Career: Connolly bought a banjo and formed a folk group, the Humblebums, which also included future music star Gerry Rafferty. Their success enabled him to quit his day job. Tours, a Royal Command Performance and two albums followed. The band split when Connolly's jokes between songs started taking over the act and he set out on his own in 1971. By 1975, when he first appeared on the Michael Parkinson chat show, he was a household name. Since then, he's gained fans across the globe thanks to a number of successful stand-up tours. Away from comedy, he's written plays and acted, appearing in numerous films including Mrs Brown, Still Crazy, Quartet and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. He has also fronted a number of TV travelogues, such as World Tour of Scotland, Billy Connolly's World Tour of Australia, and Billy Connolly's Route 66. In 2013, he was successfully treated for prostate cancer and was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.