Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has revealed that he is living with a condition that makes his hands shake uncontrollably.
The award-winning screenwriter said that the incurable ‘essential tremor’, often mistaken for Parkinson’s disease, doesn’t hurt but is a ‘nuisance’ and ‘tiresome’.
Fellowes, 70, said that he was initially in denial when he was first diagnosed, explaining: ‘Nobody talks about it, but also nobody’s ever heard of it.
Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes revealed yesterday that he is living with a condition that makes his hands shake uncontrollably
It’s called an essential tremor and as you can see my hands are shaking.’
He told Lorraine Kelly on her ITV breakfast show: ‘It gets better and worse, worse in the morning… actually it’s better when you’ve had a drink which is an interesting detail. It doesn’t kill you. It doesn’t hurt. It’s a nuisance.
‘It’s tiresome. But there are plenty of things that are worse in the world that people have to put up with.’
Fellowes said that he decided to give his much-loved Downton Abbey character Carson the same affliction in the final series of the show in a bid to ‘get it out there’
Fellowes said that he decided to give his much-loved Downton Abbey character Carson the same affliction in the final series of the show in a bid to ‘get it out there’.
He said: ‘That’s why on Downton in the last episode… we gave Carson an essential tremor, so he couldn’t pour the wine.’
Fellowes urged anyone suffering similar symptoms to visit their doctor.
