Jimmy Osmond was treated for a stroke following his performance as Captain Hook in the Peter Pan pantomime at the Birmingham Hippodrome.
He “pushed through” the panto last week (December 27) before coming off stage. He was quickly taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a stroke.
“On the evening of Thursday 27 December, after pushing through the evening’s performance of Peter Pan at Birmingham Hippodrome, Jimmy Osmond was driven straight to hospital and diagnosed with a stroke,” his spokesperson told the BBC.
“He is grateful for all the well wishes and will be taking time out in the new year.”
Speaking of his role in the panto last month, Osmond told the Shropshire star: “You always want to be in the best in a particular category. And as far as pantomimes, Birmingham Hippodrome just does such a huge job. So this has always been a place that I’d hoped I’d be asked to play and now here I am. I’m a small part of being a big show.”
“I love it,” he said about playing the show’s villain. “Those good guys were fun but not nearly as much fun as being the baddie. This is my second time as Hook. I think maybe all those years of pent up frustration just comes out when I play the baddie.
“For me, I kind of took to panto well,” he continued. “I’m from this vaudevillian background. I grew up doing TV variety shows. I started as a three-year-old kid on the Andy Williams TV show and worked with Bob Hope and Andy Williams and all of those great people.
“And then when I came over here as a kid, it made me feel British because I would watch pantomimes. I never thought I’d be so lucky as to be in them. I think my background helps me because in variety TV you have to learn how to do the jokes and communicate with an audience. I was always a performer.”