27 February 2024 , 16:53
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Sir Billy Connolly has shared the "beautiful" spot where he wants to be buried in his native Scotland.
The 81-year-old comedy legend hails from Glasgow but now lives with 74-year-old wife Pamela Stephenson in Florida, USA. In recent years, Sir Billy has been reflecting on his life, achievements, and the effects of old age and his battle with Parkinson’s disease.
While the star has lived in the USA since the 1980s, first moving to California and then New York before settling in Florida, he has hinted he hopes to move back to Scotland and be buried there. Back in 2018, he opened up about his plans to return to his homeland while filming a documentary series titled Billy Connolly's Ultimate World Tour.
During his time recording the ITV show, he explained that he plans to be buried near the banks of Loch Lomond, outside of Glasgow. He said: "I remember standing by the shores of Loch Lomond, Inversnaid, and the sky was beautiful. I remember that line, I forget whose line it is: 'Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, who never to himself hath said, this is my own, my native land.'
The star plans to one day be buried at Loch Lomond in Scotland (Getty Images)“I don't like to look like a bagpiper with heather in my ears but sometimes your love for the place just has to find a stage. I'd like to die there. It's a weird subject to bring up, but I wouldn't like to stay away forever. I'd like to be planted there eventually - in Loch Lomond."
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While promoting the documentary, Sir Billy said: "It was exactly 25 years ago [1993] that I found myself taking the cameras out of the theatres and into the world. It's a journey that's taken me to far flung places and offered up once-in-a-lifetime experiences and I'm still discovering thrilling new stuff around every corner now I've pitched up in Florida."
The star was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease back in 2013 and he has been open about the way the disease has affected him. Opening up to GB News, he said previously: "It's very difficult to see the progression exactly, because a lot of things come and go. Recently I've noticed a deterioration in my balance. That was never such a problem before, but in the last year that has come and it has stayed. For some reason, I thought it would go away, because a lot of symptoms have come and gone away... just to defy the symptom spotters. The shaking has reappeared."
Since moving to Florida and stepping away from stand up, the comedian has also taken to creating artworks - and has joked that Parkinson's has aided his masterpieces. He told the Guardian: "What I find is that sometimes I get little gifts. When I'm fed up with shaking, I try drawing while shaking and the wriggly lines make it turn out nice."
And in a further interview, he explained how he found ageing frustrating. He said: "It's a cunning ploy that awaits you. The surprise is f****** nerve-wracking. Suddenly you can't walk any more. Can't run. Can't jump. It's a weird and nasty surprise... Growing old is a secret everybody keeps. It isn't a jolly thing. But I often think of old men that I knew when I was a boy. They were younger than I am now and I thought they were very old. And I'm not like them and I don't behave like them. Sometimes I'd like to run. I'd like to dance. But apart from that, everything seems to fit me lovely. People seem to drive me places. And that's great."