Billy Connolly has been given the all-clear from prostate cancer. The actor and comedian, affectionately known as The Big Yin, was in Glasgow on Tuesday and broke the news during a TV interview.
He was talking about Celtic's match against Barcelona with Sky Sports News when he told the broadcaster: "I got the clearance on Wednesday on my cancer so I'm okay.' Last month his spokeswoman said he was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and had minor surgery in the US.
She also said Connolly "has been assessed as having the initial symptoms of Parkinson's disease, for which he is receiving the appropriate treatment" but will continue to perform on stage and screen. The 70-year-old started his showbusiness career as a folk singer, developing the stand-up act that made him famous and led to a career in television and film.
He went on to perform sell-out stand-up shows around the world, present a series of documentaries and become an in-demand character actor, starring alongside Judi Dench in Mrs Brown and playing a dwarf warrior in the Hobbit movie. He is married to New Zealand-born actress and psychologist Pamela Stephenson, whose biography of her husband, simply called Billy, was a huge best-seller.