Comic veteran prepares for heart surgery

Rodney Dangerfield has undergone brain surgery ahead of a planned heart operation.

The 81-year-old comic veteran had the eight-hour operation at UCLA medical centre in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The procedure, known as an extracranial-intracranial brain bypass, involves inserting a temporary artery in the brain to improve his body's blood flow.

Dangerfield has appeared frail recently, since a heart attack in November 2001.

This hospital stay is expected to last ten days, and the cardiac surgery will take place about three weeks after that.

His publicist said: "He's taking care of a lot of things that need to be straightened out."

And Dangerfield released a statement riddled with jokes.

"After this repair work, I'll be as good as new, but right now I know I'm in rough shape," he wrote. "I joined a weightlifting class ... they started me with helium balloons."

Published: 8 Apr 2003