Yahoo News Sir Michael Parkinson opens up about Billy Connolly
TV legend Michael Parkinson has spoken about his longtime friend Billy Connolly's mental decline due to Parkinson's disease.
Appearing on Saturday Morning with James Martin, Parkinson revealed The Big Yin's "wonderful brain has dulled" and recalled a "sad and awkward" moment they shared recently.
"I saw him recently – he's now living in America – and it was very sad, because I was presenting him with a prize at an award ceremony," revealed the veteran broadcaster.
"We had an awkward dinner together, because I wasn't quite sure if he knew who I was or not.
Parkinson went on to tell host Martin that Sir Billy asked him how long they'd known each other, which led his friend to question whether he actually recognised him.
Later, the pair were walking out to have their picture taken when Connolly, "turned to me and put his hand on my shoulders," said Parkinson.
However, the 83-year-old Yorkshireman "wasn't sure where it was or what context at all".
He added: "And to know someone as long as I knew and loved Billy… it was an awful thing to contemplate, that that had been taken from him in a sense."
Billy Connolly revealed in 2013 that he was battling Parkinson's Disease as well as undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
Last year, he opened up about the experience of living with the disease and said "a sense of humour is absolutely essential."
Talking to the Daily Mail, Billy said laughter is "the only thing that gets you through" and that sometimes he "gets kind of dark about it."
"It's not like having pneumonia and you're going to get better. You're not going to get any better," he admitted.
"A Russian doctor said, 'It's incurable'. I said, 'Hey, try, we have yet to find a cure'.
"Incurable is so static and terrible. There's no escape."
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