COMEDIAN Billy Connolly, who is fighting Parkinson’s disease, has said laughter can change the world.

The Glasgow-born star said he believed Hitler could have been vanquished had crowds watching him laughed at his behaviour.

He said: “When I see Hitler at Nuremberg, raving and ranting and stamping his feet, I often think: if only someone had laughed. It could have changed the world forever.”

He says a little bit of humour does the world a lot of good as he looks back over his life in a documentary.

A host of famous fans, including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Elton John and Sir Andy Murray, have lined up to join the Big Yin in a TV special celebrating his 50 years in show business.

Speaking about the power of laughter in the programme, he said: “It’s much more important than it’s given credit for.

A host of big names revealed what the Scots legend means to them in the programme, which will be screened tomorrow. Tennis ace Sir Andy paid a warm tribute to one of his heroes. He said: “I used to listen to Billy’s CDs when I was a kid, normally when I was travelling to tennis tournaments up and down the country with my brother and my mum.”

The Wimbledon champion sang part of The Welly Song before adding: “Thanks for the laughs.”

Meanwhile, Dame Judi revealed her friend kept the cast of Mrs Brown up all night telling jokes. She recalled: “I remember glancing at my watch and thinking ‘I’ve got a call at five in the morning – can I really do this with eight hours, can I do it with six hours, can I really do it with four hours’ sleep?’”

The star’s wife, Pamela Stephenson, also shed light on her life with her “crazy, hilarious beast”.

She said: “Having been together with Billy for about 36 years or something he continues to surprise me.

“He continues to tell me things I never knew about him. It’s extraordinary what he’s done.

“To be able to laugh at the human condition, laugh at his own failings, his own shortcomings.

“To be able to connect with people about how frail and how silly we all are and the mistakes we make.”

She also joked he hasn’t lost his “rock’n’roll” touring mentality and still doesn’t let her go with him as “wives don’t go on tour”.