo and the surgeon’s knife.’’ Stephenson’s matter-of-factness about her cosmetic surgery – she also reveals she first had breast implants at 21 and has had a few rounds of liposuction – is refreshing and very un-Australian.

‘‘I’ve lived in Los Angeles,’’ she says from her harbourside hotel room where she is ensconced during the Sydney leg of her national book tour. ‘‘People don’t think anything of it. It’s like going to the dentist, people talk about it all the time. They talk about who’s getting what done, and all kinds of procedures. Everyone’s constantly tweaking. You don’t think twice about it,’’ she chuckles. ‘‘But as you age more, you realise some women think you haven’t had anything done. My stepdaughter, Cara, hit the nail on the head when she said, ‘It’s much more sisterly to ’fess up and tell people. You don’t want them to think that you haven’t had anything done and you’re this sort of medical anomaly’. ‘‘I feel very generous towards those women who pretend they haven’t had anything done; there are men in their lives who apply pressure, there’s careers. They do what they think they have to do. ‘‘I also think that people should do whatever makes them feel better and some people feel better just being themselves and not bothering about it.

The only thing that needs to be said is that you can’t come out strongly in favour of pushing back time surgically or any other way without remarking on the risks involved and there are risks. It won’t necessarily turn out the way you want it to, and it won’t necessarily make you feel better about yourself and it can be dangerous.’’ Stephenson, whose professionally honed comedic skill has been an effective defence mechanism throughout her life, can also see the link between her rush to fend off the effects of ageing and her fear of rejection – a common thread throughout The Varnished Untruth: My Story. She grappled with her tendency to make light of events and experiences when finally sitting down to write the book after struggling with the traditional format of an autobiography. Even after penning Billy, the best-selling biography of her husband, Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, Stephenson did not know how to address the complexity of her life. ‘‘I could have written a different kind of book and I wanted to hide behind my ability to be humorous on the page,’’ she says. ‘‘I could have carefully constructed my story because that’s what people in the public eye tend to do.

And, in fact, everybody does that; creates an official story of their life that leaves out the awkward bits, the shameful bits, the bits that might make us seem less appealing, more ugly. ‘‘But then I thought, well,’’ she pauses and sighs, ‘‘it wasn’t so much that I had a choice, I just really felt bound to test waters and allow people to see the ugly side of me. ‘‘It’s in line with my tendency to take risks, my sense that it’s a good thing, it’s life-affirming.’’ Stephenson, who moved on from comedy to become Dr Pamela Stephenson-Connolly: clinical psychologist, began to question herself and this resulted in the unusual structure of The Varnished Untruth, which is essentially a lengthy therapy session divided into thematic rather than chronological chapters. ‘‘I didn’t come up with a structure until very late in the process,’’ she says. ‘‘It just wasn’t working and I was very close to cancelling the book. I didn’t think I could do it, I didn’t really want to tell the story, and it was coming across as so raw.

‘‘I thought if I write it with hindsight and knowledge, people will think it’s boring. I had to be truthful to different parts of myself and it wasn’t until quite late that I came up with this idea of having a session with myself, a conversation with myself. Once I got that idea, it seemed to flow much better. ‘‘This particular voice is the one that began to write this book and would not be ignored and was only palatable because I was able to mitigate it with the therapist side of me.’’ Stephenson explores confronting events in The Varnished Untruth. She writes of the depression she experienced as a teenager, of losing her virginity while at high school to a 35-year-old heroin junkie – ‘‘A horrible, painful experience, out of which I got nothing but glandular fever and gonorrhea’’ – and her despair at being kicked out of home and placed in a Catholic hostel by her conservative, academic parents after they found out about her post-coital health problems.

They struggled to understand their creative, talented, wilful daughter, who was making a habit of sneaking out from her family’s suburban home at night and hanging out in Kings Cross (she ended up bar tending in nightclubs there and later became involved in a violent, abusive relationship). Her mother was ‘‘cold and judgmental, and her smile always seemed forced’’ and neither parent showed Stephenson or her two sisters any physical affection. Being accepted into the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art saved Stephenson and launched her acting career in 1970. She played Cordelia in Edward Bond’s Lear, Solvieg in Peer Gynt and, when the Sydney Opera House opened, starred in two plays in the launch season at the Drama Theatre – Queen Isabel in Shakespeare’s Richard III, and Polly Peachum in Jim Sharman’s production of Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera. Stephenson was in demand for TV, film and theatre roles and her busy career provided her with the means to travel overseas. She packed her bags and travelled to London via Asia and Europe, including stop-offs in Japan and India.

