Carson

March 25, 1999
Web posted at: 1:05 p.m. EST (1805 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Former "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson is recovering from quadruple heart bypass surgery and "doing just fine," a spokeswoman from his Carson Productions said Wednesday.

The hospital which treated Carson confirmed the spokeswoman's statement and added details. Carson underwent surgery last Friday to treat coronary artery disease, according to Lindi Funston, a spokeswoman for St. John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica, California where the surgery was performed.

"The operation went very well and his heart is functioning normally," Funston said.

Hospital officials said the 73-year-old Carson is expected to fully recover and should be released in a few days.

According to Funston, Carson was taken from his Malibu home to the hospital last Friday at 3:30 in the morning. A team of cardiac surgeons performed the operations just a few hours later.

Carson retired from the late-night talk show in May 1992 after hosting for over 30 years. Jay Leno took over for Carson.

An estimated 12 million people watched Carson each night on the "Tonight Show." The show accounted for 12-17 percent of NBC's yearly revenues during Carson's tenure.

Reuters contributed to this report.