Columnist Earl Wilson in Coma After a Stroke

Retired Broadway gossip columnist Earl Wilson suffered a stroke last month and is in a coma, a hospital representative said Sunday.

Wilson, 79, also suffers from Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disorder of the nervous system. He was in critical condition in St. Joseph’s Hospital, nursing supervisor Hazel Plummer said. Wilson, who retired from a 40-year career in 1983, after writing 11,424 “Last Night With Earl Wilson” columns, was hospitalized Dec. 14 after he contracted pneumonia and suffered the stroke, Plummer said.