Stephenson had lived in London for a year in primary school while her parents took up sabbatical posts at the Chester Beatty Research Institute and that experience, during which she attended the Arts Educational Trust, exposed her to acting and unleashed ‘‘a full-fledged performing monster’’. It was fitting that it was in London where she arrived as an adult, a ‘‘kind of female Crocodile Dundee’’, with £20 in her pocket that she would achieve stardom in the 1980s with her role in the irreverent satirical sketch show Not the Nine O’Clock News alongside Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. She was the sexy blonde with a knack for hilarious impersonations of Madonna, Margaret Thatcher, Billy Idol, Kate Bush and Olivia Newton-John. While she was whooping it up on screen, off camera she was ‘‘very thin and edgy’’, a chain-smoking Buddhist who abstained from salt, sugar and fat, and also meditated for long periods to manage her performance anxiety. ‘‘I wasn’t exactly fun to be around,’’ she remembers. But it was during that time she met Connolly when he made a guest appearance on the show.

There was an instant attraction. ‘‘He was thrilling; a savage gypsy lover with a voice like gravel and honey,’’ she writes. Both Stephenson and Connolly were married at the time, and there was also the issue of the Scottish comedian’s alcoholism. After escaping to Bali in a futile attempt to forget Connolly and her failed short marriage to British actor Nicholas Ball, Stephenson returned to the UK and her ‘‘gypsy lover’’. Connolly got sober and the couple became a paparazzi target. A decade after their first meeting, they married in Fiji in 1989 in the presence of Connolly’s two children, Cara and Jamie, as well as the couple’s three young daughters, Amy, Daisy and Scarlett. Fast forward 23 years and the couple has joined the small and exclusive club of celebrities who have long-lasting marriages. Both Stephenson and Connolly live very full lives and have vastly different interests. ‘‘We know that relationships work when people are their own individual selves and they’re able to be who they are and also be together,’’ she says. ‘‘If you always know what the other person is thinking all the time, well that can get really boring.

He’s off with his trikes and his motorbikes and movies, and I’ve got my dancing, writing and scuba diving. ‘‘We’ve always travelled independently. We spend chucks of time apart; right now I’m on the book tour and he’s at home in New York.’’ Stephenson, who writes a weekly sex column for Guardian readers seeking advice about sexless marriages, cross-dressing boyfriends and how to achieve orgasm, has always been an adrenaline junkie and her autobiography includes her various adventures in far-flung places, including Borneo and Papua New Guinea. Though one of the biggest risks she has taken recently was closer to home: her decision to perform in the popular British TV show Strictly Come Dancing, which has a similar format to Dancing With The Stars here. The former child ballerina made the 2010 final and found the experience transformative. ‘‘It was fantastic to survive in it that long and a lot of it was public vote,’’ she says. ‘‘I have always loved dancing and I still do it any chance I get.’’ The long-time devotee of the Argentine tango has now embraced the sexy Brazilian style of dance called lambazouk, which evolved from the lambada.

‘‘I’ve just been in New Zealand before arriving in Australia and the first night in Auckland I went online and found there was a zouk party and I went along by myself. ‘‘I’ve even organised some zouk flash mobs at my book launches to surprise the audience,’’ she says laughing (see YouTube for dodgy video of the Perth event). The delight in her voice is obvious when she talks about dancing. ‘‘It’s wonderful and I’m drawn to the zouk because it’s Brazilian. They’re so comfortable with their bodies and I’ve found Brazilian men to be accepting of women of all ages and all sizes. It’s a fantastic feeling being able to express yourself without fear of judgment.’’ One of the most significant realisations for Stephenson while writing The Varnished Untruth was that she suffered from destructive body dysmorphia for the best part of two decades, if not longer. Even at the height of her success while appearing in Not The Nine O’Clock News, she saw herself as a ‘‘toothy, short-waisted, pear-shaped munchkin with an unfortunate facial profile’’. ‘‘Shocking, isn’t it?’’ she sighs.

‘‘Even I can look at that and go, that’s terrible. Why couldn’t I have just relaxed and been happy to look the way I did? But that’s what body image problems do. ‘‘I looked in the mirror and I saw something very different. When I saw photos in magazines, I’d say, ‘Well, that’s me after an hour in the make-up chair’. ‘‘What we’re talking about now is ubiquitous for many women and the pressure is on us to look amazing. Most women are fabulously flawed in one way or another, and wouldn’t it be nice if we weren’t ashamed of that?’’ What has she taken away from her lengthy conversation with herself? ‘‘The most important thing is to come into the world with parents who help you to feel safe – doesn’t even have to be your parents, you just need one person in the world who makes you feel secure, loved and appreciated for who you truly are. ‘‘We’re all multifaceted and we can all venture into dangerous terrain, but it is important there’s somebody who’s watching over you.’’ The Varnished Untruth is published by Simon & Schuster.

