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| Billy Connolly has cancer surgery | Billy Connolly has cancer surgery |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Comedian and actor Billy Connolly has had surgery for prostate cancer and has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. | Comedian and actor Billy Connolly has had surgery for prostate cancer and has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. |
| "The operation was a total success, and Billy is fully recovered," his spokeswoman said. | "The operation was a total success, and Billy is fully recovered," his spokeswoman said. |
| The 70-year-old Scot began working as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards but quit in the late 1960s to become a folk singer before turning to stand-up. | |
| He has also starred in films including the Oscar-nominated Mrs Brown. | He has also starred in films including the Oscar-nominated Mrs Brown. |
| "Billy Connolly recently underwent minor surgery in America after being diagnosed with the very early stages of prostate cancer," his spokeswoman said. | "Billy Connolly recently underwent minor surgery in America after being diagnosed with the very early stages of prostate cancer," his spokeswoman said. |
| "In addition, Billy has been assessed as having the initial symptoms of Parkinson's disease, for which he is receiving the appropriate treatment." | "In addition, Billy has been assessed as having the initial symptoms of Parkinson's disease, for which he is receiving the appropriate treatment." |
| She added the star would continue to work as normal. | |
| "Billy has been assured by experts that the findings will in no way inhibit or affect his ability to work, and he will start filming a TV series in the near future, as well as undertaking an extensive theatrical tour of New Zealand in the new year," she said. | "Billy has been assured by experts that the findings will in no way inhibit or affect his ability to work, and he will start filming a TV series in the near future, as well as undertaking an extensive theatrical tour of New Zealand in the new year," she said. |
| Other recent films in which Connolly has starred include the Oscar-winning animated film Brave where he voiced the lead male character and Quartet, which saw him play a womanising former opera star. | |
| In an interview with the BBC earlier this year, he said he wanted to stay young at heart: "Stay young. Me? I'm 37! I haven't changed my attitude to things since I was 37." | In an interview with the BBC earlier this year, he said he wanted to stay young at heart: "Stay young. Me? I'm 37! I haven't changed my attitude to things since I was 37." |
| He also played a dwarf warrior in the second part of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit franchise and finished filming the third instalment at the end of last year. | |
| In December 2012, the star was given the Bafta Scotland award for outstanding contribution. | |
| Connolly began his stand-up career touring clubs known as the bearded Big Yin. | |
| His Great Northern Welly Boot Show eventually reached the London Palladium. | |
| An appearance on Parkinson in the 1970s helped introduce him to a wider audience, and he later said his appearance on the show changed his life. By 2007 he had appeared on the chat show 12 or 13 times. | |
| He completed his first world tour in 1987, including six nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London. | |
| In June 1992, Connolly performed his 25th anniversary concert in Glasgow. It was the subject of an episode of The South Bank Show later that year. | |
| In early January 1994, Connolly began a 40-date "world tour of Scotland" which was broadcast by the BBC, and two years later he did a similar tour in Australia which was also broadcast. | |
| His acting career began to take off in the 1990s as he played a Glaswegian hard man in Down Among the Big Boys and then an 18th Century Scottish inventor of the trap-door gallows in Deacon Brodie, both for the BBC. | |
| Connolly has been married twice, and has five children. His second wife is writer, actress, broadcaster and psychotherapist Pamela Stevenson. |