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TRACY MORGAN HIS FIGHT TO RECOVER

“The concern for his well-being has been overwhelming,” says Morgan’s rep.

TRACY MORGAN HAD been looking forward to his first Father’s Day with his 11-month-old “princess” Maven and his fiancée, Megan Wollover. Committed to spending more time with his daughter than he could as a struggling young father to sons Gitrid, 28, Malcolm, 26, and Tracy Jr., 22, the actor and comedian had reached a happy, stable place in his life. In an emotional interview with PEOPLE on June 3 he spoke proudly about his baby girl, his three “great dudes” and his joyful life with Wollover, 27. “When I look at all four of my kids, I say to myself, ‘God gave us dreams,’ ” he said, “but he gave us babies to make all those dreams worthwhile.”

Just four days later the former 30 Rock star, 45, was battling severe injuries after a six-vehicle crash on the New Jersey Turnpike killed his friend, comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair, 62. According to police reports, Walmart truck driver Kevin Roper, who had not slept in more than 24 hours, struck Morgan’s limousine bus as he and four friends were returning from a gig in Delaware. The pileup, which also left comedian Ardie Fuqua and Morgan’s assistant Jeff Millea critically injured, “was a horrific sight,” says an eyewitness. “You could see blood everywhere. You could tell it was really bad.” The day after the accident, Morgan underwent surgery for a broken leg (he also sustained a broken nose and ribs, among other injuries) at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. “This recovery will be arduous,” his rep said in a statement June 9. Morgan is expected to remain hospitalized for at least several weeks.

As family gathered around his bedside, many of Morgan’s longtime friends—including Sherri Shepherd, Rosie Perez and Judah Friedlander—expressed their support. “My very first time shooting 30 Rock, Tracy welcomed me with, ‘You’re a big girl. We are going to have fun!’ ” Shepherd, who played his wife on the show, tells PEOPLE. “I am praying for Tracy and Ardie Fuqua’s speedy recovery. We need the laughter!”

Morgan’s accident comes just as the actor finally seemed to conquer his demons after decades of personal turmoil. “We all evolve. I’m a middle-aged man,” he told PEOPLE in 2012, two years after undergoing a kidney transplant. “There’s a reason the dinosaurs died: They couldn’t evolve, so they got extinct. I’m trying not to be extinct!”

The struggles began early for Morgan, who grew up in poverty in Brooklyn and lost his father, a Vietnam vet and recovering heroin addict, to AIDS in 1987. In his candid 2009 memoir, I Am the New Black, he said he turned to drug dealing after dropping out of high school but stopped when his youngest son, Tracy Jr., was born in 1991. Encouraged by his then-wife Sabina, he put his “gift of funny” to work and soon broke into comedy, landing on Saturday Night Live in 1996.

But his success led to insecurity, partying and two DUI arrests. “Being on SNL made me addicted to fame,” he wrote. “I was scared that I’d fail unless I made everyone laugh all the time. I turned to the bottle to keep my confidence up.” After friend Tina Fey created a custom role for him on 30 Rock in 2006, “my life on- and off-camera became strangely similar. I was partying all night, being crazy and then showing up to shoot 30 Rock and portray a guy who acted crazy.” As his alcohol abuse exacerbated his type 2 diabetes, diagnosed in 1996, Morgan’s health began to fail – and in 2007 he resolved to get sober. His 2010 operation, made possible by the donation of a kidney from an ex-girlfriend with whom he is no longer in contact, proved another turning point. The kidney “was a gift, so I try to respect it and take care of it,” he said. After he collapsed following an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012, he told PEOPLE that because of his transplant, “I take pills to suppress my immune system, so I get sick very easily.”

Confronted with yet another tough battle, Morgan will need more support than ever from Wollover and his children. Having Maven fulfilled a longtime dream for the star, who said in 2012, “I need a daughter. There’s nothing like Daddy’s little girl.” At the top of his game in the comedy world, he was excited about embarking on a major tour with Megan and Maven in tow. “Our main goal is to make sure our babies have what we didn’t have: proper schooling, the attention that they need, the love and affection that they need,” he told PEOPLE on June 3.

On June 9 Wollover thanked friends for “the outpour of support following the accident. Your well wishes mean more than you can imagine, and I know that Tracy can feel the love and positive energy.” Morgan “is a really good guy,” says Caroline Hirsch, owner of Caroline’s Comedy Club in New York City and sponsor of the New York Comedy Festival. “He’s a great provider and a great father. We’re all praying for him. He’s going to pull through.”

The Other Victims

Harris Stanton

The Brooklyn-based comedian, 37, was treated and released shortly after the crash. Like Morgan, Stanton was a vet of Caroline’s Comedy Club; the pair were frequent tourmates.

