Famed French actor Gerard Depardieu nabbed driving drunk, police say

Thursday, November 29, 2012, 12:26pm (PST)

The Associated Press

• PARIS (AP) -- French actor Gerard Depardieu was detained Thursday for allegedly driving drunk on his scooter, police said.

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  The 63-year-old actor, who has appeared in more than 150 films, was brought in to a Paris police station Thursday afternoon, an official with the Paris police department said.

  The Paris prosecutor's office ordered him detained, the official said. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss ongoing investigations.

  The burly actor was picked up off after he fell off his scooter in northwest Paris, the Sipa news agency reported. He failed a sobriety test and was taken to a police station, according to Sipa.

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  A call to Depardieu's management company was not returned Thursday night.

  Thursday's incident was one of several encounters with the law for Depardieu. He grabbed headlines when he urinated in the aisle of a plane before takeoff on a Paris to Dublin flight. He was removed from the aircraft.

  In 1998, he crashed his motorcycle when his blood-alcohol limit was five times over the legal level, escaping with leg and face injuries.

  Depardieu, a bon vivant who overcame a speech impediment and a childhood of neglect to become one of France's most popular and versatile film stars, was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in 1990 film "Cyrano de Bergerac."

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