Ailing Piven departs ‘Plow’

Two actors -- Norbert Leo Butz and William H. Macy -- will replace Jeremy Piven, who has unexpectedly left the cast of the hit Broadway revival of “Speed-the-Plow,” producer Jeffrey Richards said Thursday.

Piven, the Emmy-winning star of HBO’s “Entourage,” abruptly departed the critically praised production of David Mamet’s satiric comedy over the weekend, less than two months after it opened.

“We have been advised by Jeremy Piven’s medical representatives that he is seriously ill and is unable to fulfill his contractual obligation to ‘Speed-the-Plow,’ ” Richards and the show’s other producers said.

Richards said Piven had collapsed at his home Monday and had been under the care of his doctor, Carlon Colker. The doctor told Variety that the 43-year-old actor has been suffering from high levels of mercury.

Butz will play Piven’s role Dec. 23-Jan. 11, then Macy will take over for the rest of the limited engagement.