Ardie Fuqua

Just hours before the crash left him in critical condition, the comic, 43, posted photos on social media, including one on the bus (above) with the caption “road life is a good life!”

James McNair

Known as Uncle Jimmy Mack, the Peekskill, N.Y., native was killed at age 62. He was one of Morgan’s earliest mentors after they met at Harlem’s Uptown Comedy Club.

Jeffrey Millea Morgan’s assistant, 36, had been anticipating a happy event next month: the arrival of his new baby. “He’s in worse shape than Tracy,” says Hirsch. “He’s a younger, very strong man, so we hope he’ll pull through too.”

Asleep at the Wheel?

When the Walmart tractor-trailer driven by Kevin Roper struck Morgan’s limo bus on June 7, the impact was so massive that the bus toppled over on its side. “It was like a movie in slow motion,” says a witness. New Jersey prosecutors say Roper, 35, “drove without having slept for a period in excess of 24 hours” and charged him with vehicular homicide. In a statement, Walmart CEO Bill Simon said if his company’s truck caused the accident, it would take responsibility, calling road safety “our absolute highest priority.”

J.LO & CASPER SMART

MOVING ON

No rest for the pretty: Six weeks after splitting from Casper Smart, 27, her boyfriend of 2½ years, Jennifer Lopez, 44, is “already talking about dating,” says a source. “She wants to have a relationship with a guy who is older and has an established career.” She’s also ready to be drama-free. The relationship has been mired in cheating rumors – most recently there were reports that Smart had sent steamy texts to someone else—and those near her pushed for a breakup. “She definitely had some trust issues and is happy to be past that,” the source says. Still, it took months for Lopez to end things. “Max and Emme [Lopez’s twins with ex-husband Marc Anthony, 45] adore Casper, and he was there for her during difficult times,” a friend explains. But in the end “they outgrew each other.” Currently promoting her new album A.K.A., Lopez is “focused on her career and family,” adds the source. “She has no regrets.”

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My self-summary

Bronx-raised beauty, married three times (third time was not the charm), looking for a guy who can appreciate all of my “assets.” As I once said, “I could serve coffee using my rear as a ledge.” Please love TV singing competitions, marathons of The Wedding Planner and low-plunging gowns (on me, not you). Note, you guys: My love don’t cost a thing, but my lifestyle does. An AmEx Black Card is a plus.

Six things I could never do without

• Nipple tape

• My copy of Santeria for Dummies

• “Glowing” fragrance by Jennifer Lopez

• Pitbull

• A pocket lighter (to burn copies of Gigli)

• Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr.’s banter

You should message me if

You are not a backup dancer. Or a rapper. Or a Latin superstar. Or Ben Affleck.

ONE to WATCH

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS’

NAT WOLFF

Coming off his acclaimed turn as the sardonic best friend in The Fault in Our Stars, Nat Wolff, 19, is enjoying a quick ascent to leading- man status. The New York City-bred actor, who began his career seven years ago on Nickelodeon, will next star in Paper Towns, the second film based on Fault scribe John Green’s work. Thanks to his actress-mom and jazz musician-father, Wolff knows fame is secondary: “The important thing is the work. All the other stuff is lovely – but unimportant.”

Early Start

“My parents encouraged me not to [be in the industry], but I wanted to do exactly what they did!”

Nickelodeon’s The Naked Brothers Band, 2007–2009

“It’s a mockumentary based on my band with my brother Alex. My parents were adamant that we go to real school and shoot during summer break.”

Palo Alto, 2014

“Playing a character like [Fred, the resident bad boy] felt so different from me. I loved that experience.”

The Fault in Our Stars, 2014

“I’d never been a part of something so massive and so beloved. I like parts that freak me out, that I think I can’t do at first. I’ve tried to talk myself out of every part I’ve played.”

Paper Towns, TBD

“I’ve read all of [Green’s] books, and this is a favorite. It’s like a romantic mystery movie about a guy’s journey to find the girl of his dreams. I make it sound corny and horrible, but it’s really good!”

CAMERON DIAZ

CAM-A-CHAMELEON

Cameron Diaz, 41, is an old hand at the onscreen morph – and the same can be said of her love life! Newly coupled with rocker Benji Madden, 35, she’s been “embracing her gritty side,” says a Diaz source. A look at Diaz’s past pairings shows this isn’t the first time she’s echoed her man’s vibe:

GLAM

Matt Dillon

1995–1998

MINIMALIST

JARED LETO

1999–2003

FUNKY

Justin Timberlake

2003–2007

SPORTY

Alex Rodriguez

2010–2011