Billy Connolly, 76, was diagnosed with both Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer on the same day six years ago. In what may be the Scottish funnyman’s last TV project, Billy Connolly will appear in the second part of his BBC Documentary series “Made in Scotland” on Friday, January 4. According to reports, the funnyman will reflect on his life being “near the end.”
Glasgow-born Billy Connolly, nicknamed The Big Yin, made two programmes for the BBC last year following a change in his condition owing to new drugs which are combating the degenerative disorder.
During the chat, which was filmed in 2018, Connolly continued to explain that whilst he knows he’s “near the end”, he’s not scared or frightened about it.
In a clip, the comedian said: “There is no denying it, I am 75, I have got Parkinson’s and I am at the wrong end of the telescope of life.
“I am at the point where the yesteryears mean more than the yesterdays.
“Because it is back there in my childhood and youth when I go to all those things that made me that live keenest in my memory now.”
Billy later added: ”My life, it’s slipping away and I can feel it and I should. I’m 75, I’m near the end.
“I’m a damn sight nearer the end than I am the beginning.
“But it doesn’t frighten me, it’s an adventure and it is quite interesting to see myself slipping away.
“As bits slip off and leave me, talents leave and attributes leave. I don’t have the balance I used to have, I don’t have the energy I used to have.
“I can’t hear the way I used to hear, I can’t see as good as I used to.
“I can’t remember the way I used to remember. And they all came one at a time and they just slipped away, thank you.
“It is like somebody is in charge of you and they are saying ‘right, I added all these bits when you were a youth, now it is time to subtract’.
“I can’t work my left hand on the banjo, it is as if I am being prepared for something. Some other adventure, which is over the hill.
“I have got all this stuff to lose first and then I will be the shadowy side of the hill, doing the next episode in the spirit world.”
And despite having to cut back on work as a result of the progression of his Parkinson’s, Connolly has remained positive.
He said: “There is still time to go yet, there are still places to go, new friends to make, maybe new songs to write and sing and jokes to tell.”
Does he still have cancer?
No reliable reports on whether Mr Connolly still has cancer is available.