'Hacks' star Jean Smart recovers from heart procedure: 'Please listen to your body'
Award-winning actress Jean Smart revealed Thursday that she's recovering from a heart procedure.
"February is American Heart Month — a time when the nation spotlights heart health, so it feels important to share with all of you that I am recovering from a recent, successful heart procedure," the 71-year-old wrote on social media Thursday. "I am fortunate to have excellent professional care and support from family and friends while I continue to recuperate. Please listen to your body and talk to your doctor — I'm very glad I did!"
Smart did not disclose details of her procedure.
On the same day, Hacks' production company, Universal Television, and HBO Max issued a statement: "We are so happy that our beloved Jean Smart's heart procedure was successful and she's on the mend. HBO Max and UTV send their well wishes."
The acclaimed show is currently on a scheduled hiatus. However, production on next season began last month, and that's been paused for some departments. According to Deadline, production is scheduled to resume "on or around March 13."
Smart is a beloved TV veteran who's won five Emmys for her work — two for guest roles on Frasier, one for her work on Samantha Who? and two for playing her current character, veteran comic Deborah Vance. (Surprisingly, she never won one for her funny and sweet portrayal of Charlene on Designing Women!) She's also appeared on Dirty John; Arrested Development; Fargo; 24; Watchmen; Mare of Easttown; and many more series over the decades. Movies on her resume include last year's Babylon, Sweet Home Alabama in 2003 and, in 2009, Youth in Revolt.
Smart has faced challenges while filming Hacks before. She revealed in June 2021 that her husband of nearly 34 years, actor Richard Gilliland, died suddenly of a heart condition at age 71.
"I feel like I just should say something about my husband, because he passed away very unexpectedly," Smart told the New Yorker. "I still had a week of Hacks left to do. It was hard. I had to do a funeral scene."
Smart said she was "a wreck" while filming the scene, which was part of the first season finale, but "it actually turned out to be very funny."
The actress had met Gilliland on Designing Women, when he played J.D., the boyfriend of Annie Potts's character, Mary Jo.