Pamela Stephenson Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly (born December 4, 1949) is a New Zealand actress, comedian and clinical psychologist, now a resident of New York City, USA. Stephenson was born in Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand. After attending the University of New South Wales and then Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art, from which she graduated in 1971,[1] Stephenson pursued a successful acting career in Australia for several years before moving to London in 1976, where she continued to act (theatrically and in television). Probably her most widely recognised role was in the classic 1980s UK comedy television sketch show Not The Nine O'Clock News, alongside Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It was on this programme that she met Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, whom she married in 1989. Her personal contribution as a comedian added to the success of Not The Nine O'Clock News and led to a collaboration with comedic/satirist writers Mark Lepine and Mike Leigh. This spawned a book, How To Be A Complete Bitch, and a board game.

She has also featured in the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (1984-1985), becoming the first SNL castmember to have been born outside of North America (the other two castmembers who hold this distinction are Morwenna Banks who was born in England, and Horatio Sanz, who was born in Chile). She has appeared in such films as Superman III (1983), Bloodbath At The House Of Death (1983), Mel Brooks's History of the World, Part 1 (1981), and Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977). Pamela Stephenson Billy Connolly CBE & Pamela Stephenson Married, Children, Joint Family Tree & History - FameChain St. Gerard's Secondary School, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom Musical Talent Before his incredible success as one of the world's funniest and best loved comedians, Billy was in a folk band called The Humblebums with friends Tam Harvey and Gerry Rafferty, the latter of which went on to find success on his own in the world of music. However, Connolly has described his own singing voice as 'like a goose farting in the fog'.

Maybe it is a good thing he went into the world of stand-up instead....... Ill Health In 2013 Billy was diagnosed with both prostate cancer and parkinson's disease on the same day. The prostate was removed in October and he received the all clear, and the Parkinson's is reportedly a mild, slow moving form of the disease. Horrible History Billy's maternal ancestor, John O'Brien, was a soldier in the British Army stationed in Cawnpore during the Indian Rebellion. At this fortified town, many women and children were massacred, the perpetrators were dealt with brutally by the British rulers. He was then shipped to nearby Lucknow, where a siege of the English had been underway for three months. Billy Connolly CBE Family Pamela Stephenson Pamela Stephenson Birth Name: Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly Age: 67, born 4 December 1949 Country of origin: Published 6 years, 6 months ago 5 votes View all Pamela Stephenson pictures Description: Pamela Stephenson is a New Zealand actor and (former) comedienne.

Born on the 4 December 1949 in Takapuna, Auckland, she is now married to Billy Connolly (in Fiji on 20 December 1989), and has since gained a doctorate in Psychology. Her full title is thus now 'Dr Pamela Stephenson Connolly'. She has featured in many television series, most notably the classic 1980s UK comedy television sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News, alongside Rowan Atkinson. It was on this programme that she met Billy Connolly, after spoof-interviewing him in the guise of Janet Street-Porter. Her personal contribution as a comedienne, added to the suc Pamela Stephenson is a New Zealand actor and (former) comedienne. Born on the 4 December 1949 in Takapuna, Auckland, she is now married to Billy Connolly (in Fiji on 20 December 1989), and has since gained a doctorate in Psychology. Her full title is thus now 'Dr Pamela Stephenson Connolly'.

She has featured in many television series, most notably the classic 1980s UK comedy television sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News, alongside Rowan Atkinson. It was on this programme that she met Billy Connolly, after spoof-interviewing him in the guise of Janet Street-Porter. Her personal contribution as a comedienne, added to the success of Not the Nine O'Clock News, led to a collaboration with comedic/satirist writers Mark Lepine and Mike Leigh which spawned a book, How to be a Complete Bitch, and also a board game of the same name. (The companion book and game How to be a Complete Bastard was also by Leigh and Lepine, with Adrian Edmondson). She has also featured in such films as Superman III, Bloodbath at the House of Death and Mel Brooks's History of the World Part 1. She has recorded several singles, including Unusual Treatment, Italian Shoes, I Like Truckin', The Ayatollah Song, Oh Bosanquet, and (probably) Typing Pool as 'Pam and the Paperclips', all (including the latter?) Not the Nine O'Clock News tie-ins.

Her doctorate in psychology proved useful when she wrote a biography of her famous Scottish husband, Billy, in which she analysed his behaviour and related elements of it to his being sexually abused by his father. ... ( more ) ( less ) Pamela Stephenson Pics - Pamela Stephenson Photo Gallery - 2017 - Magazine Pictorials. Movie Stills. Event Photos. Red Carpet Pictures Helen Profile Bio Text Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly (born 4 December 1949) is a New Zealand-born, Australian clinical psychologist, writer and actress who is now a resident in both the United Kingdom and United States. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s. She has written several books, which include a biography of her husband Billy Connolly, and presented a psychology-based interview show called Shrink Rap on British television. Stephenson was born in Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand. She moved to Australia in 1964 and attended the University of New South Wales and then Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art, from which she graduated in 1971. Stephenson was a regular cast member on television series Ryan.

