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Press cartoonist who was friends with Sir Billy Connolly dies aged 75

Malky McCormickA newspaper cartoonist who was friends with comedian Sir Billy Connolly has died aged 75.

Tributes have been paid to Malky McCormick, left, who worked for regional and national papers including the Sunday Mail and Daily Record, as well as the Kilmarnock Standard later in his career.

With Sir Billy, whom he had befriended in the mid-1970s, Malky devised The Big Yin strip cartoon for the Glasgow-based Mail.

The strip was immensely popular, with a compilation selling 40,000 copies and The Big Yin becoming Sir Billy’s nickname

His first cartoon was published in his local paper, the Glasgow Mercury and Advertiser, when he was aged just 13.

Malky also counted The Sun, Daily Record, Daily Express, Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph as titles to have published his work.

An obituary in Glasgow-based daily The Herald states: “When he moved to the tiny village of Waterside on the outskirts of Kilmarnock, he approached the local newspaper, the Kilmarnock Standard, and offered his services.

“The staff there could hardly believe their luck that they had such a prestigious cartoonist contributing a weekly topical cartoon based on an article in that week’s edition.”

Malky, who was diagnosed with vascular dementia two years ago, had been living in an Ayrshire care home since losing his devoted wife Ann to cancer.

He died on 14 April and is survived by his daughter Jane, as well as sons Sean and Dominic.