SHORT TAKES : Producer De Cordova Stable

“Tonight Show” producer Fred De Cordova was in stable condition in a North Carolina hospital after surgery for swelling of the main artery carrying blood from his heart, NBC said today.

De Cordova, 79, who has produced “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” for two decades, underwent surgery Friday for an aneurysm of the abdominal portion of his aorta, network spokeswoman Merry Aronson said on Monday.

She would not reveal the name of the hospital, but said he was rushed there from his hotel room last Friday. De Cordova had been in Winston-Salem playing in a golf tournament, Aronson said. Aronson didn’t specify what type of aortic aneurysm De Cordova had. She also didn’t elaborate on his condition, other than to say he was stable.

After a stint as a stage director that ended with “Ziegfeld Follies” in 1943, De Cordova signed with Warner Brothers. Among about 50 films he directed was “Bedtime for Bonzo,” starring Ronald Reagan and a chimpanzee.

In 1953, De Cordova moved to television, directing or producing “My Three Sons,” “Burns and Allen” and “The Jack Benny Show,” before joining Carson in what he has called “the best job in television.”