She moved to London in 1976, where she continued to perform. Eye Color Dating Profile AutoText {"version":"2.07","timestamp":"2016-12-15 23:49:58","bio":" Pamela Stephenson<\/topic> is a 67 year old New Zealander Actress. Born Pamela Helen Stephenson on 4th December, 1949 in Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand, she is famous for Not the Nine O'Clock News in a career that spans 1971–present.

Her zodiac sign is Sagittarius.","relationships":{"status":"Married","summary":" Pamela Stephenson<\/topic> has been in 2 relationships with 2 marriages.","statement":" Billy Connolly and Pamela Stephenson<\/topic> are married.","children":" Pamela Stephenson<\/topic> has 3 children, Daisy (32)<\/span>, Amy (30)<\/span> and Scarlett (28)<\/span>.","onscreen":" Pamela Stephenson<\/topic> has been in an on-screen matchup with Mel Brooks<\/topic> in History of the World: Part I<\/i> (1981)<\/span>.","last":8433062,"stats":{"all":{"count":2,"longest":{"length":"13132","name":"Billy Connolly and Pamela Stephenson","url":"billy-connolly-and-pamela-stephenson"},"shortest":{"length":"2557","name":"Nicholas Ball and Pamela Stephenson","url":"nicholas-ball-and-pamela-stephenson"},"total":15689},"married":{"count":2,"longest":{"length":"13132","name":"Billy Connolly and Pamela Stephenson","url

":"billy-connolly-and-pamela-stephenson"},"shortest":{"length":"2557","name":"Nicholas Ball and Pamela Stephenson","url":"nicholas-ball-and-pamela-stephenson"},"total":15689},"engaged":{"count":0,"longest":{"length":0,"name":null,"url":""},"shortest":{"length":0,"name":null,"url":""},"total":0},"dating":{"count":0,"longest":{"length":0,"name":null,"url":""},"shortest":{"length":0,"name":null,"url":""},"total":0},"encounter":{"count":0,"longest":{"length":0,"name":null,"url":""},"shortest":{"length":0,"name":null,"url":""},"total":0},"rumoured":{"count":0,"longest":{"length":0,"name":null,"url":""},"shortest":{"length":0,"name":null,"url":""},"total":0}},"history":" Pamela Stephenson<\/topic> was previously married to Nicholas Ball<\/topic> (1975 - 1981)<\/span>.<\/p>"},"lists":{"summary":" Pamela Stephenson<\/

topic> is a member of the following lists: American sketch comedians<\/list>, Billy Connolly | Stand-Up Comedy Database | Dead-Frog - A Comedy Blog More Billy Connolly Video Biography Billy Connolly was born at 65 Dover Street (“on the linoleum, three floors up”) in Glasgow to Mary and William Connolly, the son of an Irish immigrant.

In 1946, with their son barely four years old, Connolly’s mother abandoned his sister and him, while his father was away for the war. He and his sister, Florence (“Flo”), were then looked after by two aunts, Margaret and Mona, his father’s sisters. Connolly was brought up in the Anderston, and later Partick, districts of Glasgow. He attended St. Peter’s Primary School in Glasgow and St. Gerard’s Secondary School in Govan. At the age of 12, he decided he wanted to become a comedian but felt he didn’t fit the mold; he felt he needed to become more “windswept and interesting”. Instead, at the age of 15, he left school and became a welder in a Glasgow shipyard. Around the same time he joined the Territorial Army’s Parachute Regiment.

At the medical, the doctor noted to him, “You’re not very big downstairs, are you?”, to which Connolly replied, “I thought we were only going to fight them.” In 1965, after he had completed a five-year apprenticeship as a welder, Connolly accepted a ten-week job building an oil rig in Nigeria. Upon his return to Scotland, he focused on being a folk singer. On 27 June 1969, a 26-year-old Connolly married his first wife, Iris Pressagh. In December of that year, his first child, Jamie, was born. He has four more children, all girls — one (Cara, born 1973) with Iris, and three with his second wife, Pamela: Daisy (31 December 1983), Amy (7 July 1986), and Scarlett (28 July 1988). Connolly’s career as a folk singer led to him forming a folk-pop duo called The Humblebums with a fellow musician Tam Harvey. After recording one album, Harvey left the partnership and was replaced by future rock star Gerry Rafferty.

