Sir Billy Connolly assures fans he's not dead or dying in wake of BBC Made In Scotland documentary will keep working until he dies, according to an old friend.
Fellow comedian Kevin Bloody Wilson said the Billy Connolly 'thrilled' to lead Tartan Day Parade in New York is still in reasonable health, despite suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
The Australian, 72, said: “It is tough to see him go through that at every level. I have seen worse, but again Billy’s nature is what is getting him through that.
“The fact is Billy is a funny b*****d and he does see the funny side of it.”
Billy, 76, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013 and had prostate surgery following a cancer diagnosis the same year.
The Glaswegian comic admitted in a documentary in January that he was now “at the wrong end of the telescope of life”.
Billy Connolly 'thrilled' to lead Tartan Day Parade in New York
He added: “My life is slipping away and I can feel it. But it doesn’t frighten me – it’s an adventure.”
But Kevin, a friend of Billy’s for four decades, said his pal had been taken out of context.
He added: “He is still doing live shows.
“I think Billy, like all of us live entertainers, will be out there doing it until we die because it is not what you do, it is who you are.”
Billy Connolly assures fans he's not dead or dying in wake of BBC Made In Scotland documentary
Last year, Billy laughed off reports by his old friend Michael Parkinson that his disease had got so bad that he could no longer recognise his friends.
Billy said: “I would recognise Parky if he was standing behind me in a diving suit.
“He should get on with selling funerals and leave me alone.”
