“Sad decline of my friend Billy Connolly,” says Michael Parkinson in today’s Sunday Express. Not exactly a headline I wanted to see over my cornflakes today. Connolly is, in my opinion, the greatest comedian of my lifetime. I have seen him ‘live’ on two unforgettable occasions and laughed so much it hurt. Now, after a cancer episode, the Big Yin suffers from Parkinson’s disease, so much so that when he left the stage on his final tour he was accompanied by “Whole Lot of Shaking Going On”. Now, I read of his “sad decline” in a loathesome, hateful apology of a newspaper, the Sunday Express, something written by his friend.
I am glad I don’t have friends like the ironically named Michael Parkinson. I have seen family members suffer and finally get overwhelmed by Parkinson’s. Fortunately, they were not in the public eye and they were able to see out the final wretched days of their life in relative privacy. I would not wish Parkinson’s on anyone. And I certainly wouldn’t go to a newspaper to tell the world about it.
Parkinson describes how Connolly’s brain is “dulled” and how he wasn’t sure if Connolly even recognises his now. He had an “awkward” meal with Connolly recently. Perhaps, I am overreacting but it seems to me this kind of stuff should remain private. How far, for example, should you take the revelations of the effects of Parkinson’s? I suppose we should be relieved that Parky didn’t go further.
The social media reaction to Parkinson’s comments have been entirely positive, praising him for his words about Connolly. I just felt awkward reading it and very sad. Far from ignoring reality, I just felt that some things should remain within the family. And Connolly’s decline should be one of them.
