Jerry Lewis on the mend

Comic recovering after collapse

Jerry Lewis is resting comfortably at his London home after collapsing moments before he was due to go onstage on Sunday.

The 76-year-old comedy legend was treated by an ambulance crew after he was taken ill in the wings of the London Palladium.

Contrary to what the audience of the High On Laughter benefit was told, Lewis did not need hospital treatment.

In a statement, producer Steven Alan Green, who also compered the show, said:"We are grateful it was not necessary for him to go to hospital. We wish him a speedy recovery."

Although it is not known why he collapsed, Lewis has been suffering from the lung condition pulmonary fibrosis. At his annual US telethon to raise funds for muscular dystrophy last week, he appeared swollen from the effects of steroids to combat the condition.

In the past decade, he has also been diagnosed with prostate cancer, diabetes and spiral meningitis - and in 1982 he was pronounced clinically dead following a heart attack.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Lewis's wife SanDee said her husband's condition had not taken a turn for the worse.

Green said after last night's gig: "I saw him collapse backstage out of the corner of my eye.

"He was watching screen clips of an earlier shows from behind the stage when he just sat back. I hope it's nothing too serious."

The London Ambulance Service said an ambulance and rapid response car was dispatched to the theatre at 11.20pm last night and treated Lewis, who declined hospital treatment.

It would have been a rare London appearance for Lewis, who first trod the Palladium boards 50 years ago with Dean Martin. His last British appearance was in 1997.

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