The Connolly-Rafferty version of The Humblebums recorded two more albums for independent record label Transatlantic Records. The albums were not big commercial successes but enjoyed cult status and critical acclaim. Connolly’s contributions were primarily straight-forward pop-folk with quirky and whimsical lyrics - but he had not especially focused on comedy at this point. In 1970, the Humblebums broke up with Rafferty going on to record a solo album for Transatlantic Records - Can I Have My Money Back (1971). Connolly returned to being a folk singer. His live performances featured folks songs with humorous introductions that became increasingly long in duration. The head of Transatlantic Records, Nat Joseph, who had signed the Humblebums and had nurtured their career, was concerned that Connolly find a way to develop a distinctive solo career just as his former bandmate Gerry Rafferty was doing. Joseph saw several of Connolly’s perfomances and noted his comedic skills. Joseph had successfully nurtured the recording career of another Scottish folk entertainer Hamish Imlach - and Joseph saw potential in Connolly following a similar path.

He suggested to Connolly that he drop the folk-singing and focus primarily on becoming a comedian. It was a life-changing suggestion. In 1972 Joseph produced Connolly’s first solo album Billy Connolly Live! a mixture of comedic songs and short monologues that hinted at what was to follow. In late 1973, Joseph produced the breakthrough album that propelled Connolly to British stardom. Recorded at a small venue, The Tudor Hotel in Airdrie, Scotland - the record was a double-album titled Solo Concert. Releasing a live double-album by a comedian who was virtually unknown (except to a cult audience in Glasgow) was an unusual gambit by Joseph but his faith in Connolly’s talent was justified. Joseph and his Transatlantic Records marketing team - which included publicist Martin Lewis (who in 1979 would cast Connolly in The Secret Policeman’s Ball show) - successfully promoted the album to chart success on its release in 1974. Building on his cult Scottish following - Transatlantic broke Connolly throughout the UK - an unusual development for a regional comedian.

In 1975, Transatlantic used the rapidity and extent of Connolly’s breakthrough to secure him a booking on Britain’s premier TV talkshow - the BBC’s Parkinson show. Connolly made the most of the opportunity and told a bawdy joke about a man who had murdered his wife and buried her bottom-up so he’d have somewhere to park his bike. This ribald humour was unusually forthright on a primetime Saturday night on British television in the mid-1970s and his appearance made a great impact and was much talked-about. He became a good friend of the host, Michael Parkinson, and now holds the joint record (with Kenneth Williams) for appearances on the programme, having been a guest on eight occasions. Referring to that debut appearance, he later said: “That programme changed my entire life.” Parkinson, in the documentary Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years, stated that people still remember Connolly telling the punchline to the ‘bike joke’ three decades after that TV appearance. Connolly’s UK success spread to other English-speaking countries - Australia, New Zealand and Canada. However his broad Scottish accent and parochial British references made success in the US improbable.

His popularity in Britain endeared him to many other British entertainers including musicians such as Elton John. John at that time was trying to assist British performers he personally liked, to achieve success in the US. (He had released records in the US by veteran British pop singer Cliff Richard on his own Rocket Records label.) John tried to give Connolly a boost in America by using him as the opening act on his 1976 US tour. But the well-intentioned gesture was a failure. Elton John’s American fans had no interest in being warmed-up by an unknown comedic performer - especially a Scotsman whose accent was indecipherable to most Americans. “In Washington, some guy threw a pipe and it hit me right between my eyes”, he told Michael Parkinson two years later. “It wasn’t my audience. They made me feel about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit.” Connolly continued to grow in popularity in the UK. In 1975 he signed with Polydor Records and the label built on Transatlantic’s groundwork. Connolly continued to release live albums and he also recorded several comedic songs that enjoyed commercial success as novelty singles including parodies of Tammy Wynette’s song D.I.V.O.R.C.E.

and the Village People’s In The Navy - titled In The Brownies. In 1979, Connolly was invited by producer Martin Lewis to join the cast of The Secret Policeman’s Ball - the third in the series of the Secret Policeman’s Ball fundraising shows for Amnesty International. Connolly was the first comedic perfomer in the series who was not an alumnus of the Oxbridge school of middle-class university-educated entertainers and he made the most of his appearance. His perfomance was considered to be one of the highlights of the show’s comedy album (released by Island Records in December 1979) and feature film (released by ITC Films in 1980). Appearing in the same company as long-established talents such as John Cleese and Peter Cook helped elevate the perception of Connolly as one of Britain’s leading comedic talents. Lewis also teamed Connolly with Cleese and Cook to appear in the television commercial for the album. In 1981, John Cleese and Martin Lewis invited Connolly to appear in that year’s Amnesty show The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball.

