Sir Billy Connolly made a rare TV appearance at the BAFTAs on Sunday May 8 to accept the fellowship award where he gave a frank update about his health.
Connolly retired in 2018, five years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2013. Parkinsons is a progressive nervous system disorder affecting how the body is able to move.
Now 79, comedian Connolly accepted the award via video link from the US, having moved to Florida.
He discussed how the world had changed in the 50 years of his career then added: “I went from strength to strength on television and here we are today getting this award.
Connolly, who was knighted in 2017 for his services to to entertainment: "I couldn’t be happier. It has made me such a happy man getting these good attendance medals now my career is out the window".
What did Billy Connolly say about his health at the BAFTAs?
Giving the academy and fans an update on his life and condition, Billy Connolly said: “I am very proud to receive this. Life is good. I haven’t been on the stage for about two years. This is kind of nice. It suits me.
“Symptom spotters among you may notice that my left is different from my right. It is just one of these things. Parkinson’s disease. I suffer badly from the disease.
“My wife puts on my clothes in the morning and takes them off at night. It is a jolly life. I have got no complaints.”
In August 2021, Connolly gave another update on his situation where he said that the challenges he was facing were “getting worse”.
He was speaking at an Edinburgh Film Festival session, interviewed by his wife, Dr Pamela Stephenson Connolly.
He said: "The challenges lately have been medical. They are getting worse."
"I will have to weigh it up and see how bad it gets. Play it by ear."
The struggle of the disease hasn’t been a conversation Connolly has shied away from, admitting in December that year that he hides his symptoms from his children .
In a documentary with ITV , he said: "I have to behave in a certain way so my children don't think I'm a dead loss.
"They don't feel sorry for me. I want them to think: 'He does well with what he's got.' That's it.
"Parkinson's Disease has taken a lot from me. I can't play the banjo anymore. It's just a noise. I can't yodel anymore. I can't smoke cigars. It's taken more and more of what I like. It's kind of painful.
"But you have to have a Glasgow attitude and say: 'Oh, you think you've got me beat? Try this for size.' I just deal with it. If I fall, I fall."
