Broken Back Sidelines Office Worker

Jenna Fischer fractures back after falling down stairs; she's expected to make full recovery in time to shoot new season

By Marcus Errico May 16, 2007 11:12 PMTags

Michael Scott and the Dunder-Mifflin drones can rest easy. Not even a broken back can keep Pam Beesly from her Office chores.

NBC star Jenna Fischer is laid up in New York after fracturing her back falling down a flight of stairs, her publicist confirmed Wednesday.

Fischer was in Manhattan making the rounds at NBC's upfront presentation Monday, when she tripped while attempting to negotiate a marble staircase in high heels. She was hospitalized with four broken bones in her lower back.

However, her publicist tells E! Online TV columnist Kristin Veitch that Fischer will make a full recovery in four to six weeks and shouldn't miss any production time. The Emmy-winning show is currently on its summer hiatus.

Fischer's friend and Office mate Angela Kinsey spent Monday and Tuesday at Fischer's bedside before her husband, actor-filmmaker James Gunn, flew in from Los Angeles.

The 33-year-old actress has since been discharged from the hospital and is recovering in her hotel room until she is strong enough to return to the West Coast.

News of the injury was first reported by USA Today's Pop Candy blog. 

Fischer had appeared with The Office cast earlier in the day to tout The Office's 2007-08 pickup—NBC will air 30 episodes next season, including five supersize segments—and was scheduled to appear Late Night with Conan O'Brien before getting waylaid.

The hourlong season finale of The Office airs Thursday at 8 p.m.