Comic recovering in hospital

Jim Bowen has been taken to hospital after suffering a mild stroke.

The 73-year-old former Bullseye presenter reportedly fell in on Friday night and is now undergoing physiotherapy at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary in Lancashire.

Bowen's wife, Phyllis, told the Manchester Evening News: ‘He has had physiotherapy and we have high hopes for him.

‘I can't say how long it will take, as these things do take time ... He is doing OK and they are looking after him well."

Bowen began his career as a stand-up comedian in the Sixties and got his big break on the TV show The Comedians. He has recently become a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe.

In 2002, he resigned from BBC local radio s after making an on-air remark that was taken to be racist. However, he inisted the term 'nig-nog' was meant in the sense of an idiot, rather than anything racial. Nontheless, he left the job, saying: 'No racial connotation was ever intended and, having said all that, I should have been sharp enough to correct the error.'

Published: 22 Feb 2011