Lucille Ball, the zany redheaded queen of comedy, was in guarded condition Wednesday after seven hours of emergency high-risk cardiac surgery during which she received heart tissue donated from a 27-year-old man.
The 77-year-old comedian suffered a heart attack at her Beverly Hills home Tuesday, and arrived at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with her husband, Gary Morton."She came out of the surgery OK," said hospital spokesman Ron Wise.
Ball suffered a tear in her aorta, the main artery in the body, said her surgeon, Dr. Robert Kass.
During the operation, her heart was stopped for two hours, said Kass. With the heart stopped, blood was pumped through her body by a machine as Kass replaced part of her aorta and aortic valve. No other details were released.
Ball was listed as guarded after the "high-risk procedure with a fairly substantial mortality rate," the surgeon said. "The fact that she came through this leaves me optimistic," Kass said late Tuesday. "The major risk is in the operating room, at least initially."
Ball probably will be in intensive care for several days and remain hospitalized for weeks, Wise said.
As word of Ball's heart attack spread, the hospital's switchboards were jammed with calls from well-wishers and news organizations around the world. Wise said that flowers also were arriving.
Ball, who suffered a mild heart attack May 11, 1988, was conscious when she arrived at the hospital. She complained of chest pains and shortness of breath.
"I told her the nature of the condition she had, that it was life-threatening and that we had to operate immediately," Kass said.
Her last public appearance was introducing a production number with Bob Hope at the March 29 Oscar presentations. Wearing a slit skirt, she appeared to be in good health and giggled throughout a brief routine.
"Lucille Ball is one of the most wonderful women I have ever known," Hope said Tuesday night.
"I'm shocked, especially since we worked together so recently at the Academy Awards and she was so full of energy. There's only one Lucy. You don't meet many people like her. Like the rest of the world, Dolores and I are praying everything will be all right," he said.
Ball and her late former husband, Desi Arnaz, starred in "I Love Lucy," one of the most popular TV shows of all time, from 1951 to 1957. The show is still seen around the world in syndicated reruns.
In 1950, Ball and Arnaz started their own production company, Desilu, on a shoestring budget of $5,000. The Arnazes were divorced in 1960, and two years later Arnaz sold his share of the studio to Ball for $3 million. In 1967, she sold the company for $18 million.
The Arnazes had two children, Lucie and Desi Jr.
Ball married nightclub comedian Morton in 1961. He became her executive producer.
In 1962, she starred in "The Lucy Show," which became "Here's Lucy" in 1968 and went off the air in 1974.
Nine years later, she took on one of the most challenging roles of her career: a shopping bag lady in the television movie "Stone Pillow." She was hospitalized for dehydration when it was over, but it was a critical and ratings success.
Ball had less luck with her 1986 TV series, "Life with Lucy," in which she again teamed with longtime sidekick Gale Gordon. It was pulled because of low ratings.
Arnaz died that year.
Ball started her entertainment career in films, arriving in Hollywood in 1933 and appearing with the Marx Brothers in "Room Service," with Fred Astaire in "Follow the Fleet" and with Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers in "Stage Door." She appeared in dozens of other films.
Born a brunette in Celoron, N.Y., she was a blonde when she hit the movies and a redhead by 1940.