PARIS
French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo was in stable condition Thursday after suffering an apparent stroke during a vacation in Corsica, a Paris hospital said.
The 68-year-old film star was transferred to Paris on Wednesday in serious condition. He was being treated at the capital's Saint-Joseph hospital.
In a statement, the hospital said doctors were carrying out tests to determine the impact of the stroke and the most suitable treatment. At the request of Belmondo's family, the hospital said, no further information was being released.
The actor, who made his name playing a crook on the run in Jean-Luc Godard's 1959 film "Breathless," had been on vacation in the Corsican village of Lumio when he fell ill.
Medical officials in Corsica said he had suffered a "cerebral accident." Joelle Lambert, chief of emergency medicine at Bastia Hospital, said the actor was conscious and responsive but in serious condition. French media reports said his face was paralyzed on the right side, and LCI television said the actor was unable to speak.
Belmondo has been one of France's most popular leading men for more than 40 years. He built his reputation in New Wave films of the 1960s but also starred recently in action films and comedies.
Belmondo won a Cesar--the French equivalent of the Oscar-- for his role in 1988's "Itinerary of a Spoiled Child," by Claude Lelouch. He's also performed frequently on stage.
Belmondo reportedly suffered a mild heart attack in 1999.
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