Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Gerry Connolly" comedian – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Gerald William Connolly (born 15 November 1957) is anAustraliancomedian,actor,impressionist andpianist. He is best known for his satirical caricatures of public figures such as former Queen of the United KingdomElizabeth II,King Charles III,Margaret Thatcher,Ronald Reagan,Joh Bjelke-Petersen,Neville Wran,Malcolm Fraser,Bob Hawke,Paul Keating,John Howard,Bill Collins andDame Joan Sutherland, among many others.

Connolly was born inRockhampton, Queensland. He studied at, and subsequently graduated from theQueensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane, with aBachelor of Music.^[1]

Connolly has gained much notoriety inAustralia and theUK, having much success at theMelbourne Comedy Festival and Adelaide Comedy Festival with his hit one-man shows, includingGerry Connolly - Alone or with Others andI, CONnolly. In 1986, his live performances earned him the Wallace 'Comedian of the Year' Award. He has also made many TV appearances, including spots onFast Forward,Live and Sweaty,Tonight Live with Steve Vizard,Hey Hey Its Saturday andKath & Kim, as well as his own series,The Gerry Connolly Show.

He played the Headmaster inABC1'sDead Gorgeous. Connolly appeared as himself in the ninth episode of the 1998 Australia television seriesThe Games (in which he impersonatedBob Hawke). In 2019, Connolly auditioned forBritain's Got Talent impersonatingQueen Elizabeth II while roasting the judges.^[2]He was eliminated in the 2nd semi-final.

In 1993, Connolly featured in a dramatic role portraying formerQueenslandpremierJoh Bjelke-Petersen in theABC telemovieJoh's Jury. He also had the major role of Lou Rickets in the Australian family filmThe Real Macaw in 1998, and made a cameo appearance as Father Murphy inThe Wog Boy.

Connolly has also had a successful career in the theatre, working with such groups as theMelbourne Theatre Company,Sydney Theatre Company andBelvoir St Theatre. He played the role of Mahoney in theMelbourne Theatre Company’s 1999 production ofArturo Ui, which earned him a nomination for aGreen Room Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2022 he played the role of Mr Paravicini in the Australian tour ofThe Mousetrap.^[3]

He has playedpiano with theMelbourne,Queensland andTasmanian Symphony Orchestras, being featured in concerts televised across Australia and theUK.

^[4]

• http://www.icmi.com.au/gerry-connollyArchived 2 May 2013 at theWayback Machine
• Gerry Connolly atIMDb
• http://www.celebrityspeakers.com.au/brspeaker_bio.asp?Speaker_Index_Text=51Archived 30 September 2009 at theWayback Machine

• 1957 births
• Living people
• Australian male comedians
• Australian impressionists (entertainers)
• Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University alumni
• Britain's Got Talent contestants
• People from Rockhampton

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from August 2021
• All BLP articles lacking sources
• Use dmy dates from August 2015
• Use Australian English from August 2015
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Articles with hCards
• Webarchive template wayback links