Local News in Brief : Hope Lange Collapses

Actress Hope Lange collapsed on stage Wednesday night during the first act of “The Best Man” at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

Revived in her dressing room, Lange, 55, was examined by doctors who were in the audience and pronounced in good condition after apparently fainting, but the play started again with understudy Kerry Slattery playing her role opposite Mel Ferrer.

Ahmanson production manager Ralph Beaumont said the actress refused to be hospitalized and went home.

A native of Connecticut, Lange made her first Broadway appearance at age 12 and impressed critics with her 1956 screen debut as Emma in “Bus Stop,” but she was best known in later years for her co-title role in a television series, “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.”