Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Comedy legend Sir Billy Connolly's battle with Parkinson's disease is taking its toll as he struggles to recognise even his oldest friends, Sir Michael Parkinson revealed today.

The chat show host spoke of a "sad and awkward" encounter between him and the 75-year-old comedian , who struggled to remember who he was.

The news shows just how much the neurodegenerative disorder is taking its toll on Billy's health - five years after going public with his diagnosis, as the Mirror reports.

Michael had flown into New York to present his old friend Billy with an award, but admitted to 'Saturday Morning With James Martin' that the comedian couldn't place him, and questioning how long the pair had known each other.

(Image: WireImage)

"The sadness of Billy now is that wonderful brain is dulled," Sir Michael said.

"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."

He went on: "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."

Sir Michael said Billy "wasn't sure where [the dinner] was or what context at all".

(Image: Hulton Archive)

"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 was diagnosed with Parkinson's after having surgery for his prostate cancer , and went public with it in 2013 at a Downing Street reception to raise awareness of the condition.

Parkinson's affects the brain and causes involuntary shaking, slow movement and stiff muscles.

It can also affect smell, disrupt sleep patterns, cause balance and memory problems and spark depression and anxiety. There is no known cure for the condition.

(Image: PA)

Sir Billy was knighted in October 2017 for services to the world of entertainment and for his charity work.

"When I'm in front of people and performing, I don’t give it much attention," he explained in April last year.

"And I perform in spite of it. That's why I put on the song A Whole Lot of Shakin' Goin' On – just to stick two fingers up to it.

"There's a whole lot of shaking going on. It's kind of weird, this instability. The only time it stops is when I'm in bed and then I can't roll over. I'm like a big log. It's the first thing I think about in the morning because getting out of bed is quite hard."

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

He went on: "It's a weird thing because it stopped me playing the banjo and it stopped me smoking cigars.

"It seems to creep up on everything I like and take it away from me. It's like being tested: 'Cope with that, cope with life without your banjo. Now I'm going to make your hand shake so you can't tie your fishing flies any more'."

He added: "It's weird. I’m trying to stay on the light side because the dark side is unthinkable."