The stand-up comic famous for smashing watermelons is hospitalized at an undisclosed Dallas area hospital after suffering a 'mild to serious' heart attack just before going onstage at a Texas club.
- Mar 16, 2012
AceShowbiz - Gallagher, the stand-up comedian best known for smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer, is in stable condition after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday, March 14 evening. His promotional manager, Christine Scherrer, said on Thursday that the 65-year-old is currently under sedation, but is "slowly recovering".
The comic, whose real name is Leo Anthony Gallagher Jr., collapsed backstage at Coach Joe's Hat Tricks in Lewisville, Texas just before he went on the stage to perform. The club's manager Marc Cummins told The Associated Press that the club's promotions director performed CPR on him before paramedics arrived.
Gallagher's manager told TMZ that he had suffered a "mild to serious" heart attack, and Scherrer further told CNN he is being treated at an undisclosed Dallas-area hospital. "We will not know the outcome until sometime tomorrow," she added, before further noting, "His family is with him and Hat Tricks has been unbelievable with the help and support with everything."
This is not the first time Gallagher suffered a heart attack. The comedian, who ran for governor of California in the 2003 recall election, collapsed on stage during a performance in Minnesota in March 2011 because of a minor attack. Of it, Scherrer said, "That was little bit more mild than this one."
