Former The New Avengers star Gareth Hunt is said to be “fairly comfortable” in hospital after collapsing from a suspected heart attack while appearing on stage Wednesday night.
Witnesses say about 30 minutes into the play Absurd Person Singular at the Pier Theatre in Bournemouth, the 59-year-old actor suddenly cried out, “Oh, please, God”, slumped across a table and then fell to the floor. Audience members didn’t realise it wasn’t part of the script and began to applaud until co-star Robert Beck rushed on stage and shouted: “Is there a doctor in the house? I’m being serious.”
No doctors were on hand, but about 20 nurses and people qualified to practise first aid responded immediately. An ambulance was called, and “there were three or four paramedics working on him,” says audience member Jeremy Miles. “It looked very serious.”
The actor, who had a heart attack and needed a bypass opearation two years ago, is expected to remain in hospital for about a week. “Gareth is very comfortable,” says his agent Fiona McLaughlin. “I haven’t been able to speak to him myself yet, but I have been told that he is fine, stable and conscious.”
Gareth, also famed for Nescafé adverts in the Eighties, was most recently seen in the ITV soap Night And Day, and made a cameo appearance on EastEnders.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
