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Dodd 'fine' after hernia operation

Pa
Wednesday 02 January 2008 01:00 GMT
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Comedian Ken Dodd will be back on stage next month after undergoing hernia surgery, his agent said yesterday.

Robert Holmes said the operation at the Royal Liverpool Hospital had gone well and there had been no complications.

"I've just spoken to Ken and he's fine," said Mr Holmes.

"He's had to postpone a couple of concerts but he'll be back on stage next month," he added.

Dodd, 80, went into hospital yesterday morning, just hours after a sell-out performance at Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall.

The star, who was awarded the OBE in 1982, is well-known for his marathon stand-up shows which often over-run into the early hours.

Sunday's performance ran from 7.30pm until well after midnight, said journalist and friend Peter Grant.

Mr Grant, who was in the Philharmonic audience, told the Liverpool Daily Post: "He was brilliant, absolutely the best form I've seen him in for a couple of years, although he was coughing a little bit.

"He did more stand-up in that show than ever and must have been on stage for at least three hours."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Liverpool said: "I've just spoken to him and he told me to say he expects to be home in a couple of days."

Two postponed shows were due to take place this week in St Helens and Birkenhead.

They will be rescheduled and people who cannot make it on the new dates will have their money refunded.

Mr Holmes said the performer had no other shows schedule for January.

Dodd launched his showbiz career in 1954 at the Nottingham Playhouse and his 1965 release Tears sold more than two million copies, remaining one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all time.

In 1989 Dodd, who still lives in his childhood home in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, was acquitted of tax evasion by a jury at Liverpool crown court.

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