I’m losing my memory but I’ll die on stage, says Parkinson
CHAT show legend Sir Michael Parkinson revealed yesterday that he is losing his memory but he has vowed to carry on working and said he will “die on stage”.
Sir Michael, 83, interviewed the world’s biggest stars, including Bing Crosby and Muhammad Ali, over the 36 years he had his top-rated BBC show, which ended in 2007.
“I’d be a liar if I said I found it as easy to work as I used to,” he said. “I used to have an extraordinary memory and now I forget things.
“But that’s something that inevitably happens with age and a small price to pay. I will die on stage.
“I work out of choice, not necessity. To be able to do that is the greatest freedom.”
Sir Michael was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013 and had spinal surgery to repair ruptured discs.
“Cancer changes your life but the worse thing of all was the spine operation last year,” he said. “I can’t walk like I could. I can’t dance like I could or play golf any more but as long as I can still work and the mind is there that’s all that matters.
“The positives are that I can read more and see good old friends.” The Yorkshireman credits his wife of 59 years, Mary, 82, with giving him “get up and go” to carry on.
He still speaks at dinner and charity events and wrote a book about his friend, the late football legend George Best, who appeared on Parkinson sometimes the worse for drink.
In George Best: A Memoir he describes a friendship which began when the Belfast boy made his debut for Manchester United at 17 in 1963.
He died in 2005 aged 59 from an alcohol-related illness and Sir Michael admitted that Best’s drinking affected their friendship. “It was difficult watching him drink himself to death, so we grew apart,” he said.
“I was in Australia when he died. I couldn’t get back and I felt guilty. I felt I owed him a tribute.” The book is “a letter to a friend”.
Parkinson, a miner’s son from Barnsley, also struggled with alcohol, which became a problem in the late 1970s.
“After my father died I drank very heavily,” he said. “It was Mary who pulled me back. One day she said to me, ‘You’re ugly when you drink’. That really cut me and bruised my pride.
“It’s amazing what words can do.”