Sir Billy Connolly, the 82-year-old comedy legend, made a rare public appearance this weekend at the Key West Film Festival in Florida, where he was honoured with an award for artistic excellence. The comedian, who rarely appears in public since his diagnosis with Parkinson's disease, left his Florida home to attend the event.
Dressed in blue-fitted trousers and a black blazer, Connolly supported himself with a walking stick as he accepted the award from his long-time friends Steve Buscemi and Aidan Quinn. He told the crowd, 'I walk with a stick because I suffer from a horrible illness. It’s a joy to live among you and it’s a joy to be among you tonight.'
Buscemi, who became friends with Connolly on the set of the 1998 film The Impostors, recalled how Connolly once invited him to his castle in Scotland. 'One day on set Billy offhandedly mentioned, “You know if you’re ever in Scotland, Pamela and I have a castle, you should drop by.” We always had the best time,' Buscemi said.
Aidan Quinn also spoke, sharing that his late brother Paul found joy watching Connolly's videos during his battle with cancer. Quinn said he would be 'forever grateful' for the comfort Connolly provided.
Connolly, who owned a castle in Aberdeenshire before selling it in 2014, now lives in Florida on doctors' advice that a warmer climate could help manage his Parkinson's. The condition is a progressive and incurable neurological disorder that affects the nervous system.
