Tom Arnold was spotted being wheeled through LAX on Thursday after undergoing back surgery - but the comedian made it clear his sense of humor remains firmly intact.
The 66-year-old actor appeared in good spirits as he chatted with Joy.of.Everything's Joe Andaloro while being pushed through the airport in a wheelchair.
‘I’m feeling better,’ the True Lies star said, revealing he had surgery at the University of Iowa Hospital. ‘Thank God I broke my back in Iowa because they did a great job.’
Arnold explained he now faces a period of rehabilitation, before sharing the surprisingly mundane way he injured himself.
‘I fell out of bed,’ he admitted with a grin, calling it ‘a terrible old man injury.’
He added that after undergoing other procedures at Cedars-Sinai over the summer, he believed he was back to full strength — only to discover he may have overdone it.
Tom Arnold was spotted being wheeled through LAX on Thursday after undergoing back surgery
The 66-year-old actor appeared in good spirits as he chatted with Joy.of.Everything's Joe Andaloro while being pushed through the airport in a wheelchair
‘So with my son, I played basketball for three hours, then took my daughter to the galleria for three hours because I thought I could do everything… turns out you gotta take it easy,’ he joked.
He insisted he wouldn’t be missing any work as aides prepared to transfer him from the wheelchair onto a waiting gurney before the video cut off.
The back injury comes after the star - who was married to Roseanne Barr from 1990 to 1994 - previously opened up about another serious health scare.
In 2022, Arnold revealed that suffering a mini stroke in January had prompted him to overhaul his lifestyle and embark on a weight loss journey.
'I was giving the kids a bath and turned around to count to 10 — it's what I do to get my kids out of the bathtub — when suddenly my vision in my right eye went black, as if there was a curtain coming down,' the comedian told People.
Although some of his vision returned later that night, he consulted his ophthalmologist and underwent further testing. A second doctor later confirmed he had suffered a mini stroke, leading Arnold to check into UCLA hospital for additional evaluations.
'They said I hadn't had a major stroke and they couldn't see any problems, but as a 63-year-old single father of a 9- and 6-year-old, it was scary,' Tom said.
'On top of all of this, two years ago I had massive organ failure. My doctor changed my medication, but I knew I needed to make bigger changes because I really dropped the ball on self-care these last few years.'
Arnold said, ‘I fell out of bed...a terrible old man injury.' (pictured in October)
In 2022, Arnold revealed that suffering a mini stroke in January had prompted him to overhaul his lifestyle and embark on a weight loss journey
Arnold has been married four times - to Roseanne Barr (1990–1994), Julie Lynne Champnella (1995–1999), Shelby Roos (2002–2008), and most recently Ashley Groussman, with whom he shares two children before their divorce was finalized in 2020; (pictured with Barr in 1992)
By overhauling his diet, eating balanced meals throughout the day and making 'fitness a ritual,' Arnold slimmed down from 285lbs to 210lbs.
'Being overweight ages me. I can't be as active as I need to be with my young kids. I am starting to feel more comfortable about potentially dating, it's been five years,' he explained. 'Even I deserve human contact. I also feel more comfortable on screen than I have in a long time. I am filming with Arnold Schwarzenegger now and I am below what I weighed when I was in True Lies, so that feels cool.'
'I feel much better about my body,' he added. 'I can move better, I have more energy, I feel better in my clothes, I sleep better, and I think I've probably added years to my life to be here for my kids.
'I used to only look at my face in the mirror, which was hard enough, but now I face the whole thing.’
Arnold has been married four times - to Barr (1990–1994), Julie Lynne Champnella (1995–1999), Shelby Roos (2002–2008), and most recently Ashley Groussman, with whom he shares two children before their divorce was finalized in 2020.
He has not publicly announced any new relationships since.
