Billy Connolly, 80, Marks 10 Years With Parkinson’s Disease, Says He’s 'Fed Up' With Symptoms

“I say to the disease, ‘I’ll give you a break if you give me a break,’” the Scottish actor quipped

Scottish actor Billy Connolly is sharing an update on his health as Parkinson’s disease continues to take its toll.

On Thursday, the actor and comedian, 80, appeared on BBC Radio 4 marking 10 years since his diagnosis, detailing how it has "radically" changed his life.

“I'm clumsy and I lose my balance. I'm out of balance a lot and I fall," he said. "I’m fed up with it."

"I think I have a good attitude to it. I say to the disease, ‘I’ll give you a break if you give me a break.’ We’re nice to each other,” he quipped, adding that humor has gotten him through it all. “I’ve always been easily made [to] laugh. I am lucky with my sense of humor. I can laugh myself out of most things.”

Connolly explained that since he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013, he’s noticed his balance and memory deteriorating, resulting in him suffering “a couple of serious falls."

“I walk with a stick, and at airports I have to get the wheelchair,” he said. “I hate being dependent to that degree and I feel sorry for other people who are in wheelchairs and who have it worse than me. But it’s a thing I just have to put up with.”

“I think most things can be conquered, especially the depression,” Connolly added. “-Depression is such a complex affair but you have to conquer it, take it on face-to-face and refuse to be part of it.”

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Parkinson’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that affects the nervous system, according to the National Institutes of Health. It causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as a tremor in the hands, arms, legs or head, muscle stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.

Symptoms typically worsen over time and as the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking. Parkinson’s can also cause mental and behavioral changes, sleep problems, depression, memory difficulties, and fatigue.

Through his difficulties, Connolly said he’s relied on his wife, Pamela Stephenson, for everyday tasks.

“My wife puts my clothes on in the morning,” he said. “It’s not very manly. Your mum puts your clothes on.”

Back in 2019, Connolly opened up about his life since being diagnosed with the disease in a BBC documentary,  Made In Scotland.

“My life, it’s slipping away and I can feel it and I should,” he said in a clip from the film. “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.”

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“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.”

Connolly has starred in movies like The Last Samurai, The Boondock Saints and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, as well as Disney’s Brave as Merida’s father. He’s also a successful stand-up comedian and is sometimes known in Scotland as The Big Yin (The Big One).

But the comedian revealed at the time that he has stepped back from work as his mobility and memory have slowly started to falter. He said the disease has been different for him in realizing that he won’t be getting better.

“The Parkinson’s is strange because it is not going to go away,” Connolly explained. “All my life I have got sick and I have got the flu and pneumonia various things and they all went away. This isn’t going anywhere. It is going to get worse. It takes a certain calm to deal with, and I sometimes don’t have it. I sometimes get angry with it, but that doesn’t last long, I just collapse in laughter.”

He continued, “The good things are there, the love we have for people is still there, and with a bit of luck the love they have for you is still there. And I am very lucky in as much as I made a bit of a mark, and you think ‘well I must have done something right’. And that keeps you company when you are older, is the fact that when you were creative, you created well, it accompanies you, it is a great companion.”

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