Connolly’s performance was again reported as one of the highlights of the show and he was prominently featured in the subsequent comedy album (Springtime!/Island Records 1981) and UK film (UIP 1982). The commercial success of the special US version of the Secret Policeman’s Other Ball film (Miramax Films 1982) introduced Connolly to a wider American audience - attracted to the film because of the presence of Monty Python members. His on-screen presence alongside British comedic performers - who were already familiar to Anglophile comedy buffs - helped lay down a marker for Connolly’s eventual return to America in his own right eight years later. In 1985, he divorced his wife of sixteen years (they had separated four years earlier). He was awarded custody of their two children. That same year, he recorded An Audience with… which was broadcast in front of a celebrity audience on ITV. The uncut, uncensored version was subsequently released on video. In July of 1985 he performed at the Wembley leg of Live Aid - immediately preceding Elton John. In 1986 he visited Mozambique to appear in a documentary for Comic Relief.

He also featured in the charity’s inaugural live stage show, both as a stand-up and portraying a willing ‘victim’ in his partner Pamela Stephenson’s act of sawing a man in half to create two dwarves. Connolly completed his first world tour in 1987, including six nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which was documented in the Billy and Albert video. When the Fox Network aired Freedomfest: Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday Celebration in 1988, Connolly was still virtually unknown in the States, but his performance drew attention, particularly from producers, and interest in him grew. In 1989, Connolly’s father died after a stroke. (His mother died four years later.) On December 20, 1989, in Fiji, Connolly married Pamela Stephenson, the New Zealand-born comedic actress whom he’d met when making a cameo appearance on the BBC sketch show Not The Nine O’Clock News, a series on which she was one of four regular performers. He had been living with her since 1981. “Marriage to Pam didn’t change me, it saved me”, he later said. “I was going to die.

I was on a downwards spiral and enjoying every second of it. Not only was I dying, but I was looking forward to it.” Earlier in 1989 Connolly shaved off his trademark shaggy beard for a film role and he remained clean-shaven for several years. 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. Soon after, Connolly succeeded Howard Hesseman as the star of the sitcom Head of the Class for the 1990-1991 season, but the series was cancelled during his tenure. The following year saw Connolly and Stephenson move to Los Angeles, and the family won green cards in the Morrison Visa Lottery.

In 1991, Connolly received his first (and, to date, only) leading television role as the star of Billy, another sitcom and a spinoff of Head of the Class. It lasted only a half season. On June 4, 1992, Connolly performed his 25th-anniversary concert in Glasgow. Parts of the show, and its build-up, were documented in The South Bank Show, which aired later in the year.[2] Connolly was dealt a blow in 1993 when his close friend and fishing partner, Jimmy Kent, passed away. In early January 1994, Connolly began a 40-date World Tour of Scotland, which would be broadcast by the BBC later in the year as a six-part series. It was so well received that the BBC signed him up to do a similar tour two years later, this time in Australia. The eight-part series followed Connolly on his custom-made Harley Davidson trike [1]. Also in 1996, Connolly recorded a BBC special, entitled A Scot in the Arctic, in which he spends a week by himself in the Arctic Circle.

A notable feature of these shows is that he strips naked in one scene in each of them, usually in some remote wilderness area where no one is likely to complain, although for Comic Relief he once danced naked around Piccadilly Circus. In 1998, Connolly’s best friend, Danny Kyle, died. “He was me dearest, dearest, oldest friend,” Connolly explained to an Australian audience on his Greatest Hits compilation, released in 2001. In November 1998, Connolly was the subject of a two-hour retrospective entitled Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years, which included tributes from Dame Judi Dench, Sean Connery, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Eddie Izzard. The special was released on DVD in North America in 2004. The following year, Connolly undertook a four-month, 59-date sellout tour of Australia and New Zealand. Later in the year, he completed a five-week, 25-date sellout run at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. In 2000 he travelled to Canada for two weeks on a 13-date tour.

In 2001, Connolly completed the third in his “World Tour” BBC series, this time of England, Ireland and Wales, which began in Dublin and ended in Plymouth. It was broadcast the following year. Also in 2001, Pamela Stephenson’s biography of her husband, Billy, was published. It outlines his career and life, including the sexual abuse by his father that lasted from his tenth to his fourteenth years. Much of the book is about Connolly the celebrity but the account of his early years provides a context for his humour and point of view. A follow-up, Bravemouth, was published in 2003. Connolly himself is credited with writing several books, including Billy Connolly (late 1970s) and Gullible’s Travels (early 1980s), both based upon his stage act, as well as books based upon some of his “World Tour” television series. Connolly, however, has stated that his comedy does not work on the printed page. A fourth BBC series, World Tour of New Zealand, was filmed in 2004 and aired that winter.

