“St. Elsewhere ”Star Ed Begley Jr. Recalls Painful Procedure He Underwent After He Was Stabbed ‘In Broad Daylight’ in the 1970s
“St. Elsewhere ”Star Ed Begley Jr. Recalls Painful Procedure He Underwent After He Was Stabbed ‘In Broad Daylight’ in the 1970s

Virginia ChamleeThu, November 5, 2026 at 10:09 PM UTC
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Ed Begley Jr.Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for The Environmental Media Association; Frank Carroll/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank -
Ed Begley Jr. said a 1970s attack happened while he waited for a bus with a friend
The actor said he was carrying money to gamble but the group did not demand it
Begley suffered a collapsed lung but healed from the attack
Ed Begley Jr. is recounting the day he was “stabbed in broad daylight” in the 1970s.
In an interview on Still Here Hollywood With Steve Kmetko, the 76-year-old actor shared details of the stabbing, saying that it was tied to his “gambling addiction,” as he was waiting for a bus to “play cards.”
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“It was broad daylight, two in the afternoon, I was with my friend Paul and waiting for the bus and suddenly a crowd of kids came towards us with purpose and we [got] mowed down,” he remembered. “And they didn’t want money — I had money on me cause I we going to gamble —but it was just, it was unfortunate, kind of an angry mob that attacked us.”
The actor — best known for his breakout role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich in the ‘80s medical drama St. Elsewhere — continued: “I made it through it.”
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“I didn’t perish obviously and didn’t have any permanent damage,” he added. “I had a collapsed lung and they can fix that sort of thing — just more painful to fix back then, they would literally, while you’re awake, carve this hole in your chest and put in a tube.”
The actor and environmentalist recently spoke to PEOPLE about his health, sharing the “jarring” moment in 2016 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“It was devastating,” he said.
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Still, the actor is in good spirits and managing the disease well, adding: “I feel very, very lucky to be in the condition I am, having had Parkinson’s basically since 2004.”
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”