Actor Tom Hickey on living with Parkinson’s
He’ll always be Benjy Riordan for some but Tom Hickey’s latest role has striking parallels to his own life
Legendary actor Tom Hickey veers off on a tangent mid-chat and breaks into the opening monologue from The Gallant John Joe, a one-man play he is currently performing on tour, and declares: ‘For anyone out there suffering from Parkinson’s disease, or who has a loved-one suffering from it, tell them there’s a man in his seventies here having a right go at beating it.’
Hickey, 71, who for all his stage and film acclaim, is still fondly remembered for his portrayal of Benjy in the RTÉ series The
Riordans, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s two years ago, and if he’s facing a difficult fight, he’s certainly ready to rumble with it.
‘I am probably a battler by nature, I played gaelic football in my youth and made my inter-county debut for Kildare in Tralee against a Kerry side that had players like Mick O’Connell, Johnny Culloty and Mick O’Dwyer on it, and who had just won the All-Ireland.
‘Jerome O’Shea was my direct opponent and that didn’t phase me, thank God. I ended up scoring 1-1 even though we lost, I have always tried to stand my ground in a battle and this current situation is no different.
‘I am vulnerable though, with all the frailties of the mind and spirit that entails, and yes of course I have had the odd inclination of my own mortality, but never once have I questioned the man above as to why he picked me.
Honestly, the way I see it is I could be a lot worse off, there are far worse things happen people, none of us is immune, we are all prey to it, especially as we get older.
‘God has left me with the ability to still perform on stage but this disease, like that game against the boys from Kerry, is something I just have to get out there, face up to and deal with. And yes I suppose one of the things that inspires me and drives me on is the desire to stick around down here long enough for a cure to be found.’
The first signs of the progressive neurological condition arose when Hickey was doing a poetry reading and began to experience classic Parkinson’s symptoms.
‘I noticed a tremble in my right leg and went to the doctor’s the next day,’ he recalls. ‘He told me it could be anything but that he didn’t think it was too serious. But six months later when the trembling started in my right arm I was back with him and he had a fair idea then. A specialist confirmed it shortly afterwards and the battle commenced.’
Hickey has long been regarded as one of our finest actors, having trained with the legendary Deirdre O’Connell at the Stanislavski Studio, and in much the same way as he would research a role, he immediately began trying to understand the disease.
‘The first thing I came to discover clearly is that Parkinson’s thrives on stress, and luckily enough I am not a worrier. The only time I would be remotely stressed is immediately before I go on stage. There are times though when it is a battle royal to stay positive.
‘I don’t socialise as much as I used to. I get tired far more easily and I need to save my energy for the tour of the play.
‘I guess one of the benefits of being an actor is that I can at times put an act on and hide how I may be really feeling from those around me.
‘People are very kind to me actually, they treat me like a delicate blossom, but I am far from that. I still do my best to get in some physical training sessions each week despite everything.’
Regular exercise is important to keep him strong. He does Pilates once a week with trainer Noirin McCarthy, ‘or as I call her, and she knows I call her it, Hitler, because she is a dictator in the nicest possible sense of the word. One in 500 people suffer from Parkinson’s and though there is no cure, the symptoms and progress of the condition can be limited with ever more effective drugs.
‘I am on medication and I do take it. That’s something I would really put out there to any Parkinson’s sufferer. Take your medicine and even when you feel it is starting to work really well, continue to take it.
‘There is an operation available in the UK which can stop the shakes I get. It’s expensive though, and I am yet to be convinced of the merits of putting myself through it. Sixteen years ago I had the only operation of my life so far, a replacement hip, and that was a painful enough experience for me.’
Hickey was surprised to discover
that not all Parkinson’s sufferers are affected in the same way.
‘That’s a fact, everyone has their own unique form of it, perhaps the best known person to have Parkinson’s is Muhammad Ali and he, for example, suffers far more from the shakes than I do. Look I don’t want sympathy, I have had a brilliant life, but this is all about telling people with the disease to fight on, battle it, stay very, very positive because if you give up, then it takes you over.’ The play,
The Gallant John Joe was written for Hickey by playwright Tom MacIntyre and it tells the story of John Joe Concannon, an elderly man coming to terms with serious illness. It’s almost 40 years since
The Riordans vacated its place as the Sunday night must-see television. Benjy left to become a lay missionary in Africa. So where would Hickey imagine Benjy now?
‘God knows. However I was playing MacIntyre’s The Great Hunger in the Abbey one night and my friend was in the audience and overheard two elderly ladies having a conversation, in which one remarked, “Isn’t Benjy making a great job of the acting.” So that’s where he is, and if he’s enjoying it half as much as Tom Hickey is, he’s loving it.’