Connolly thought about giving up stand-up

BILLY Connolly considered giving up stand-up after being diagnosed with prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease on the same day, according to his wife Pamela Stephenson Connolly.

The comedienne turned psychologist was speaking about her husband’s recent health issues and how they have faced them together after Connolly, now 71, was diagnosed last September.

“It was psychologically quite hard for him to deal with these health crises, having been healthy his whole life,” she said.

“So we deal with it. But he’s cancer-free, touch wood. He’s been through an operation that was successful. His Parkinson’s is extremely mild. So he’s not really experiencing any effects. Very minor ones.

“He did have some complications after his surgery, but when he got through all of that he immediately went on tour in America and New Zealand and was better than I’ve seen him in years.”

The couple live in New York, but Connolly was spotted in Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games.

Ms Stephenson Connolly said he had thought about giving up stand-up.

“I felt he needed to get over the sensation he was an invalid and that was the end of his comedy career,” she added. “He loves to be on the stage, and it would have been disastrous to be suddenly withdrawn from that.”

Speaking in an interview with a Sunday newspaper to promote her current show Brazouka at the Assembly Hall in Edinburgh, she said: “I’m just like anybody who has a partner facing something serious. All kinds of awful things go through your mind.”

Billy Connolly’s High Horse Scotland 2014 tour starts in September.