Billy Connolly fans are in for a treat with an ITV special to mark his 60-year career on stage in stand-up comedy. One critic remarked that “hot angry hurt was the jet fuel of his comedy – roaring at 400 words a minute – shouting, swearing, singing, turning audiences to liquid — the stories bursting from him like blood from a severed artery.” He also appeared in 40 films most notably Mrs Brown opposite Judi Dench.
Born 24 November 1942 4.30am Glasgow, Scotland, he had an appalling childhood with his mother abandoning the family when he was four, unkind aunts (one psychotic) who were forced to act as caretaker parents; and an abusive father after he returned from the war.
He has now stopped touring after contracting Parkinson’s, says art is his life or he is taking it easy in his Key West home with his second wife therapist Pamela Stephenson with assorted grandchildren coming to visit.
He has a charmingly outspoken Sun Venus in Sagittarius in an erratic opposition to Uranus Saturn in Gemini in a talented Half Grand Sextile to Neptune and Pluto in his 10th – so he would become, as often happens with Pluto in the 10th, something of a legend. He’s also got the blessing of Jupiter in his 10th which would help his progress towards success. Neptune in the 12th is a pointer to his struggles with alcoholism.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013 along with prostate cancer though the latter has now cleared. That was when his Solar Arc Midheaven was conjunct his Neptune, making his direction uncertain. Tr Saturn was then moving downwards through his First Quadrant which would pull him back from an overly busy, high profile lifestyle.
He does have tr Pluto coming up to oppose his Jupiter through 2021/22 which should lift his confidence though he seems sanguine about not having long to go.
His creative, ‘seeking soul’ 7th harmonic is strong. Even more so is his genius/breakthrough 13H which as I recollect Peter Sellers also had. And his super-star 22H is challenging, angry and highly communicative. Not an easy start but he made the most of his abilities.
Pamela Stephenson, 4 December 1949, is another Sagittarius with a Taurus Moon in an intense square to Pluto and a hard-edged Mars Saturn in Virgo which squares his Moon. It’s not intuitively an easy match but it has lasted for forty years and he credits her for saving him when he was on a downward alcohol spiral.
Eccentric, idiosyncratic, an unrepeatable talent – very much a one off.
See this:
(Billy Connolly :: Dwarf on bus story)
The punchline is hilarious.
Finally an example of a Gemini Moon – and Sadge Sun, none the less – who has found a better use for their Moon than the ones in politics. I’ve mentioned thia before, but I truly discovered (I’ve mainly seen him in films and sitcoms he hadn’t written) Connolly through his travel shows, and was truly struck by one thing: The ease he chatted with people and got stories out of them that were not “on script” was spectacular. I think this is a combination of Mercury in Scorpio and Moon in Gemini. Mercury in Scorpios are, of course, intuitive to the point of seeming psychic (Joe Biden’s Scorpio Mercury ), but it is quite an introverted position. Gemini Moon, on the other hand, is probably the most extroverted Moon out there. So, a great combination for shows like this.
Also, I think that while his union to Pamela Stephenson isn’t what’s considered “easy” in traditional astrology, it’s something I see over and over again IRL. I have a good, younger friend, who struggled to understand why her relationships were so difficult, despite seemingly “family oriented” Cancer Sun/Moon. I pointed out she has Gemini Rising, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus and the fact she needed a partner understanding her need to have a social life and a hoard of animals. Didn’t say it at the time, but thought she’d be a perfect match with one of our male friends (her basically being able to connect “only” on mainly intellectual level with people of all sexes was an issue for previous boyfriend, who, turns out, cheated on her himself), with a mainly Sagittarius chart. And, behold, they eventually did get together without intervention, and are living a life that looks very much like them.