Also in his 63rd year, Connolly performed two sold-out benefit concerts at the Oxford New Theatre in memory of Malcolm Kingsnorth, who for twenty-five years was Connolly’s tour manager and sound engineer. In October 2004, during an 18-night stint at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, the comedian was criticised for making jokes about the hostage Kenneth Bigley [2]. Shortly after Connolly joked about the future beheading of the hostage, Bigley was beheaded in Iraq. Connolly does not deny that the incident happened, but claims he was misquoted. He has declined to clarify what he actually said, claiming that the context was as important as the precise words used. However, despite the bad press, in January 2005, Connolly came 8th in The Comedian’s Comedian, a poll voted for by fellow comedians and comedy insider and embarked on a major UK tour with an impressive 15 sold-out nights in Glasgow. Also in 2005, Connolly and Stephenson announced, after fourteen years of living in Hollywood, they were returning to live in the former’s native land.

They purchased a 120-foot yacht with the profits from their house-sale, and now split the year between Malta and an estate in Aberdeenshire. Later in the year, Connolly topped an unscientific poll of “Britain’s Favourite Comedian” conducted by TV network Channel Five placing him ahead of performers such as John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, Dawn French, and Peter Cook. In March 2006, Connolly completed a two-month sold-out tour of Australia. During the months of May and June 2006, Connolly performed a six-week stand at the 37 Arts Theater in New York City as part of his “Too Old To Die Young” tour [3], [4]. During one show, featured on his Live in New York DVD, he revealed that his 23-year-old daughter, Daisy, was in the audience. In the Autumn of 2006, Connolly completed a month-long Canadian tour. Connolly’s first live shows of 2007 are due to take place at the Brentwood Theater in Los Angeles from March 6 to March 24. It is as a stand-up comedian that Connolly is best known.

His observational comedy is idiosyncratic and often off-the-cuff. He talks about himself, who he is, where he’s been, what he thinks and how he reacts to the world around him. He has outraged audiences, critics and, of course, the media with his free use of the word “fuck”. He has used masturbation, blasphemy, defecation, flatulence, sex, his father’s illness and his aunts’ cruelty to entertain. By exploring these subjects with humour, Connolly has done much to strip away the taboos surrounding them. Yet he does not tell jokes in the conventional way. At the end of a concert the audience can be convulsed with laughter, though few can remember a specific “funny” line. One of Connolly’s most famous comedy routines is The Crucifixion, a 1973 live recording produced by Nat Joseph in which he likened Christ’s Last Supper to a drunken night out in Glasgow. The recording was banned by many radio stations at the time. Around this same time, a joke told during a television talk show appearance (about a murderer and his bike) became a sensation that, reportedly, people still remember three decades after the appearance.

Strictly Come Dancing: Pamela Stephenson's husband Billy Connolly 'I'm her only failure' | Daily Mail Online Now that she is 60, former comedienne and blonde screen siren Pamela Stephenson could be forgiven for taking life easy. After all, this queen of reinvention has already packed enough into her career to fill several lifetimes. She rose to fame in the irreverent satirical sketch show Not The Nine O’Clock News in the late Seventies and early Eighties, but turned her back on showbusiness to retrain as a clinical psychologist and sex therapist. Nicholas Ball with his then wife, Pamela in 1981 She has also tamed Glaswegian comedian Billy Connolly – they met in 1979 and have been married since 1989 – has raised three daughters, written an awardwinning psychological biography of her husband and spent a year sailing around the South Pacific. Even the art of ballroom dancing has been subdued, it seems. As she cuts a promising dash in the new series of BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing, viewers may wonder if there is any obstacle that New Zealander Pamela cannot conquer. Perhaps they should ask her former husband, actor Nicholas Ball.

For a brief moment in the late Seventies, Nicholas Ball was the hottest property in British television as the wise-cracking cockney private eye James Hazell. Share this article Share The hit show – co-written by former England football manager Terry Venables – was watched by 20 million viewers on ITV every Monday night. Women couldn’t get enough of his handsome baby face and when he appeared at the Women’s World ’79 exhibition in Bristol, 7,000 screaming women turned up to mob him. For an equally brief moment, he was the first Mr Pamela Stephenson. The marriage was possibly Dr Stephenson’s only high-profile failure. Now 64, a rueful Nicholas says, with characteristic understatement: ‘I was a bit on the wild side. I loved the ladies and they loved me. I was also smoking and drinking hard ... yes, and doing drugs too. Nothing hard-core, just socially. I didn’t want to be tamed. But Pamela wanted to straighten me out – a bit like she eventually did with Billy. ‘He was wild before she met him and look at him now. If we had stayed together she probably would have ended up writing a book about living with me.

