Reno 'did not have heart attack'

Reno is known for his tough-guy film roles

French actor Jean Reno's publicist has denied reports the star suffered a heart attack whilst on holiday.

The 60-year-old star of Leon had been holidaying on the Caribbean island of St Barts when he was taken ill.

Christina Papadopoulos said the actor went to hospital "as a precaution for some discomfort he was feeling due to heartburn and gastroenteritis".

Emergency services later flew him to the nearby island of Martinique where he was discharged.

Transition

"It was definitely was not a heart attack. He is fine and healthy and enjoying the rest of his vacation travelling in the Caribbean," Ms Papadopoulos added.

Witnesses reported Reno slumped onto the wheel of his hire car before his wife, Zofia, alerted the emergency services.

The star, who was born in Morocco to Spanish parents before adopting French nationality in his late teens, is one of the few actors who have made the transition from French cinema to Hollywood.

He found international fame in the 1994 film Leon, as an assassin who befriends a young girl played by Natalie Portman.

He has also appeared in the films The Da Vinci Code, Ronin, Mission Impossible and cult French thriller Nikita.