Courtenay: I can see clearly now colour blindness is gone
TOM COURTENAY says he has found a new lease of life at 81 after having surgery to correct the colour blindness he never knew he had.
The actor was having tests before a cataract operation when a doctor informed him that he could not see colour properly – the result of childhood scarlet fever.
The condition was rectified “and now I can’t shut up about it”, Courtenay said. “I bought a brown T-shirt in Glasgow a while ago, and now I’ve realised it’s plum! It’s incredible, really. I’ve got all this colour in my life.”
True colour blindness is rare, according to the NHS, and the majority of people who described themselves as such have what doctors term colour vision deficiency – difficulty distinguishing between certain colours.
It is usually inherited and present at birth, but in some cases it can be caused by a health condition.
Courtenay shared his story in an interview with The Guardian, in which he also discussed recovering from prostate cancer more than a decade ago. “People say, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t talk about it, but I’ve done some of my best work since I was diagnosed,” he said.
The star of Billy Liar also said he had no problem being described as a “veteran” actor. “I’m 81! There’s no escaping veteranism. I like pottering about,” he said. He also described his feelings after seeing The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, one of his most famous films, at a recent festival. He said he had been reassessing his performance and had been surprised by the amount of passion he had.
He is starring in King of Thieves, the Hatton Garden heist comedy, later this year alongside Michael Caine, Paul Whitehouse and Jim Broadbent.