Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PARKY
How I’ve battled to walk again
I don’t take a pessimistic view, but you’re never all clear. It can come back
SIR MICHAEL ON HIS RECOVERY FROM PROSTATE CANCER
WHEN it comes to facing his mortality, legendary interviewer Sir Michael Parkinson has had to answer some tough questions himself in the last few years.
The talk show presenter was struck down by cancer in 2013 but beat it.
And he’s had to learn to walk again after a major operation on his spine.
But at 82, the bluff Yokshireman – who became a household name in the 70s quizzing greats from Orson Welles to Frank Sinatra and Muhammad Ali – is in no mood to put his feet up.
It’s clear he’s going to revel being in the opposite chair in our interview, enjoying his chance to “spout off” instead of asking the questions.
And he has plenty to comment on – from Brexit, sexism and the oppression of his home town Barnsley to Harvey Weinstein and Jimmy Savile.
But first thing’s first – how has he been doing? “I’ve been ill for the last five years,” he says smiling.
“I’ve overcome prostate cancer, but it’s been a difficult period of my life. And my spinal operation has involved a long and unpleasant recovery.
“But in many ways what gets me through is the thought of not becoming redundant. I don’t want to be on the waste heap – and that more than anything else is the best motivation for anyone growing old.”
This is his first interview since surgery to repair two ruptured discs caused by years of playing golf. “For 11 years I kept the inevitable at bay,” he says. “But my surgeon called me up about two months ago and said, ‘the time has come. You don’t want me in your back, but I’ve got to do it otherwise there’s a problem’.
“So we did it, and it’s been successful, but you have to learn to walk again for one thing when you’ve had all that. I’m still not too great on my feet but I can stagger around and do my work and there is nothing wrong with the mind.”
His blunt, straight-talking manner is probably what has helped him stay focused during his cancer battle which he says still hangs over him.
“I said I’ll deal with it of course, absolutely and I don’t take a pessimistic view of it,” says Parky.
“Same with the spinal operation. I knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant, but I knew I wasn’t going to bloody die of it. I hope not anyway.
“You are never all clear. It can come back at any time. But it has been a long time since I had it and I think it is important men get the message to get a check as early as possible.
“A lot don’t do that and leave it too late. I know a couple of people who waited too long. You’ve got to get it checked because it is not a pleasant experience. Even if you survive it, there are still ramifications.”
During his BAFTA award-winning Parkinson talk show, which ran from 1971 until 1982 and from 1998 to 2003, Sir Michael interviewed around 2,000 of the world’s most famous people.
But now he has things he wants to talk about as we sit in his son Nick’s Michelin starred pub in Maidenhead.
Top of the list are Brexit, the BBC gender pay row and the rotten deal he says his beloved Barnsley is getting.
He says: “I went up to Barnsley just before the Brexit vote and I knew the way they’d vote because they’ve been neglected and ignored. There’s nothing up there to replace the mines. It is shameful. If I talk about the northern powerhouse, it ain’t in bloody Barnsley that’s for sure.
“It might be in Manchester or Leeds, but not Barnsley. They didn’t want to sustain those areas and it is sad to see. It makes me cross.”
When it comes to the BBC not paying female broadcasters as much as men, he says: “It should be based on talent and not on sex.
“That’s a good general rule. If people are very good at their jobs, they should be paid a bit extra maybe.” And Parky doesn’t hold back either when it comes to disgraced director Harvey Weinstein accused of sexual assault and rape. Actresses complaining about the casting couch shouldn’t happen – but it has done since Hollywood was first invented,” he says.
OBNOXIOUS
“I’ve no doubt a lot of it is still going on, but we’ve thankfully got an attitude about it. For years they’ve been saying this about Harvey Weinstein.
“His reputation was common knowledge among that fraternity. Why didn’t someone come forward before this? It’s no good sitting back and altogether blaming him although they should as he’s a predator, but people knew what was happening.
“It’s reprehensible what happens to women in jobs and I’m delighted it is more of a debate than it used to be.”
When asked if he knew about Jimmy Savile’s behaviour while working for the BBC, Parky curtly replies: “I didn’t like him and thought he was a deeply suspicious and obnoxious man, but I had no idea what was happening. Nobody did.
“We now have a deeper understanding of what was going on in
Child abusers in Rochdale and Rotherham? I’d throw away the bloody key
SIR MICHAEL ON GANGS WHO PREYED ON VULNERABLE YOUNGSTERS
those years, but is it really changing that much?
“Look at the abuse of children in Rochdale and Rotherham – that’s what I feel really disturbed by.
“The people responsible should be locked up for a lot longer in my view. I’d throw away the bloody key.”
Moving into calmer waters, we talk of Parky’s love of music.
He’s preparing to release a personally curated three-CD collection, Our Kind of Music: The Great American Songbook.
It features greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. And in 2018 he will tour the UK in a live theatrical based on the album.
Parky says he enjoys modern day singers such as Jamie Cullum and Amy Winehouse. Of Adele, he says: “She’s a good singer. I wouldn’t say she was Billie Holiday, but she represents the best of her kind.”
But asked for his opinion on grime artists Skepta and Stormzy, for once he looks blank.
“I don’t know who you are talking about so I wouldn’t have a view on it would I?” he says.
Finally, does he miss doing his TV talk show? “I’m past all that,” he adds. “It’s quite right there’s different people doing it now. I was lucky. I met my heroes.”
Our Kind of Music: The Great American Songbook will be released on November 24 by BMG and tour tickets are on sale now at rutlive.co. uk/event/parkinson-kind-music/