NAMES IN THE NEWS : Anthony Quinn Expected to Do Well in Heart Bypass Surgery

Actor Anthony Quinn underwent coronary bypass surgery this morning at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Surgeons began operating on Quinn, 73, about 9 a.m., and the surgery was expected to last three or four hours, publicist Kathy Benvin said.

She said the Oscar-winning actor had complained of “discomfort” for the past few weeks, and his doctors had decided the heart surgery was necessary.

“The doctors are very confident that he will pull through the surgery very well,” she said. “It really is a standard procedure these days and we are very confident. He is in wonderful physical condition.”

The tall, craggy-faced Quinn, who lives in New York, has been working steadily in television and the movies, as well as at his painting and sculpting.

He is starring in NBC-TV’s “The Old Man and the Sea,” which will be broadcast next month, and his latest movie, “Revenge,” in which he co-stars with Kevin Costner, is to be released this month.

In October, Quinn had a major exhibition of his paintings and sculptures at the Plaza Hotel.