Billy Connolly ‘no longer recognises his close friends’ as he fights Parkinson’s Disease

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Billy Connolly can no longer recognise those closest to him, according to his long-time friend TV presenter Sir Michael Parkinson. The legendary Scottish comedian is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, and it sadly appears to be taking its toll. Parkinson appeared on Saturday Morning With James Martin, and said that he recently was in New York to present Connolly with an award, but his friend struggled to place him.

"The sadness of Billy now is that wonderful brain is dulled," said Parkinson. "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. We had an awkward dinner together because I wasn't quite sure if he knew who I was or not. "But we were walking out after the presentation to go down and have our picture taken, and he turned to me and put his hand on my shoulders." "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. "He was just a genius and the best thing that happened to me on the show."

Billy Connolly revealed in 2013 that he was suffering from Parkinson's Disease, at a Downing Street reception.