Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is in hospital after being injured in a car accident in Mississippi.
The 71-year-old Dark Knight star is in a serious condition, according to staff at Memphis's Regional Medical Center.
Ashley Norris, manager of the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale - which is owned by Freeman - confirmed the actor had been in an accident.
A spokesman for Mississippi highway Patrol, where the crash happened, said a statement would be released shortly.
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US reports suggested that the star was talking at the scene of the accident and was airlifted to hospital.
Clay McFerrin, editor of local newspaper the Sun-Sentinel, told the Associated Press news agency he had been at the accident scene on Mississippi Highway 32, not far from where Freeman owns a home with his wife.
He said it appeared that Freeman's car was airborne when it left the road and landed in a ditch.
"They had to use the jaws of life to extract him from the vehicle," McFerrin said. "He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point."
When one person tried to take a photo with a mobile phone, Freeman joked, "no freebies, no freebies," McFerrin said.
Mechanic
Freeman won a best supporting actor Oscar for boxing drama Million Dollar Baby in 2005, and has twice been nominated in the leading actor category - for The Shawshank Redemption in 1995 and Driving Miss Daisy in 1990.
Last year it was announced the actor would play former South African president Nelson Mandela in forthcoming film The Human Factor.
His first credited film appearance was in the 1971 movie Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow!
Prior to that, he had worked as a mechanic in the US Air Force.
His film appearances include Se7en, Unforgiven and the rebooted Batman franchise.
(BBC)
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