Alan Alda Has Emergency Surgery

American actor Alan Alda was recovering well Monday after an emergency surgery for an intestinal obstruction, a hospital official reported.

Alda, who starred in the 1970s and early 80s CBS-TV series "M*A*S*H," was operated on Sunday at the Regional Hospital in La Serena, 300 miles north of the capital of Santiago, according to a hospital staffer who asked that she not be identified.

She refused to give other details "at the request of the patient."

Earlier, another hospital employee, who identified herself only as Lillian, said Alda had undergone an appendectomy.

The actor, who was working on a TV documentary in Chile at the time, was rushed to the hospital, where doctors quickly decided to operate, she said.

Alda probably would be released Tuesday, a hospital official said.

Alda is the only person to ever win Emmy awards for acting, directing, and writing, all were for "M*A*S*H." He has also won Directors Guild and Golden Globe awards for the show, and was nominated for a Golden Globe award for his acting and screenplay of the movie "Four Seasons" in 1981. He also won a New York Film Critics Award as a lead actor in Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors" in 1989.

He has also been active on stage in recent years.