Italian actor and director Roberto Benigni has been hospitalised after suffering a back injury while holidaying with friends in Sardinia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 65-year-old, who won best actor and best foreign language film Oscars for Holocaust comedy-drama Life is Beautiful, was in a dinghy at sea on Tuesday, the La Nuova Sardegna newspaper reported.
His back took a violent knock after the dinghy was rocked by a sudden wave, and his friends decided to go back ashore to seek medical help, the newspaper said.
Once at the Sardinian port of Palau, Benigni was taken via helicopter to a hospital in Sassari, where doctors are performing several checks on him, according to La Nuova Sardegna.
In a Wednesday statement, the hospital confirmed that Benigni was checked in late on Tuesday, but added that doctors found him in "good conditions" and expected to dismiss him "shortly."
Earlier this month, Hollywood star George Clooney also suffered light injuries while in Sardinia, where he had gone to shoot Catch 22, a World War II-era TV series.
Clooney crashed into a car while driving a scooter on a twisty road in northeast Sardinia, and was diagnosed with a bruised knee after a short stay in hospital.
Australian Associated Press