Jerry Lewis Suffers Heart Attack

Wed., Jun. 14, 2006 8:35 AM PDT by Sarah Hall

Jerry Lewis' health is no laughing matter.

Just days after the legendary comedian held a news conference to announce his return to performing after a five-year hiatus, he suffered what was described as a "very minor" heart attack on Sunday.

The 80-year-old entertainer reportedly fell ill on a cross-country flight from New York to San Diego and was rushed to the hospital when the plane touched down.

"It was determined that he suffered a very minor heart attack and that he has a touch of pneumonia," Candi Cazau, Lewis' Las Vegas-based publicist told Reuters. She said that Lewis was being treated at a San Diego hospital and was expected to make a full recovery.

"He's doing extremely well," she added.

A slate of comeback appearances Lewis had scheduled at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from July 13 through July 16 have been canceled, though Lewis still expects to host his annual Labor Day telethon for muscular dystrophy in September.

The performances were to be Lewis' first since his five-year battle with pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung ailment.

In January 2004, the comic was discharged from a three-month stay in rehab, where he weaned himself off of prednisone, a steroid drug he had taken since 2001 to treat the disease. As a result, he shed some 50 pounds he had gained as a side effect of the drug.

Last week, Lewis announced his plans to direct a musical adaptation of his classic film The Nutty Professor, with the hopes of bringing it to Broadway by 2008. Those plans, according to the project's executive producer, Ned McLeod, are still on.

"We support and will be by Jerry on any health issue that comes up for him...It's not going to affect us," McLeod told the Associated Press.

On Friday, Lewis was the guest of honor at a Friar's Club roast and on Saturday, he attended a party with the cast and crew of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, on which he is slated to make two guest appearances this season, according to his rep.

In March, he was in Paris to receive his second legion of honor award, France's highest civilian honor.