Depardieu held for drink-driving

French actor Gerard Depardieu has been detained by police for allegedly driving drunk on his motorcycle.

Police said the 63-year-old actor was taken in this afternoon by Paris police after falling off his motorcycle.

The burly actor, who has appeared in more than 150 films, allegedly failed a sobriety test and was taken to a police station. Police then escorted him home, but he will have to appear in court.

It was the latest of several encounters with the law for Depardieu.

He grabbed headlines when he urinated in the aisle of a plane before take-off on a Paris to Dublin flight. He was removed from the aircraft.

Depardieu was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in 1990 film Cyrano De Bergerac.