Dangerfield emerging from coma

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield slipped into a coma while recovering from heart surgery in recent weeks but “is starting to show signs of awareness,” his wife, Joan, said Monday.

The 82-year-old performer, who was reported by his spokesman to have been hooked to a respirator in intensive care since undergoing a heart valve replacement Aug. 25, was able to breathe on his own for the past 24 hours, she said.

Dangerfield fell into a “light coma” a couple of weeks ago but “after recent visits from his family and close friends, Rodney is starting to show signs of awareness, and we are all hopeful that will regain full consciousness soon,” she said in a statement issued through his publicist, Kevin Sasaki.