Spielberg recovering at home after kidney-removal surgery

February 7, 2000
Web posted at: 9:56 p.m. EST (0256 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

LOS ANGELES -- Two-time Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg is recuperating at home and is expected to make a "complete recovery" following kidney-removal surgery, his spokesman said Monday.

Spielberg, 52, underwent the surgery after an "irregularity" was found on his kidney, Martin Levy, spokesman for DreamWorks SKG, said.

"During a routine physical examination, Steven Spielberg's doctor discovered an irregularity on his kidney. Subsequently, it was removed at Cedars Sinai Medical Center," Levy said.

"A complete recovery is promised, and no follow-up treatment is necessary. Surgery was performed by a team headed by Stuart Holden," Levy added.

Asked if the irregularity involved cancer, Levy said: "The prognosis is for a complete recovery ... I think that says a lot."

Levy also declined to say when the surgery took place, how long Spielberg was in the hospital, or when he was discharged.

Levy said he believed Spielberg would be making a public appearance Saturday, as scheduled, to receive an award at the NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena. Spielberg also is scheduled to receive a lifetime achievement award March 11 from the Directors Guild of America.

"He's doing fine. I talked to him this morning," Levy said. "He's returning to work now -- he's looking at projects and scripts already."

Spielberg served as a presenter at the Golden Globe Awards on January 23. He has won two Academy Awards for best director -- for "Schindler's List" (1993) and "Saving Private Ryan" (1998).

Other Spielberg-directed hits include "Jaws" (1975), "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977), "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), "The Color Purple" (1985) and "Jurassic Park" (1993).

Spielberg co-founded DreamWorks SKG in 1994 with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. It was the first new movie studio in Hollywood in 22 years.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Internet Movie Database: Steven Spielberg

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