Jimmy Osmond is recovering from a major medical scare. Late last week, the youngest member of the famous Osmond singing family reportedly suffered a stroke while playing Captain Hook in a performance of Peter Pan at a theater in Birmingham, England, BBC News reports. Osmond, 55, reportedly “pushed through” the live pantomime performance at Birmingham Hippodrome before being driven to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a stroke. After Osmond finished the play at the U.K. theater he even signed autographs for fans before going to the hospital, according to Fox News.
Jimmy Osmond will not be returning to work in the play, which ends its run on January 27, and his understudy will be taking over the role for the remaining shows. A spokesperson for Osmond issued a statement that said the star “is grateful for all the well wishes and will be taking time out in the new year.”
Some fans, apparently unaware of Jimmy Osmond’s medical condition, expressed disappointment when he was not part of the Peter Pan show as of last week. A message posted by the Hippodrome Twitter page on Sunday read: “Jimmy Osmond will not be appearing in today’s performances due to illness. Sometimes with live performance, unavoidable changes to the advertised casting may occur due to circumstances beyond our control. We apologize for any disappointment.”
Jimmy Osmond’s older sister, Marie Osmond, also posted to Twitter to ask fans to pray for her little brother. Jimmy’s famous brother Donny Osmond has not yet publicly commented on his younger sibling’s health scare.
Prayers for my brother Jimmy ???????? https://t.co/XfjGHDMEf7
— Marie Osmond (@marieosmond) December 31, 2018
Sadly, this is not Jimmy Osmond’s first experience with such a health scare. The former child star previously suffered a stroke in 2004, explaining to Parade that he suffered ” a transient ischemic attack” that occurred due to a hole in his heart which he had since birth.
“A blood clot ‘popped’ in my head — not due to high blood pressure or high cholesterol,” Osmond told the magazine. “I went on stage and felt that ‘pop’ and then lost my vision, although I could see a little ‘pin’ spot. I thought it was a migraine and amazingly, I drove home. After a diagnosis by an echocardiogram, I had the defect surgically repaired.”
Osmond revealed that he felt the after-effects of the stroke for a decade, and sometimes gets a numb feeling.
Jimmy Osmond, who was cast in the Captain Hook role in June, previously took to Twitter to tell fans about his dream role.
“Excited to be in a panto again and returning to this role of Captain Hook I love letting my inner baddie out, especially in Birmingham at the [Hippodrome] where I have so many memories!” the youngest Osmond brother wrote earlier this year.