Barry Otto’s daughter Gracie has shared a heartbreaking health update about the Strictly Ballroom star following his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Otto, 83, was diagnosed with the degenerative condition six years ago, a brain disorder which causes the brain to shrink and brain cells to eventually die. Gracie, 37, documented his life ever since, releasing the footage in the documentary Otto by Otto.
The filmmaker said she treasures the moments she still gets to share with her father, who is best known for his roles in Australia and The Punisher. ‘I was asking him a lot of things – and then it got to be a huge rush to ask him while he was still alive. And he is still alive, but barely,’ she admitted.
She continued to Stellar Magazine : ‘He has moments of absolute clarity that happen very rarely and are usually about someone or something from the past...
. it’s like he’s trying to remember who he is, and that’s quite beautiful in a way.’ Gracie said she does not think her father will watch Otto by Otto, which premiered at this year’s Sydney Film Festival.
‘Dad doesn’t really watch things anymore, that’s the sad part,’ she added. ‘I’ll show him some things. When I put Strictly Ballroom on, I kept pointing at him onscreen; I don’t think (he understood) until the end, and I turned around to see him clapping when his character was on, and he had tears in his eyes when they played Love Is In The Air as the curtain came down.
’ The Australian actor has had.