Blonde ambitions: Pamela in Strictly Come Dancing Ball remembers that he first met Pamela when she appeared in an episode of the first series of Hazell in 1978 – they hit it off and embarked on a tempestuous ‘open’ relationship. ‘Pam and I had been together on and off for about a year and everything was marvellous,’ he says. ‘Then I went and spoiled it by suggesting that we get married. It was a whim really. I was 32 and thought it would be a good idea. One day I said, “Why don’t we do it?” and she said yes. ‘She wanted to get married too. She was smart, beautiful and a very talented actress.The comedy wasn’t there yet, but she was working at it – especially her impressions.’ The marriage ceremony took place at Southwark Register Office in South London. They told none of their friends or family – their witnesses, playwright Snoo Wilson and actor Desmond McNamara, who played cousin Tel in Hazell, arrived at Nicholas’s nearby flat thinking that they were going to help move furniture. Nicholas and Pamela kept the marriage secret for almost a year.

Despite some reports at the time that their marriage had been one of convenience – Nicholas successfully sued one newspaper that implied it was a ruse to hide homosexual tendencies, others suggested she needed a British passport – he insists it was a real romance. ‘I really loved being with her. We adored each other. It was a genuine love affair, full of passion,’ he says. ‘But we should never have got married. Within days of the wedding, I knew I couldn’t cope with the idea of us being married. Nothing wrong with her – she was lovely. But I missed my bachelor life.’ The problem, by his reckoning, was that Pamela could be a little controlling. As a vegan, she even tried to wean Nicholas off meat, never mind his wilder indulgences. ‘She was right that my life was a little bit excessive back then,’ he sheepishly admits. ‘She said that I should stop, but I was enjoying myself too much.’ Despite contemporary reports to the contrary, Nicholas insists that when the marriage ended there was no jealously or hurt feelings on either side. ‘What happened is between Pamela, Billy and myself,’ he says. The split was certainly unconventional.

He and Pamela remained close for a couple of years afterwards, and were photographed hugging at celebrity events. Pamela with her dance partner James Jordan in rehearsals for weekly performance on Strictly Come Dancing Nicholas says he has know idea why Pamela is doing Strictly, but 'She was always a good mover...I'll certainly be rooting for her to win' But it clearly rankles that these days, apart from Hazell, his marriage is still the thing most people want to know about. ‘Why do people always want to talk about something that happened all the time ago?’ rails Nicholas. ‘Why don’t they ever just want to talk about my work?’ The answer, of course, lies in the trajectories that their lives have taken since they parted. While Pamela has successfully reinvented herself more than once, Nicholas drifted, appearing in the odd stage play and taking minor roles in television dramas. Then in 1983 he hit rock bottom when police picked him up in the West End of London in possession of cocaine. With his career in the doldrums Nicholas flew to Los Angeles in 1991. He intended to stay for a month, but ended up remaining for four years. ‘It was a really hard time in my life.

Nothing seemed to be going well, professionally or personally,’ he says. ‘Not that casting directors in America were breaking down my door to give me work. No one knew who I was, I was just another jobbing actor in his 40s.’ He did manage to get a few acting roles and also recorded a number of books on audio tape, including works by Christopher Hitchens and James Maybrick. He even took jobs as a painter and decorator, just so he could pay the rent. He met his former wife by chance while out driving in Los Angeles. In action: the pair performing together last Saturday night Billy Connolly watches Pamela and dance partner James Jordan rehearse ‘She was in a massive, gleaming Land Cruiser and I was in an old treasured Camaro,’ he recalls. ‘The bigger car seemed to be trying to drive me off the road and so I stopped – only to see the tinted window roll down and Pam’s face peering through it.’ The reunion that followed included Billy and, says Nicholas, was a joyous occasion. The trio met on several occasions for drinks. ‘There certainly was never any animosity when we split up.

In any case, it was well over 30 years ago.We’ve all moved on with our lives since then,’ he explains. Eventually Nicholas was forced to accept that he was never going to make it in Hollywood. He returned to Britain with just £31 in his pocket. It was not easy, but slowly he began to rebuild his life. Today he is in a long-term relationship and contemplating fatherhood: ‘I’ve never particularly wanted children, but I’ve been writing a fantasy trilogy for kids and it seems to be changing my mind. But only after I’ve made some money.’ He says he has no idea why Pamela is appearing on Strictly. ‘It came as a complete surprise to me,’ he says. ‘It’s not like she’s got a book to promote or anything. She was always a good mover, so I expect that she’ll do very well – I’ll certainly be rooting for her to win.’ Ball’s china-blue eyes still twinkle and he plays up the image of the cheeky cockney, but his puffy face bears the signs of a man whose life has been lived hard and fast.

As he watches Pamela twirl across the floor he might well be wondering how different his life would have been had he allowed her to tame him. ‘Perhaps I’d have had a more conventional life if we had stayed together, but I have no regrets,’ he says, before walking off to the bar for another glass of wine.

Question: Which comedian is married to Pamela Stephenson?
Answer: BILLY CONNOLLY