• August 27, 2001
• Vol. 56
• No. 9

A Matter of Heart

Drew Carey: Unplugged? Felled by a Blocked Artery, the Comic Quickly Bounces Back

When Drew Carey attended a press tour last month, hardly anyone recognized him. Gone were the thick-rimmed glasses and a noticeable amount of weight. "He had lost about 30 lbs. and was jogging and really working on his health," says Bruce Helford, the co-creator of ABC's The Drew Carey Show and the comedian's close friend. "But you never really know what's going on inside your body."

That, alas, proved only too true. On Aug. 9, Carey, 43, experienced severe chest pains while shooting his show's season-premiere episode and was rushed to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. Despite the situation, he maintained comedic form. As a doctor prepared to inject his stomach with blood thinner, Carey cracked, "Oh, I can take that. Gimme a bigger needle."

A longtime connoisseur of pizzas and cheeseburgers, Carey had suffered heart trauma (not quite a heart attack, according to Helford) brought on by a coronary artery that was 95 percent blocked. The next morning, as Carey watched on a monitor, cardiologists unblocked the artery, then inserted a metal mesh stent to prop it open—the same angioplasty procedure Vice President Dick Cheney underwent in November. "Success rates are around 90 to 95 percent," says Dr. Jesse Currier, who did not treat Carey, but is associate director of UCLA's Adult Cardiac Catheterization Lab.

Carey, who has a family history of heart disease, visited the set on Aug. 13 to reassure colleagues and wave before-and-after photos of his artery. How will his health scare affect the show? Says Helford: "I don't think there'll be as much pork sausage on the set from now on."