Clerks, Flash, Supergirl Director Kevin Smith Is Recovering From Massive Heart Attack

Kevin Smith, the director best known for cult comedies Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, has suffered a "massive" heart attack. Smith tweeted the news from his hospital bed early this morning, February 26, and revealed that he came very close to death.

Smith had been performing one of his popular stand-up shows in Glendale, California, and suffered the heart attack after coming off stage. He was due to perform a second set that night, but was instead rushed to hospital. Check his tweet out below:

Smith made his breakthrough with the 1994 comedy classic Clerks, which is seen as one of the key movies in the American independent film movement of the '90s. Many of his subsequent movies, such as Mallrats, Dogma, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, were part of the same connected universe, and more recently he moved into horror territory, with films such as Red State and Tusk.

He also has directed numerous episodes of DC shows Supergirl and The Flash, and is a prolific podcaster, comedian, and TV host. Since 2012 he has presented AMC's reality show Comic Book Men, which is filmed at Smith's New Jersey comic store Secret Stash.

Smith was also in the news recently following the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal. Weinstein financed many of Smith's earlier movies, and as a result of the multiple accusations of harassment and abuse against the producer, Smith announced that he would donate all future residuals from those films to the non-profit organization Women in Film.

Smith also was credited by Thor star Chris Hemsworth for helping change the direction of Thor: Ragnarok, after he heard Smith bashing previous instalments on a podcast. "Hearing someone like Smith, who represents the fanboy world, was such a kick in the ass to change gears," he said. "We sort of had nothing to lose. People didn't expect what we did with it this time around."