Hollywood actor Michael Madsen in drink-driving arrest

Actor Michael Madsen is pictured in this Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department booking photograph (REUTERS)

Hollywood star Michael Madsen has been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and was expected to spend the night in hospital, authorities said.

It was the second arrest in six months for the Reservoir Dogs actor.

Madsen was pulled over on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu for driving erratically in a red Pontiac GTO, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department said.

In a preliminary test Madsen had a blood alcohol level of 0.21, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

While he was being booked, Madsen complained of a medical problem and was taken to a hospital, where doctors said he should spend the night. Deputies then cited and released him.

Mr Whitmore said privacy laws prevented him from describing the medical problem.

Madsen is best known for playing killers in the Quentin Tarantino films Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, and also appeared in the family-friendly whale pic Free Willy.

In March, he was arrested at his Malibu home after what detectives said was a drunken fight with his teenage son, but prosecutors declined to file charges because of a lack of evidence.

AP