“Laverne & Shirley” star Michael McKean is off Broadway after getting mowed down by a car on the Upper West Side — but he’s keeping a sense of humor about it.
“We always tell each other to break a leg in this business. I never thought it would happen to me this way!” the actor quipped to producer Jeffrey Richards, who is using an understudy for McKean in Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man.”
McKean, 64, was slammed by a car at about 3 p.m. Tuesday at the corner of West 86th Street and Broadway.
“I heard screeching but it was too late” to help him, said witness Ariel Luna. “I jumped back and it hit him.”
She said he was groaning in pain.
McKean was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was in stable condition with a broken leg and other injuries. He underwent surgery yesterday.
Last night, he posted on Twitter, “Lucky man: best wife, great kids, awesome docs and nurses, priceless friends; a little overwhelmed by the sweet tweets.”
McKean’s wife, actress Annette O’Toole, flew in from LA and was with him yesterday.
As she traveled to New York, she tweeted, “Thank you dear people for your love and support. @MJMcKean and I so appreciative. He is getting great care. Spirits are good.”
Because of the injury, McKean was forced to miss a performance for the first time in his career.
“[I] have worked with Michael on three previous productions, ‘The Homecoming,’ ‘The Pajama Game’ and ‘Superior Donuts,’ and he has never missed a performance, and I understand from his team that he has never missed a performance in his career,” Richards said, according to Broadway World.
“This is the kind of first we are reluctant to announce.”
McKean will be replaced by James Lecesne in the role of Dick Jensen, Richards said.
Lecesne has appeared in Off-Broadway shows, but “The Best Man” is his first on Broadway.
The Tony-nominated show also stars stage legends James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury.
It’s not known if or when the show will see the return of McKean, who played Lenny on “Laverne & Shirley” and is also known for his role as David St. Hubbins in the classic mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap.”
Richards said he hopes to see McKean back on Broadway soon.
Additional reporting by Antonio Antenucci