Parkinson: 'Brand is lucky to be famous'

Sir Michael Parkinson has blasted Russell Brand, claiming that he is "lucky" to be so famous.

The veteran broadcaster compared Brand's career in Hollywood to that of Rin Tin Tin - the German Shepherd dog who had a string of hit films in the '20s and '30s - and added that he did not "see the point" of Brand.

Parkinson told BBC Radio 5 Live: "He doesn't make me laugh. I don't think his style of talking is particularly beautiful, funny or creative, not at all. I don't see the point of him, frankly.

"I would say he has been a very lucky man. I mean, Rin Tin Tin had a very big career in Hollywood and he was a dog. You don't have to be particularly talented to have a career in Hollywood."

On Brand's memoirs My Booky Wook, Parkinson commented: "Would you pick up a book called a Booky Wook? Come on! Booky Wook - what kind of stuff is that?"

The 75-year-old also insisted that he is not impressed by the Get Him To The Greek actor's so-called 'Dickensian way of speaking'.

"'Dickensian way of speaking' - is that what it is?" he said. "Dickens would be spinning in his grave now if you actually compared them. Please, have a care."

However, Parkinson reserved his strongest criticism for Brand's part in the infamous Manuelgate scandal - which he has previously branded "indefensible".

"There was nothing funny about it," Parkinson insisted. "I don't want to make Mr Brand any more famous than he already is but what he said on radio was undeniably wrong. What he did defines him as being somebody who actually is unthinking and uncaring about people's feelings.

"If your grandad had been at home and some drunken guy you have never heard of calls him and starts making these obscene, stupid suggestions, would you think that was funny? Would you be angry and cross? Or would you say, 'He's alright because fundamentally he's a really good bloke and a funny lad?'

"He's a lucky man to have survived it. There was a time when he wouldn't have done."

Parkinson's comments follow earlier remarks in which he criticised the "foolish ambition" of celebrities who become talkshow hosts without any understanding of the role.

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