A 41-year-old man accused of stalking Hollywood actress Brooke Shields has pleaded not guilty at a Los Angeles court.

Mark Bailey, is charged with hounding the star of the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan between 21 October last year and 10 January this year.

The complaint was also amended for Tuesday's hearing to add an allegation that Bailey was armed at the time - to which he also pleaded not guilty.

Los Angeles resident Bailey is currently being held in lieu of $500,000 (£304,000) bail. He is due back in court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing.

The judge will then decide if there is enough evidence to try Bailey after hearing from witnesses. It is not known if the actress will be one of those giving evidence.

The criminal complaint against Bailey claims that he repeatedly followed and harassed Shields "and made a credible threat with the intent that she be placed in reasonable fear for her safey and the safety of her immediate family".

Hit TV series

Shields, 34, has been starring in Suddenly Susan for four years and has won both a People's Choice award and a Golden Globe nomination for the role.

However the actress first made her name at the age of 13, as the star of Louis Malle's controversial movie Pretty Baby, about a child prostitute.

She went on to star in Franco Zefferilli's Blue Lagoon, followed by Endless Love, a movie about obsessive first love.

She also increased her worldwide celebrity by becoming one of the most sought after international models.

Her film career has continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Her latest project was The Bachelor with Chris O'Donnell in 1999.

Guest appearances in Friends, The Larry Sanders Show and The Simpsons - plus her well-publicised former relationship with tennis ace Andre Agassi - have also kept the actress in the public eye.