The 82-year-old journalist and television star revealed how he first encountered the 74-year-old comedian and actor and told of his surprise that he was still working amid his “sad” illness.
Appearing on Parkinson 15 times, Connolly remained close pals with the broadcaster and often invited him to Scotland to hand out with movie star Robin Williams.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Parkinson said: “He’s a genuinely funny man. People do funny things and people say funny things and people pull funny faces, but Billy was a genuine funny man.
“To see him now is rather sad because he is unwell. He’s still working. I don’t know how.”
Comparing the comedian to a jazz musician, Parkinson added that his improvisation skills were imitable.
He continued: “He’s the lord of a manor so they have games every year and he used to invite me and all his mates up. The highlight for me is that he’d go and get Robin Williams up there over from America.
“At night we’d have dinner and then go and sit down by the lake. Then it was a question of falling between Williams and Billy and they would start off. I tell you, we’d crawl away sick with laughter. It was absolutely brilliant. Totally improvised. Two very funny men. A lot of memories.”
When Connolly’s father died in 1989, the comedian told his wife about his abusive upbringing and was persuaded to talk to a therapist.
Explaining how his comedy had sprung from a tragic upbringing, Parkinson added: “I watched him in Sydney, about 10 years ago now, we were sitting there in the front row. I came especially.
“He was doing his stand up and he turned away towards me and then to the back of the set, and as he turned I saw that he was crying. Not crying… but there were tears in his eyes. I thought that was very strange as he’d just told a joke about his dad.
“It wasn’t until later on when we were having dinner that I asked him if he was crying on stage tonight. He said ‘Yeah, I was,’ so I asked why. He said ‘One day I’ll tell you’. What he didn’t tell me, he told his wife of course. What it was about was childhood abuse. Horrid isn’t it.”
Parkinson first discovered Connolly after an eventful taxi ride with a badgering driver while touring Scotland.
He said: “I’d written a book. My first book about George Best. The first biography of George Best… and there were 48 to follow. I didn’t write those. We were in Glasgow finishing off a tour to promote the book and I got a cab to the airport. The chatty driver said ‘You like a funny man? Do you know The Big Yin?’ I said ‘Who? No. Airport quickly’.
“So he stopped outside the theatre and it said ‘Billy Connolly – The Great Northern Welly Boot Show – The Big Yin’. He said ‘That’s him’ and I said ‘Fine… airport!’ He then ran into a shop and brought out a CD with Billy on the front with big welly boots on. Anyway, I got home and I forgot about this.
“My son Andrew said ‘Are you going to listen to the Billy Connolly record?’. I said ‘No, not at all. I don’t intend to,’ and he said ‘You should! This guy is hilarious’. So I listened to it and he was right, so I called him and gave him his first break. From that point on he did 15 Parkinson shows.”
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