Candice Bergen Has Been Candid About Her Health Since 2006 Stroke: Updates on How She’s Doing

Candice Bergen, best known for playing the title character on the popular sitcom Murphy Brown, has had some serious health scares in the past.

The actress, who won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the investigative journalist and news anchor on the CBS series, sparked some concern among fans when she appeared at the 2024 Emmy Awards and spoke slowly when she presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Over the years, she has opened up about her various health scares, including a stroke that she had at first kept secret.

Candice Bergen Had a Stroke in 2006

It took six years for the Boston Legal star to reveal that she suffered a minor stroke in the fall of 2006. According to a 2012 interview with New York magazine, she initially denied having a stroke because she didn’t wait for it “to be a liability.” The publication reported that she missed only two weeks of shooting Boston Legal. However, she admitted, “My memory is just … It’s not quite the same.”

At the time of the 2012 interview, Candice was returning to Broadway to star in the play The Best Man — and she admitted that she was initially hesitant to do it. “My concern with theater was no retakes,” she said. “I had no confidence in my memory.” The closer that it got to taking the stage, the more she thought, “What have I done? I’m going to go out and make an a–hole of myself!” However, she admitted, “I am so grateful that I did it.”

Candice Bergen Broke Her Pelvis

During that same interview with New York magazine, published in March 2012, Candice also admitted that five months earlier, she broke her pelvis while on a bike ride. “Wow,” she remembered thinking, “now I can fall, and I’ll break.”

The actress, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1979 film Starting Over, also talked about how her appearance has changed over the years. “The reality is that I don’t look like I used to look,” she said. “I just don’t care enough, and in a way it’s saved me.”

Candice Bergen Admits She Gained Weight

In Candice’s second memoir, A Fine Romance published in 2015, the actress — who also studied photography and worked as a photojournalist — was brutally honest about her changing body. “Let me just come right out and say it: I am fat,” she wrote in the book, according to Today.com. “In the past 15 years … I have put on 30 pounds. I live to eat. None of this ‘eat to live’ stuff for me.” The book was a follow-up to her 1984 memoir Knock Wood.

Candice Bergen Reveals She Got Face Injections — and Fainted

In 2018, Candice got real about her beauty secrets. While promoting the movie Book Club, which also starred Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda and Mary Steenburgen, she revealed that she uses Mila Moursi creams and once had a bad experience getting injections from her dermatologist.

“I have had those shots a few times,” she said in an interview with People alongside her costars. “The last time I had them, I fainted — I’m so pain-averse.”